The Bottom Line
Any chocoholic will love the tempting recipes and interesting facts about chocolate found in this book.
Pros
- Incredible recipes using chocolate for savory dishes as well as dessert.
- A great resource for understanding everything about chocolate's history, use and processing.
- A good overview of the techniques required for cooking with chocolate.
Cons
- None found.
Description
- More than 100 recipes using chocolate.
- Recipes contributed both by the founders of Scharffen Berger chocolate as well as other famous chefs such as Alice Medrich.
- Delicious photos of many recipes as well as photos of cacao plantations and cacao processing.
Guide Review - The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg
Let's face it, as a terminal chocoholic, it's difficult for me to be objective about this book. On the other hand, maybe that's a good thing, because this book was written for other incurable cases like myself. Although I fell in love with chocolate many years ago, this book serves to remind me why. The combination of enticing photographs (you've got to appreciate the color brown in all of its many shades), and the collection of recipes, each more seductive than the last, makes this book irresistable to fans of the cacao bean. You'll learn all about the origins and history of chocolate, techniques for making the most of it in your cooking, and fun facts that just add additional flavor to your passion. The hardest part of this book will be deciding which recipe to try first. Will it be one from the Intensely Chocolate category such as Chocolate Pudding Cakes? A less intense recipe from the Essentially Chocolate chapter such as Chocolate Ginger Pots de Creme? Or perhaps you'll dare to try a savory dish like the Chile-Marinated Flank Steak. No matter which you choose first, this book will keep you coming back for more.
