On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao

by Deborah R. Prinz

Take a delectable journey through the religious history of chocolate―a real treat! Explore the surprising Jewish and other religious connections to chocolate in this gastronomic and historical adventure through cultures, countries, centuries and convictions. Rabbi Deborah Prinz draws from her world travels on the trail of chocolate to enchant chocolate lovers of all backgrounds as she unravels religious connections in the early chocolate trade and shows how Jewish and other religious values infuse chocolate today. With mouth-watering recipes, a glossary of chocolaty terms, tips for buying luscious, ethically produced chocolate, a list of sweet chocolate museums around the world and more, this book unwraps tasty facts such

Genres: Nonfiction, Jewish, History, Travel, Food, Cookbooks

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2012

Reviews

[Constance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delectable read for any chocoholic or even just a history buff. A lot of research, not just in taste testing, was done for this slim book.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rabbi Deborah Prinz's book makes a great addition to your favorite chocoholic's library. Packed with interesting tidbits about the literal and figural journey chocolate has taken and it's connection to Jews today, it's a fun read with recipes to make once your chocolate cravings kick in. And they will kick in.
This is my new go-to hostess gift, birthday present, and Hanukkah treat! Appealing to a wide range of readers- bakers, history buffs, Jews and Christians alike, not to mention chocolate aficionados.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author’s research into the connections between chocolate, Jews, and religion is quite impressive. She reveals that many readers have asked her “what is the best chocolate?” Like them, I read the book as part of this quest. My initial parameters were two: health and taste. The primary health benefits of chocolate are its antioxidants; the higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the antioxidant level. Taste is a much more subjective element of the algorithm, although products can receive awards in various chocolate competitions. The chapter on the ethics of chocolate introduced a number of possible social and environmental factors into the equation. Although it is sometimes costly for the producers, chocolate can receive certifications such as kosher, halal, fair trade, carbon-neutral, organic, non-GMO, vegan, paleo, keto, Good Food, and biodynamic. Alternatively, small chocolate crafters can establish partnerships with farmers and you can gain some soil-to-bar insight into where your chocolate comes from. The author asks a lot of questions that encourage you to do your own research to find chocolate products that are consistent with your personal values.

[David V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started 1-18-24. Finished 1-22-24. Very well researched; very well written; and very tasty. I doubt anyone could read this book and not want to try a good chocolate candy bar or a cup of hot chocolate, especially if you're currently experiencing the cold weather in much of the US now. The connection between enforced traveling of Jews from one country to another led to their bringing the making of chocolate to their new homes and the businesses they were allowed to establish. This was new information to me. Other religious groups also spread this food culture worldwide along with rituals. The recipes in this book represent the different cultures and their love of chocolate. The book also explains the history of many of the largest chocolate companies in the world and that by itself is fascinating. The ethics of the growing and harvesting of cacao and the manufacturing processes are also reviewed, leaving much to be desired. Truly a remarkable book.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had recently read about Jews Pirates in the Caribbean, and this book reminded me of the other book quite a bit. This is not a cooking book, it's about the history of Jews as traders in the New World. The pirate book was the same, not about pirates but about traders. I have to applause the Jewish people ability to recover from the Spanish Inquisition and become in control of world trade. But if you want to read a book about Jewish chocolate recipes, it's not this book.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a pretty limited audience, which I am not part of, but I think its intended audience (people interested in chocolate's history or Jewish history) will love it. I wanted to learn more about what Ashkenazi Jews ate historically (it seemed to be more about Sephardic Jews) but this had little on that. On the other hand, it was lovingly researched and written so if this is your kind of book I recommend it.

[M]

This is a fascinating book. I have had it on the shelf way too long. An interesting story of the cacao plant and its place in religious history. Also some delicious recipes at the beginning of each chapter. With interesting tidbits of information like that an old custom of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sweets, rewards children with gold-covered chocolate coins for a festival associated with his birthday in December. So many other mouthwatering tasty cocoa nibs in this book.

[Jo Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history of chocolate and religion is very interesting. Some of the recipes sound delicious and I plan to try them. The discussions about slavery, fair-trade, sustainability, and ethics in chocolate production are pertinent. Unfortunately, I did not like the style of writing. The book does not read like a novel, nor does it read like a good history book.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly well researched volume on the history of chocolate with an emphasis on the contributions of Jews. While there are a few good stories, much of it seems to be a list of names and dates with chocolate connections. The recipes were lost on me. Probably nice to keep on the shelf in case a nice dark chocolate bar shows up one day that just calls for a chocolate dish to be made.

[Erin Seidemann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was well researched but very boring. I love both chocolate and the history of Jews, so I thought this book would be amazing. It really lost me in just listing facts rather than coherently tying them into a narrative.

[Judy Chessin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only would be better with samples!

