A cultural history of candy-how it evolved from medicine and a luxury to today's Kit Kat bars and M&M's.
Told through the Kate Hopkins' travels in Europe and the U.S., Sweet Tooth is a first-hand account of her obsession with candy and a detailed look at its history and development. The sugary treats we enjoy today have a prominent past entertaining kings, curing the ill, and later developing into a billion-dollar industry. The dark side of this history is that the confectionery industry has helped create an environment of unhealthy overindulgence, has quelled any small business competition that was deemed to be a risk to any large company's bottom line, and was largely responsible for the slave trade that evolved during the era of colonization.
Candy's history is vast and complex and plays a distinct part in the growth of the Western world. Thanks to the ubiquity of these treats which allows us to take them for granted, that history has been hidden or forgotten. Until now. Filled with Hopkins' trademark humor and accompanied by her Candy Grab Bag tasting notes, Sweet Tooth is a must-read for everybody who considers themselves a candy freak.
"Kate Hopkins's scrumptious first-person account of her pilgrimage to resolve a midlife crisis by replicating her childhood candy consumption is served alongside her research into the surprising and often bitter history of candy. Hopkins's post-journey epiphany: Adulthood is when one has the money but has lost the desire to buy every candy in the shop. Sweet Tooth is illustrated throughout with Ka
Elizabeth Abbott, author of Sugar: A Bittersweet History
"Kate Hopkins is excellent company - witty, self-deprecating and intensely curious - as she travels through Europe and the United States in search of the story of candy. Packed with nuggets of fascinating history, it is also a gentle chew on the nature of growing up and a search for her eleven-year-old self, who equated sugar with love and lived for the innocent pleasure of a sweet treat. Hopkins
Matthew Parker, author of The Sugar Barons and Panama Fever
"A pleasing chronology of candy through the ages."
