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Chocolate Day: Sweet Luxury

That today is not just any day, but a must-celebrated day for all lovers of luxurious indulgence, we owe to a few Dominican monks from the year 1550. They brought back a Maya chocolate drink from their journey to South America and presented it to the Spanish king on July 7th. Since then, a life without chocolate is conceivable for the Western world, but meaningless.

  • Text
    Wiebke Brauer
  • Photo
    Läderach

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." This quote by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz is another way of saying that chocolate spoils the one who has everything (okay, everyone else too). It is an extraordinary delight for the palate, a reward, or a crowning touch. In the most luxurious case, chocolate is a praline crafted by a chocolatier in a manufactory, combining artisanal craftsmanship with aesthetic pleasure.

This brings us to Switzerland and, in particular, to Läderach. Because since the invention of milk chocolate, which is attributed to Switzerland in 1867, the rule applies: the higher the proportion of fine cocoa and the more elaborate the production, the higher the quality of the chocolate. And the chocolatier from the canton of Glarus has set a milestone on the path of chocolate becoming a luxury good with the "method for producing thin-walled truffle hollow spheres." The sinful undertone associated with chocolate makes this sweet treat all the more coveted.

But let's stick with the phenomenon of luxury and the question of why we strive for it in life. This question was also pondered by ramp's publisher and editor-in-chief, Michael Köckritz. And the answer? It resulted in an entire coffee table book titled "Luxus." Over more than 270 pages, Köckritz explores the most important luxury brands of our time: watches, cars, bags, buildings, vacation destinations, jewelry, and, of course, the chocolate creations of Läderach. In doing so, the ramp publisher traverses all luxury-related topics and precisely identifies the respective key items from an artistic and scientific perspective. Because that is also important to him. The creative mind pays special attention to the philosophical, psychological, and sociological aspects of the phenomenon.

We won't give away everything that has emerged from this endeavor just yet. But let's reveal this much: a lively coffee table book like this can certainly contribute to the overall well-being.

Available from September 12 here in the online store and at teNeues.


Luxus
Michael Köckritz
teNeues Verlag GmbH

Publication date 9/12/2023
Pages: 272
Price: 125 €

Wiebke Brauer

Wiebke Brauer

Head of text ramp & Freelance author
After graduating from high school, Wiebke Brauer studied English and German as her first major with a focus on media culture. Interested in topics of all kinds and bird-free since 2016, as she says herself. With work for Spiegel Online, auto, motor und sport, Motor Klassik, Fuel and Stern, long a blog for the young and classic car site carsablanca.de - and more than fond of ramp magazine.

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