Cookbook Profile: The New Taste of Chocolate

The New Taste of Chocolate
A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes

by Maricel E. Presilla

New Taste of Chocolate
Chocolate. What other food has such a large and devoted legion of fans? Yet it's likely that many chocoholics have little or no idea of where chocolate comes from or how it is made. Most would be shocked to learn it's a fruit—a big, strange-looking pod, the size and shape of a football, that sprouts right out of the tree trunk in shades of bright orange, yellow, red, and green. Or that the sumptuous taste of chocolate is achieved through fermentation. Or that it can only be grown within 20 degrees of the equator (so that famous Swiss or Belgian chocolate is most likely from Venezuela).

Chocolate is truly a celestial food, but The New Taste of Chocolate proves that its earthly roots are even more fascinating. Accompanied by gorgeous photos, author Maricel Presilla guides readers into the Latin American tropics to see the human face of cacao farming and to learn its history-the miraculous leap from bitter cacao seed to food of royalty in Aztec Mexico, and later Spain, Europe, and beyond.

The candy in the box begins with the bean.

Today, people have learned to taste the difference between great and not-so-good wine, cheese, and coffee. They've taken an interest in artisanal foods, and they demand quality. Not surprisingly, the flavor and quality of chocolate depends on how it is grown and produced. The New Taste of Chocolate introduces the new breed of chocolate manufacturers who are going back to old recipes and techniques to make amazing chocolate.

Chocolate fiends will gobble up 23 heavenly recipes from internationally known pastry chefs and chocolatiers such as Fran Bigelow's Deep Chocolate Torte, Elizabeth Falkner's Scharffen Berger Roulade, and Mary Cech's Chocolate-Coconut Soup with Fresh Bananas and Honey-Cocoa Wafers. The New Taste of Chocolate also includes:

* How to host a chocolate tasting party at home

* A lesson on chocolate appreciation and selection

* The tricky task of tempering chocolate

* A directory of chocolate companies, classes, and tours

A chocolate revolution is brewing! The New Taste of Chocolate will change the way chocolate lovers think about their favorite indulgence.

"It's not a coincidence that chocolate and gold are sold in bars. Chocolate lovers who treasure history and recipes will find this book as valuable as it is delicious." —Flo Braker

Maricel Presilla comes from a family of cacao farmers and is a respected culinary historian with a Ph.D. in medieval history from New York University. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Saveur, Food & Wine, and Gourmet. She is the president of Gran Cacao, an importer of premium heirloom cacao beans, and the chef and co-owner of Zafra, a pan-Latin restaurant in New Jersey. This is her fourth book.

Buy the Book!

The New Taste of Chocolate
A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes
by Maricel E. Presilla
$29.95 hardcover * 208 pages * full color
ISBN 1-58008-143-6
Publication Date: November 2001
Information provided by the publisher.