All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt," once said Charlie Brown's creator cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. From the era of the Mayans in Central America to our day, everyone has savored chocolate. In the 21st century, the black–brown aromatic bean is more versatile than ever. It comes candied, roasted, confectioned and baked. It's the romantic couple's flavor of choice.
The World Cocoa Foundation estimates that as many as 50 million people depend on the cocoa bean for their livelihood. Chocolate has even been conferred its own museum. In Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover's Soul, men and women alike try to dissect their love and craving for chocolate–whether writing about its soothing effect on the taste buds or coming to terms with their obsession with the cocoa bean–derivative–it's all a big celebration, all in the name of chocolate.