[Ashira Konigsburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting facts but could have benefited from synthesizing the research and organizing the facts better.

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thinking about this years later, I don't think I was very fair to this book. I ain't changing the rating because I still think it's a lot of missed opportunities, but I don't doubt Rabbi Prinz set out to create a genuine resource on chocolate's unique history with religion.

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I don't remember the last time I was so disappointed in a book :(. Rabbi Prinz probably did do a lot of research and is very knowledgeable about chocolate, but if this ain't a boring chocolate book. And honestly...not terribly engaging. When it reads well and is interesting, it is usually entirely by accident.

Firstly, the premise is a BIG stretch. She seems to run out of material on how exactly Judaism and chocolate relate pretty quickly, and then runs out of how Christianity and chocolate relate. It's neat how both were involved in early chocolate making and trade, and how it figured into religious persecution, but that's about it really. It's also kinda wild there are so many paragraphs about chocolate jesuses.

The bigger issue though? The editor didn't fix a lot of the readability issues. It's repetitive (the same facts make multiple appearances), and she throws in summarizing paragraphs for filler like it's a high school essay. Meanwhile, some paragraphs are just a buckshot of different one line anecdotes "Alice did this. Bob did this. Ted did that." They're often given no time to breath and almost no real context. If you're not going to tell the whole story of these different people, why not just make a bulleted list?

There IS a good story in here to be teased out, but Prinz seems hellbent on hiding it. She talks about Jewish immigrants integrating into Central and South American society and integrating with the pre-existing chocolate-based culture. Then much much much later in part 2 she eventually talks about what chocolate means to Central/South America. Wouldn't it make more sense to put these two closer together to not just compare the long history of chocolate for both cultures, but appreciate better how chocolate helped and hindered Judaism's growth there? As it is, it sure feels like Prinz begrudgingly circles back to cocoa's significance in the Americas because her book was kinda short.

I would not recommend this book at all, and it's saved from 1 star because it was intermittently informative. (But I do have to genuinely give Prinz some credit for managing to wrangle a book out of humblebragging about her vacations)

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as a Christmas gift, and just read it now. It's a short book, only 163 pages, plus recipes, extensive notes, index, and short glossary. The book claims to trace the history of cacao/chocolate especially in terms of religious significance. The author is a Rabbi. However, at times this reads like a a dissertation - with overly specific examples, obviously found by scouring historical records somewhere. At other times, there don't seem to be enough examples. I would have preferred that the author had summarized some of her research - thus making her point clearer - which was often confusing.

I think my favorite chapter was: "Utopian Chocolate Saved Souls: From Cadbury to Hershey" which described the forward-thinking practices of Quaker chocolate makers. Yet these progressive factory towns didn't come without a cost - that being religious freedom. Workers were forced to read the Bible and sing religious songs at work - and forbidden to drink alcohol, even in their own factory-owned homes. Women who married were let go from their jobs, and given only a token from the factory where they had worked their whole lives (such as a Bible, a plaque or other commemorative token). OTOH, Cadbury banned child labor in his factories (at a time when it was common) and provided workers with medical care, dental care, and homes to live in.

Overall, an uneven book but with some yummy-sounding recipes I may have to try.

[Lsilberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The next time you pick up a piece of chocolate, consider that you are partaking in an aspect of Jewish history. Explore the surprising Jewish connections to chocolate in this historical and gastronomic adventure through cultures, countries, centuries and religions. Rabbi Deborah Prinz draws from her world travels on the trail of chocolate to enchant chocolate lovers of all backgrounds as she unwraps tales of Jews in the early chocolate trade to how Jewish values infuse chocolate today.

She shows the intersections of Jews, pre-Columbians, Catholics and Protestants along the chocolate trail and the lasting rituals involving chocolate that the world's faith traditions still share. Tasty tidbits include:

Chocolate making in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, home to the largest and wealthiest Jewish community of its time, was known as a special Jewish industry. Bayonne chocolate makers today advertise that Jews brought chocolate making to France.

I enjoyed this book. I found tracking the "history" of chocolate very interesting, and was also pleased that the author dealt honestly with the ethical problems often found in cacao production, such as the use of child labor and the exploitation of both child and adult laborers.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just a lot of fun and incredibly insightful into a cross section of culinary and world history that I didn't know about. Prinz covers a great variety of topics and geography in laying out the history. I dedicate my reading of this book to my congregant, Sheila Torrisi z'l, who was always my trusty supplier of chocolate.

[Paris Pierce · Rating 2 out of 5]

The facts in the book were fascinating and eye opening, however, I felt the core theme connecting Judaism to chocolate was a stretch. The book failed to deliver a good connection and seemed more a good fun romp to chocolate locations around the world for the author.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was actually boring! I was so disappointed.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, but not the most well written.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at the history of chocolate and its various intersections with Jews and religion - delicious!