 The road which led DANIEL PETER (1836 -
1919) to chocolate was any- thing but straight. The son of a butcher, he was
employed by a woman in Vevey who owned a grocer's shop and made candles as a
sideline. Since his employer, Madame Clement, saw straight away where the boy's
real interest lay, she let him take over the candlemaking on his own account.
Unfortunately - or rather, fortunately for the chocolate industry - the paraffin
lamp became popular just at this time, and from then on the Swiss, like most of
us, used candles mainly to decorate their Christmas trees. But Daniel Peter's
interest in Vevey was not confined to candles; he also had an eye on Fanny
Cailler, the eldest daughter of François-Louis Cailler. And so, almost
accidentally, he discovered chocolate. But he didn't let matters rest there.
Like a true Swiss, he took milk and combined it with chocolate. 1875 was the
proud year of Daniel Peter's invention of milk chocolate. We should be grateful
to him; for most of us, chocolate without rnilk wouldn't taste half as nice.
|
