A useful, enjoyable read about the restrained debauchery of consuming chocolate with the fruit of the vine.
A concise guide to the art of pairing chocolate dishes with various types of wines.
Although Pech (Chocolate Soiree, 2014, etc.) admits that her background is primarily in chocolate, not wine, she wrote this book in collaboration with one of her fellow chocolatiers, who is an oenophile. As such, the work expands considerably on a chapter from her previous book. She offers a brief history of her entrepreneurial background and how she became involved in wine and chocolate tastings. After discussing the similarities between cacao and grape cultivation, the author presents her technique for proper chocolate and wine tasting in detail. She goes on to offer up a list of 40 different wines, ranging from light white wines, such as zinfandel, to Champagne, port, and dark red wines, such as malbecs. For each, she suggests three different chocolate pairings of different levels of adventurousness. (As a general rule of thumb for readers, she asserts that full-bodied wines pair better with darker chocolates.) The appendices include additional information on how to prepare a tasting, including advice on how to microwave chocolate to create the right consistency. Overall, this book makes for a useful food guide, in large part because of its brevity and direct approach. Pech injects enough wit and humor into her writing that the book never feels like a mere grocery list. She amusingly reminds readers, for example, that if a pairing goes awry, the easiest way to solve it is just to keep drinking the wine to balance everything out. Some of the suggested pairings may be difficult to pull off without substantial preparation, such as candied orange peel dipped in dark chocolate. Then again, one imagines that such difficulty would come with a substantial payoff.
A useful, enjoyable read about the restrained debauchery of consuming chocolate with the fruit of the vine.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1500141899
Page Count: 76
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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