Ed Engoron - Choclatique: 150 Simply Elegant Desserts

T HERE IS NO EDIBLE SUBSTANCE MORE FANTASTIC THAN CHOCOLATE . I T IS NATURES PERFECT FOOD, WHETHER CONSUMED AS A BAR OR USED AS AN INGREDIENT TO MAKE COOKIES, BROWNIES, CAKES, CUSTARDS, ICE CREAMS, DRINKS, AND MORE . I T IS EQUALLY LUSCIOUS AT ALMOST ANY TEMPERATUREWARM, HOT, CHILLED, OR FROZEN . T HERE IS NOTHING I CAN THINK OF THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE TO CHOCOLATE . C HOCOLATE TRULY IS THE NECTAR OF THE GODS .

I owe many of the adventures in my life to food, especially chocolate, strange as that may sound. By a stroke of unparalleled good fortune (and no small amount of hard work, it must be admitted), I have the best job in the world. For more than thirty-five years I have eaten my way through 130 countries, devoured chocolate in most, and have met and been fed by everyone from the locals on an isolated cacao plantation to the royal families of Malaysia and Thailand. I have dined in humble one-room shacks and splendid dining rooms and been welcomed by world-famous chefs, bakers, and chocolatiers.

I have sipped bittersweet, rough-milled chocolate under a jungle canopy in Brazil. I recall a snowy Christmas Eve in Bruges, Belgium, when I bit into fresh, creamy chocolate truffles that brought tears to my eyes. Ive eaten chocolate mole in sleepy little Oaxacan towns and in bustling Mexico City restaurants, and enjoyed freshly baked croissants au chocolat at the Lancaster Hotel off the fabled Champs-lyses in Paris. And I have been fortunate enough to savor each and every one of his wonderful confections with M. Robert Linxe, long worshipped as the premier Paris chocolatier of La Maison du Chocolat.

Chocolate mousses, chocolate ice creams, chocolate crpes, chocolate cakes, chocolate cookies, even chocolate pasta... if its chocolate, Ive been there, seen it, done it, made it, and eaten it. Ive circled the globe in my pursuit to understand chocolate and bring its secrets home for an ever-more discerning and demanding American consumer.

You might say that I have an unnatural passion for or even an addiction to chocolate, which I reason is understandable because there are few foods that arouse such passion in people across the globe. It is a passion that goes beyond the love for the sweetness of ordinary candies or desserts. After all, most people dont crave caramel, whipped cream, or bubble gum on its own. Chocolate is, well, differentvery different for the true chocoholic. Just thinking about chocolate can evoke an extremely pleasurable, almost sexual, response. After all, one of the most pleasant effects of eating chocolate is that great feeling that most people experience after indulging. There are more than three hundred known chemicals naturally occurring in chocolate, and these contribute to its ability to elevate moods and satisfy the deepest craving. Since they cracked the cacao (kah KOW) gene, scientists have been working to isolate the specific chemical compounds that may explain some of the pleasurable effects and health benefits of consuming chocolate.

The more than 150 recipes in Choclatique all call for simple, available, and inexpensive ingredients, as well as a few extravagant ones, and are all based on chocolate ganache, which is the essential building block for our recipes. We rely on five ganaches, and once you master the simple principles of working with ganache, you can produce stunning, professional-looking chocolate creations as well as simpler luscious chocolate delights just minutes before dinner.

As you venture through the pages, you will see Chefs Secrets, and icons that delineate gluten free, dairy free, and vegan. This book is all about the pure indulgence and the love of chocolate, but because we are sensitive to chocolate lovers with special health needs, those on special diets will also learn about great-tasting chocolate.

Take every opportunity you can to nibble a piece of chocolate or sip a nice cup of hot cocoa. Wouldnt the world be a better and healthier place if everyone had a little chocolate every day?