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
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
