Chocolate at Home: Step-by-step recipes from a master chocolatier

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Of course this classic novel gets a place on our chocolate list – perfect for demonstrating the wonder and joy that chocolate brings to our life, and of course teaching us all the lesson that good chocolate is worth waiting for; its best to savour, not scoff – unless you’re looking for the same fate as Augustus Gloop.

Reynaud manages to convince most businesses in the village to deny the gypsies their service, although Vianne welcomes them and befriends some members of the group, namely Roux, Zezette and Blanche. As adaptations go, this seems to me to be a sensitive and faithful one; certainly not as dark as the book, but I like milk chocolate too. He is fanatical and puritanical in his beliefs, due to the inspiration of Père Michel, his predecessor, and his troubled childhood. Denounced from the local pulpit for daring to send her son to a secular school rather than a fee-paying Catholic one, she was the template for both Vianne and Armande, and her picture is on the back cover of the book, just as I remember her, in her garden with her milk-jug in one hand. Armande’s red petticoats belong to her, as does the manner of Armande’s death, her refusal to conform and her impudent zest for life.My great-grandmother, especially, to whom the book is dedicated, is a strong influence, being at the same time a wonderful cook, a powerful matriarchal figure as well as being (as I remember her best) a lively, eccentric and generous Mémée.

Vianne does the same in a gentler way, but she too has preconceptions and prejudices, and like Reynaud, she is a victim of her past. This may be a reference to the traditionalist, Catholic nature of the community depicted in the Chocolat books. Whether you’re interested in learning about the science of chocolate, the history of cacao, or want to get started making your own chocolate from scratch, we have a book recommendation for you! I first planned out this story during the Easter holidays, and so it seemed natural to me that I should set it at that time.She examines gradual loss of diversity that’s occurred over the last decades and centuries in the foods that we eat. Nor is the Catholic church the villain of the piece; Reynaud uses his own interpretation of Catholicism to enforce his own agenda of control and self-denial. Because of her love for her daughter Vianne must try to exorcize her past; Reynaud is condemned to relive it in sterile isolation. She loves Anouk very much, and her greatest fear is that they will be torn apart, mirroring her late mother's fear of being torn from Vianne when she was a child. Ryan looks at the stories behind the cocoa producers and traders within the area and shines a light on what Fairtrade really means.