| In association with |
 |
|
Learn to COOK - The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes
|
List Price: $32.50
Our Price: $23.73
Your Save: $ 8.77 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.6374
EAN: 9781580081436
ISBN: 1580081436
Label: Ten Speed Press
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2001-09
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Studio: Ten Speed Press
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Lick your lips, don your apron and settle your specs as the book for serious chocoholics make its cultural, historical and culinary debut - Beautifully produced hardback with full-colour illustrations - Includes 25 mouth-watering recipes from Internationally known pastry chefs and chocolatiers:no chocolate lover could - or should - withstand - Instructs the true would-be chocolate connoisseur 'how to taste' the heavenly food, offers a cultural history of chocolate for the intellectually inclined cognoscenti, and identifies the Cacao bean for the hopeful chocolate specialist - A flavoursome rich, smooth, indulgent chocolate opus ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: We've learned to taste the difference between great and good wines, wonderful and not-so-wonderful breads and heavenly and marginal cheeses. Now chocoalte, the world's most coveted indulgence for over 4000 years get its turn. Cacao importer and chocolate expert Maricell Presilla takes chocoholics to new territory - to the almost primeval plantations of Latin America, where the world's first and finest cacaos are grown. With 25 recipes, and directions for making chocolate at home, Presilla elevates our taste for the food of the gods to a whole new levels
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Coffee table book that also has true substance
Comment: _The New Taste of Chocolate_ has the beautiful pictures of a coffee table book, but it has a lot of academic substance and a lot of value to the reader.
The main chapters are:
- Growing Up with Cacao
- A Natural and Cultural History of Chocolate
- From Cacao to Chocolate
- Identifying Cacao
- Tasting Chocolate
- Recipes
There is also a glossary, and a list of companies to order fine chocolate from.
For a beginner like myself, who loved chocolate but hadn't progressed much beyond Hershey's with Almonds when I read the book, _The New Taste of Chocolate_ was very educational. It explained the path from cacao bean to chocolate bar, and it also explained the difference between dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. It explained how cocoa powder comes from chocolate, why chocolate is so difficult to make candy with if you don't know what you're doing, and why fancier recipes will sometimes specify chocolate manufacturer and cacao percentage.
It was also quite interesting to read about the guidelines for tasting chocolate. The discussion about criollo, forastero, and trinitario cacao plants was very fascinating from a scientific standpoint. I later found that what is true for cacao trees is true for many other types of plants (including wheat): the plants that make the tastiest & highest quality edible parts are also the least productive and most delicate, so growers & breeders have to choose whether to grow something that will almost certainly produce a less-desired but still profitable crop, or to grow something that has an uncertain yield but is highly profitable should the plant actually produce anything.
The recipes were also interesting. After reading this book, I became more adventurous in my chocolate-tasting and started trying some of the European imports I see in the local grocery stores. My only regret is I am now knowledgeable enough and my tastes are spoiled enough that M&Ms and Hersheys with Almonds seem pretty bland.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Riveting reading for the chocolate lover
Comment: For anyone with more than a passing interest in chocolate and it's origins, this is an absolutely riveting read - packed with information and astonishing anecdotes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Story of Chocolate
Comment: The first chapter is a view of chocolate from both a historical and botanical perspective. The next chapter traces the complete life cycle of chocolate, from seedling, to mature tree, fruit, harvest, drying, fermentation, shipment, factory processing, and transformation into chocolate bars. The third chapter concentrates on the diversity of different cacao tree varieties, from criollo, to forasteros, to trinitarios. The last chapter is a collection of recipes that were developed for specified brands of chocolate.The main strength of this book is that it teaches the chocolate lover that it really does matter about the cacao beans, just as it matters with coffee beans or wine grapes. Where was it grown? What variety is it? How was the fermentation and drying handled? Was it shipped properly? What types of beans were blended? What does the final product taste like? Is it high quality or just another mass-produced blend? The flavor of chocolate varies all over the place, and one must know about the cacao beans it was produced from. This book makes a strong case for the opinion that if the consumer does not demand better quality chocolate, the great producers of the world will not give it to them. I learned that the expensive "boutique" brands of chocolate (E Guittard and Scharffenberger to name only 2 local such companies) really are worth the extra money. If nothing else, this book should raise the awareness of the chocoholic of the quality of the chocolate. The good news is that the chocolate companies really are capable of producing superior quality chocolate if the consumer demands it. On the whole, this book is a mixed lot. It will inspire you to try all of the new, expensive "boutique" brands of chocolates. The recipes are intriguing in concept, but rather ordinary; only a couple of the Mexican-inspired hot chocolates are of interest. The most important part of this book is the list of resources listed in the back where you can learn about and buy all these chocolates. Also listed are books, classes, and websites that are very valuable sources of information. On the other hand, once you finish reading the book, it will then become just another coffee table book. You will not be tempted to open this book again, except maybe to get that special website for that special brand of chocolate that you cannot find in the grocery store.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Really Nice Book
Comment: I have read a lot of chocolate books, but this one took my breath away. Beautifully written. The author's love of cacao shows through on every page. Great pictures. Very informative.
Customer Rating:
Summary: All Hail the Food of the Gods
Comment: While the recounting of the history of chocolate along with a complete step-by-step perusal of the journey from bean to bar may offer compelling enough reason to purchase this book, I think the chapters on tasting the different qualities of that sinful commodity even more coersive. Anyone who likes to use chocolate in their culinary creations, may find the variety of finer qualities of couverture daunting. Which to use when whipping up a delicate mousse or a flourless liquid center cake? What spices compliment and which deterioriate? Never fear--the author diligently answers all such queries by recounting a tasting procedure which explains color, flavor characterizations, desirable and undesirable aromas and texture to well-educate your palate while insuring your choice of a specific chocolate to fit your expectations.
In addition, some twenty recipes are included to showcase the wide ranging possibilities of this food of the gods. From truffles to sachertorte, you cannot want for a more delicious palette of ideas to enhance your taste buds.
The layout of the book is unsurpassed; the photos are as luscious as the subject, making it the perfect gift
Recommended to all those who enjoy discovering new things about things you already love.
Also recommended to compliment this book is the novel "The Discovery of Chocolate", which traces the history of chocolate from discovering its Aztec roots to the production of Hershey's chocolate bars as seen through the eyes of a miraculously slow-aging Spaniard of the 15th century. Delicious descriptions of sumptious chocolate creations abound. Have a homemade hot chocolate ready to sip and savor while you read.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
