Madame de Sévigné on Chocolate

Published by Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Permalink 1

What to Eat in France: Marquise de Sévigné on Chocolate

by Jonell Galloway

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, born the Marquise de Sévigné, was one of France’s most prolific letter writers of the seventeenth century. Known often as simply Madame de Sévigné, she was known for her love of chocolate, although her letters of 1671 reveal that she sometimes had a love-hate relationship with it.

In her letter of February 11, 1671, to her ailing daughter, Madame de Grignan, she wrote:

“You’re not feeling well, did you not sleep? Chocolate will make you feel yourself again. A thousand times I have thought: she has no chocolatier near her, poor child. What will you do?”

Letter of May 13, 1671:

“I beg you, my dear soul, my beautiful, to not eat any more chocolate. I’ve turned against it myself. A week ago I suffered from 16 hours of colic that gave me an acute kidney infection.”

Letter of October 25, 1671, when Madame de Sévigné’s daughter, who was pregnant, continued to follow her mother’s earlier words of advice:

“Chocolate, what can we say about it? Aren’t you afraid you’ll burn your very blood? All these miraculous effects, do they not hide something obscure?”

Letter of October 28, 1671:

“I wanted to reconcile myself with chocolate. I ate some the day before yesterday to help me digest my dinner and enjoy my supper. I ate some more yesterday just to get a little nourishment and to help me fast until evening. It had all the desired effects: this is why I find it so pleasant. It does what it is intended to do.”

Translated by Jonell Galloway, from Lettres de l’année 1671

 

 

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Switzerland: A Documentary Slide Show of the 1st Salon du Chocolat in Zurich

Published by Sunday, April 1, 2012 Permalink 0

Switzerland: A Documentary Slide Show of the 1st Salon du Chocolat in Zurich

by Jonell Galloway

Here’s a quick, unfiltered overview of the photos I took at the first Salon du Chocolat Zurich.

These are here to help you get an idea of what was on offer at the show. They are not professional photos, yet they are mine. If you want to use them commercially or copy them, please be so kind as to contact me beforehand by clicking on the blue Contact Us button at the top right of our home page.

I’ll be adding more tonight or tomorrow morning, so stay in touch!

 

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Chocolate News: eat as much chocolate as you can now, it’s disappearing, chocolate art, etc.

Published by Friday, October 14, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Better eat all the chocolate you can now. Seems global warming is going to hit West Africa, and it will affect chocolate production. Chocolate will only be for the rich in the not-so-far-off future.

Chocolate art in all its forms: photo exhibition of odd chocolate creations.

Chocolate is the star at Le Cordon Bleu Australia this month, and they will be exhibiting October 19 to 21, 2011, at the Paris Expo, held at the Porte de Versailles.

Roundup of chocolate events in Britain’s chocolate week.

Psychology Today says the feel-good chocolate effect only lasts 3 minutes.

Check out BBC Good Food’s wealth of chocolate recipes. There’s something to everyone’s taste, and recipes go from easy to difficult.

Just discovered: Death by Chocolate, by Alan Nolan, a comic writer.

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