The Emperors of Chocolate, by Joël Glenn Brenner

This examination of the world of “big chocolate” was fascinating. I was shocked to find out both how massive these corporations are, and how few of them exist. “M&M’s alone generate more revenue than Camel cigarettes or Maxwell House coffee. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the nation’s No. 3 brand (owned by Hershey), outsells such well-known products as Advil and Ivory Soap. ... Mars is bigger than such corporate giants as RJR Nabisco, McDonald’s and Kellogg.” There are really only four major players in the mass-market candy industry: Mars, Hershey, Cadbury, and Nestlé. In America Mars and Hershey rule the candy aisle, with a staggering number of recognizable treats belonging to them. Mars owns M&M’s, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Dove Chocolate, Twix, Kudos, Skittles, Starburst, and the entire Wrigley Company (not to mention Banfield—The Pet Hospital, Whiskas, Pedigree, and Uncle Ben’s Rice). Hershey has all the various incarnations of the Hershey Bar and Kisses, as well as Symphony, Special Dark, Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, 5th Avenue, Almond Joy, Mounds, Heath, Kit Kat, Milk Duds, Reese’s, Whoppers, Jolly Rancher, PayDay, Bubble Yum, Breath Savers, and Twizzlers. These companies are surprisingly secretive as well; recipes and costs are obviously important trade secrets, but the Mars corporation wouldn’t even confirm the founder had ever worked for the company after his death!

The author does an effective job of describing the mysteries of chocolate; many people believe the taste is so complicated that it rivals scotch and wine to sophisticated palates. Odd words such as “mouthfeel” are commonly used, and the descriptions of how subtle differences in ingredients can have a huge impact on the resulting flavor were quite interesting. Learning about how the industry has grown from being simply large kitchens to modern factories in just the last 100 years was also captivating. For instance, in the Hershey factory before automation, “workers were known to pick up a Kiss, lick the bottom, dab it on the pile of tissues, then deposit that on the foil and twist. Not exactly sanitary, but fast.” This book is more than just a simple case study; it is an enthralling tale that I didn’t want to put down.

First Sentence:

Theo Leenders hadn’t moved from his desk all day.

Garlic and Sapphires, by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl was the restaurant critic for the New York Times during most of the 1990’s; this book tells the story of her experiences during that time. I have had only a few truly great meals (K-Paul’s, Chamberlain’s Steak and Chop House, and the Mansion on Turtle Creek come to mind), but nothing like the feasts described here. “Crisply coated snapper arrives in a shallow bowl of broth. The first taste is tarragon. It is replaced by fennel, which gives way to something that is definitely Chinese. You taste again. The tarragon is gone ans what comes through is the elusive flavor of five-spice powder. In a minute all of these flavors have come together so that you cannot separate them. You take another bite, and then another. Suddenly, disappointingly, the fish is gone.” Much of the book is like this, both haughtily pretentious and deliciously mouth-watering at the same time.

I find journalists to be largely self-important, and critics doubly so. I picked this up expecting to roll my eyes a lot but found it surprisingly compelling. Reichl made heavy use of disguises to avoid being recognized by the various establishments and to get a feel for how the meals and atmosphere appear to the average diner. A typical chapter started with a description of the origin of a typically elaborate costume, segued into the experience at the restaurant under scrutiny, and ended with the actual review as it appeared in the Times. Often she got a bit enthralled with her adopted persona, at times seemingly threatening to become a modern-day Sybil! Along the way we are entertained with amusing glimpses into the life of a critic, including jealous colleagues and overzealous readers. Instead of pictures or illustrations, recipes acted as page filler, varying from scalloped potatoes to moules marinières. All in all, a unique and tasty read.

First Sentence:

“You gonna eat that?”

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser

This was a fascinating book to read right after The E-Myth Revisited. That book preached that the franchise model is the best thing since sliced bread, and this one seems to believe that franchises are evil and are to blame for exacerbating many of America’s social ills. An interesting juxtaposition and it happened completely by accident!

Schlosser complains a lot about how the industry takes advantage of its employees. He seems especially upset about accepting federal funds for job training; he often claims that no training is actually supplied and so taking the money is tantamount to fraud. Once he does actually admit that training is provided: “[The fast food industry] often teaches basic job skills ... to people who can barely read. But the stance ... on issues involving employee training ... strongly suggests that its motives ... are hardly altruistic.” Who cares about the motives? The result is many people that can’t get a job anywhere else are provided a way of earning money and receiving actual job experience. Do any of these employees expect a gold watch after 50 years of flipping burgers? Of course not!

The author seems to take exception to the fact that McDonald’s allows its franchisees to set wages according to the local labor market, but has strict rules about the thickness of a pickle slice. Why he thinks wages for someone in New York City should match those of someone in Brownsville, Texas escapes me, although I do expect the same burger at any McDonald’s I visit so the pickle thing makes sense. Schlosser also seems offended that the corporations are anti-union. I personally believe that unions are anachronistic and cause more problems than they solve these days, but still found it surprising that he couldn’t see why a company wouldn’t want a union around.

Yet another diatribe was that the legal agreements that potential franchisees must sign are extremely limiting. The point that he seems to miss is that nobody is forcing these guys to do anything! When was the last time someone held you at gunpoint and said you had to open a McDonald’s... or else? Oh, and just so you know, parents need not accept any responsibility for the rising obesity rates in our youth; this can be blamed squarely on the fact that the fast food companies target their advertising directly at our kids. Whew!

Clearly the politics of this book greatly annoyed me. The descriptions of the history of the fast food industry were really well researched, though, and the tales of how flash-frozen food can be made to look and taste as we expect was admittedly disturbing. I was disappointed he concentrated so much on just McDonald’s; seeing how non-burger chains like Subway or KFC stacked up in the food preparation arena would have been really interesting. If his goal was to provoke thought he succeeded, but if his goal was to create political activist vegans (which honestly I don’t think it was) he failed miserably. Well worth my time, however.

First Sentence:

Carl N. Karcher is one of the fast food industry’s pioneers.