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Cocoa and Chocolate: Their History from Plantation to Consumer

by Arthur William Knapp (1880-1939)

As that heavenly bit of chocolate melts in our mouths, we give little thought as to where it came from, the arduous work that went in to its creation, and the complex process of its maturation from a bean to the delicacy we all enjoy. This “little book” details everything you have ever wanted to know (and some things you never knew you wanted to know) about cocoa and chocolate from how the trees are planted and sustained to which countries produce the most cacao beans. Do cacao beans from various countries differ? What makes some types of chocolate higher quality than other kinds? Are there any health benefits to eating chocolate? Read on to learn the answers to these and many other questions about that wondrous little treat we call chocolate. (Summary by Allyson Hester)

CD booklet
Album Art

• Gutenberg e-text
• M4B format available
• LibriVox’s Cocoa and Chocolate Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book 137.0MB
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Total running time: 4:45:19
Read by Allyson Hester

mp3 and ogg files

• 01 – Cocoa and Chocolate: A Sketch of their History – 00:32:55
  [mp3@64kbps - 15.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 31.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 17.1MB]
• 02 – Cacao and its Cultivation – 00:33:58
  [mp3@64kbps - 16.3MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 32.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 16.7MB]
• 03 – Harvesting and Preparation for the Market – 00:51:18
  [mp3@64kbps - 24.6MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 49.2MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 25.2MB]
• 04 – Cacao Production and Sale – 00:51:42
  [mp3@64kbps - 24.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 49.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 25.4MB]
• 05 – The Manufacture of Cocoa and Chocolate – 00:24:09
  [mp3@64kbps - 11.6MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 23.2MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 12.4MB]
• 06 – The Manufacture of Chocolate – 00:20:50
  [mp3@64kbps - 10.0MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 20.0MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 10.2MB]
• 07 – By-products of the Cocoa and Chocolate Industry – 00:20:30
  [mp3@64kbps - 9.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 19.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 10.1MB]
• 08 – The Composition and Food Value of Cocoa and Chocolate – 00:28:47
  [mp3@64kbps - 13.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 27.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 14.2MB]
• 09 – Adulteration, and the Need for Definitions – 00:06:08
  [mp3@64kbps - 2.9MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 5.9MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 3.0MB]
• 10 – The Consumption of Cacao – 00:15:02
  [mp3@64kbps - 7.2MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 14.4MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 7.4MB]

Cataloged on July 23, 2008