[Sca-cooks] Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao

[Johnna Holloway]

Since we are talking about chocolate--
The following book that I reported on in 2007 will be out in paperback 
on April 19th, 2009
Amazon has it for a pre-sale price of  $23.58. The hardback is still 75 
and $60 on sale from Amazon.

Johnnae

> Here's another new 2007 book that may interest some people.
>
> Johnna
>
>   Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao.
> Edited by Cameron L. McNeil. 544 pages
>   $75.00   *ISBN 13: *978-0-8130-2953-5   *ISBN 10: *0-8130-2953-8
> Overview
>
> "A monumental contribution to the study of a plant food of basic
> importance from pre-Columbian times to the present in the Americas and
> now the world. . . . It will be the baseline for studies of chocolate in
> the Americas and the world for the foreseeable future."--Rene Millon,
> professor emeritus, University of Rochester
>
> "McNeil brings together scholars in the
> fields of archaeology, history, art history, linguistics, epigraphy,
> botany, chemistry, and cultural anthropology to explore the
> domestication, preparation, representation, and significance of cacao in
> ancient and modern communities of the Americas, with a concentration on
> its use in Mesoamerica.
>
> Cacao was used by many cultures in the pre-Columbian Americas as an
> important part of rituals associated with birth, coming of age,
> marriage, and death, and was strongly linked with concepts of power and
> rulership. While Europeans have for hundreds of years claimed that they
> introduced "chocolate" as a sauce for foods, evidence from ancient royal
> tombs indicates cacao was used in a range of foods as well as beverages
> in ancient times. In addition, the volume's authors present information
> that supports a greater importance for cacao in pre-Columbian South
> America, where ancient vessels depicting cacao pods have recently been
> identified.
>
> Cameron McNeil earned her doctorate in anthropology from the Graduate
> Center, City University of New York, and currently conducts research in
> Copan, Honduras.
>
> http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=MCNEIS06
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>