Product Description

The Great book every chocophile has been waiting for, pastry chef David Lebovitz's guide is a jam-packed snapshot of the global chocolate picture. In this compact volume, he gives a succinct cacao botany lesson, explains the process of chocolate making, runs through chocolate terminology and types, presents information on health benefits, offers an evaluating and buying primer, profiles the world's top chocolate makers and chocolatiers (with a whole chapter dedicated to Paris alone!), and shares dozens of little-known factoids in sidebars throughout the book. More than 30 of his favorite chocolate recipes—from Black-Bottom Cupcakes to Homemade Rocky Road Candy, Orange and Rum Chocolate Mousse Cake to Double Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies—are icing on the cake. His extensive resource section (with websites for international ordering) can bring the world's best chocolate to every door. A self-avowed chocoholic, Lebovitz nibbles chocolate every day—and with THE GR! EAT BOOK OF CHOCOLATE in hand, he figures the rest of us will too.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168284 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 164 pages

From the Publisher
* A compact connoisseur's guide, with recipes, to today's cutting-edge array of chocolates and chocolate makers from former Chez Panisse pastry chef David Lebovitz.

* Includes more than 50 location and food photographs.

* The New York Times on Lebovitz's first ook: "Instructions are clear and simple, and the recipes are so good that it becomes clear what a master baker he is."

About the Author
DAVID LEBOVITZ was a pastry chef at Chez Panisse for 12 years and at Bruce Cost's critically acclaimed Monsoon restaurant in San Francisco. He attended Callebaut College in Wieze, Belgium, and has trained at the Ecole Lenotre in Paris. Named one of the top five pastry chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, he teaches cooking classes throughout North America and leads culinary tours in Paris and other European cities. He is the author of Room for Dessert and Ripe for Dessert (both HarperCollins), and a collaborator on The Baker's Dozen Cookbook (Morrow). His articles have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers. David lives in San Francisco and Paris.

Customer Reviews

Descriptive book
I enjoyed this book. It had a lot of detailed information including website reference as well as a lots of yummy recipes I can't wait to make.

Chocolate facts and info as well as recipes
Excellent book. One of the very few books on chocolate that I own that actually contains lots of info about chocolate. Previously I've only collected recipe books but I have already read this book cover to cover and was delighted with all the information (valuable insights into chocolate manufacture, tasting, etc). The recipes look fantastic - I have yet to try them but I am very impressed by the information presented on chocolate. I wish I had purchased this book years ago before I started making chocolates and chocolate desserts it would have saved lots of time and mistakes.

Excellent intro to top-quality, tasteful chocolate.
Handy international travel/shopping guide and well-focused recipe collection. Very accurate and informative. Compact narrow book format is great for suitcases but a pain for comfortable armchair reading. Elegant, GORGEOUS photos are a big plus, but excessive wasteful "white space" and generous text-spacing (leading) should have been saved instead for a larger coffee-table book. Note that much of the shopping/address info in the 2004 edition reviewed here might need updating, so check if the publisher has done so.