Book of The Day ~ Chocolate: The Exquisite...

Book of The Day ~ Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence

Hello members of ~ Chocolate Lovers~ and anyone else who stumbles upon this review.

"What use are cartridges in battle? I always carry chocolate instead."

George Bernard Shaw

One of the things I really enjoy is collecting miniature, or at least very small, books. Most of them are about two and a half inches by three inches, are hardcover, and have a dust jacket. Many of them are full texts of larger books, while some just contain excerpts. I have so many that my Househusband had to build me a bookcase to hang on the wall which holds these special treasures. Over the years, I have received many of them as gifts for birthdays, Mother's Day, or Valentines, and a great deal of them have been found in my Christmas stocking like "Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is edited by Brian Perrin; the chocolates are supplied by Aux Petits Delices of Wayne Pennsylvania (Proprietor, Patrick Gauthron); the recipes come from the book "Cocolat" published in 1990, written by Alice Medrich; and it is filled with beautiful photographs by Maggie Wochele.

Text

"Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is organized with an introduction and five sections: In the Introduction, there's a quick history of chocolate, its mythology, uses, and travels through history. The other five sections are: The Quintessential Indulgence; Chocolate Cravings; Snack Break; Chocoholics; and Chocolate Culture. Snack Break includes recipes for three delicious desserts: Walnut Squares, Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Tart, and Chocolate Decadence. These are comprehensive recipes that include lists of special equipment needed, ingredients, the process for making the dessert, and ways to serve it. The other four parts are filled with quotations from chefs, celebrities, politicos and writers that pertain to the topic at hand such as in The Quintessential Indulgence-my favorite quote is from Elaine Gonzalez, a 20^th century artist, "Chocolate! Now that is a word that conjures up describable ecstasies. Truffles, bon bons, peppermint patties, lollipops, cakes, cookies and more. Breathes there a man, woman or child who has not lusted after it, devoured it, and moments later, dreamed of it still?"

Illustrations

"Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is truly as tantalizing as the chocolate confections within its pages. The pictures by photographer Maggie Wochele, are beautiful. The cover is a glossy color photograph of beautifully crafted chocolates sitting on a gold marbleized surface. The top and bottom of the picture is adorned by a gold band and the title is set in a lovely scripted font. The page edges are gold leaf on all three exposed sides. The end papers are photographs of a surface sprinkled with cocoa. There are full page (and some double pages) photos of desserts and chocolates throughout as well as small images of the same spotted with recipes and quotations. This book looks almost good enough to eat.

Who is the Intended Reader?

"Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is the perfect book for anybody young or old, male or female, friend or foe, who likes to eat chocolate, savor chocolate, look at chocolate, read about chocolate, or dream about chocolate in its many forms. It is a great size to slip into a Christmas stocking, goodie bag, or greeting card such as a Mother's Day card, perhaps?

What I Like

"Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is a beautiful book about the most beautiful food and is just the right size to carry along or display like I do on a special shelf with my other miniature books. In addition, this book is calorie free-that is until it spurs you to stop at the chocolate shop for some of the real stuff.

What I Don't Like

The only thing that I don't like about "Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is that there are 73 pages out of the 128 that have no image of chocolate on them whatsoever. I know it would probably be overkill, but I would not hesitate to put a picture of chocolate on every page should I write such a book.

Final Recommendation

"Chocolate: The Exquisite Indulgence" is the perfect size to fit into a Christmas stocking or greeting card (Mother's Day cards comes to mind), and would be especially appreciated by anybody looking to add some more chocolate to their life.

If you liked this book review, you might like to read some of my other book reviews which you can find by clicking on this link.