Chocolate Obsession: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor [Hardcover]

Michael Recchiuti (Author), Fran Gage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

Known as the "Picasso of chocolatiers," Michael Recchiuti creates confections that are every bit as daring and original as any of his namesake's artworks. But unlike the painter, the chocolate maker has made it possible for even the amateur to achieve his artistry. In Chocolate Obsession Recchiuti, owner of the famed artisanal chocolate company in San Francisco, divulges his professional secrets and techniques, allowing home cooks to reproduce his exquisite confections in their own kitchens.

Opening with a complete discussion of chocolate from bean to bar, the book goes on to offer detailed instructions for dipped chocolates, truffles, and molded chocolates, including Recchiuti's signature ganache flavors: Earl Grey tea, burnt caramel, tarragon with grapefruit. Also featured are recipes for such sinfully delicious treats as Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Truffle Cream Filling, Double Dark Chocolate Soufflés, and Rocky Recchiuti Brownies. With more than 60 recipes in all, this book will satisfy even the most obsessive chocolate lovers among us.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's Chemistry 101 all over again. But never have science textbooks featured close-to-three-dimensional photographs (courtesy of pro Maren Caruso), such an elegant array of recipes (more than 60), and ideas and flavors that will bowl over every reader. Yet consider that the main author is Michael Recchiuti, a San Franciscan called the Picasso of chocolatiers, and that his cohort, Fran Gage, once owned a locally esteemed patisserie and now writes for national gourmet-type publications. That combination of expertise creates a beyond-the-novice collection of both recipes and information that chocoholic bakers will be hard-pressed to do without. Unusual flavors (for instance, key lime pears and lavender vanilla ganache) and two-page features (Michael shopping for produce at a Bay-area farm, for instance) culminate with cooking directions to produce a book that's so much more than a coffee-table object. Just adopt the chef's philosophy: Respect it and give it time. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Michael Recchiuti started his chocolate business in San Francisco in 1997 after a successful career at some of the top restaurants in Philadelphia. His chocolates were soon recognized for their sophistication and originality, and they have been featured in the New York Times, Food & Wine, and many other publications. He lives in San Francisco.

Fran Gage owned the award-winning Fran Gage Patisserie Française in San Francisco for ten years. She now writes about food for the San Francisco Chronicle, Saveur, and Fine Cooking, among other publications, and has published several books, including Bread and Chocolate and A Sweet Quartet. Gage lives in San Francisco.

Maren Caruso is a San Francisco-based photographer who specializes in food photography. Her work has appeared in Wine and Spirits, Chocolatier, and Taste magazines, and in the STC books Grilling and Barbecuing and Great Grilled Cheese.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang; First Edition edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584794577
• ISBN-13: 978-1584794578
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.9 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Chocolate

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Selection of Advanced Tastes and Techniques. January 15, 2006

By B. Marold HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

`Chocolate Obsession' by San Francisco chocolatier, Michael Recchiuti and San Francisco Patisser and writer, Fran Gage is a book of recipes and techniques from the point of view of the very high end chocolate candy maker. It is to chocolate and Thomas Keller's `French Laundry Cookbook' is to the recipes of American `haute cuisine'. If you wish to find an introductory book on chocolate making, get a copy of the excellent book `Bittersweet' by Alice Medrich, whiich the authors cite in their bibliography and which I have reviewed and found an excellent introduction to the subject.

The book centers around the very distinctive chocolate styles of Recchiuti Chocolates, which are distinguished by, among other things, the use of a lot of flavors one does not typically find paired with chocolate such as teas, tarragon, cardamom, and especially caramal.

The one thing which makes this book accessible to the experienced chocolate maker is the fact that it deals primarily with the very simplest forms of chocolate candy such as truffles, dipped and moulded chocolates, `snacks' such as s'mores, chocolate barks, chocolate drinks, and sauces. In all this, caramel is much more than just another ingredient for Recchiuti. It appears over and over in many different forms from caramelized nuts in the `snacks' to flavorings in ice cream.

There are things in this book for the novice who has aspirations to be a skillful chocolatier. While I'm sure I probably have them in at least one of my hundreds of cookbooks, I'm pleased to find recipes for both graham crackers and marshmallow, leading to the ability to create entirely homemade s'mores. There are a few other non-chocolate recipes such as Key Lime pears and candied citrus peel, but all of these are pressed into the service of chocolate in one way or another.

In the early sections in the `All About Chocolate' and in the section `Instructions for Tempering Chocolate' I think the authors falter a bit in their explanations of how this works and why. They cite Harold McGee's `On Food and Cooking' in their bibliography but from my reading of McGee on tempering, it seems these authors didn't consult McGee as carefully as they should when explaining these basics.

Another symptom that this is really a `graduate level' course in chocolate making is the fact that there are no diagrams illuminating the techniques. This is an expecially noisome omission, as chocolate making techniques typically don't appear in the standard cooking texts such as the works of Jacques Pepin. I even got the sense that some of their statements about chocolate composition were simply wrong, although this is largely irrelevant to why you want to read this book.

If you are already an accomplished chocolate candy maker (and not just a baker who happens to use chocolate in baked desserts), this book offers a wealth of new ideas and tastes. All others should seek out a more basic book or take a good course in chocolate working.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Delicious October 8, 2005

By Foodie NYC

Format:Hardcover

This is one of the most wonderful books on chocolate that I have ever read and cooked with. I had the opportunity to visit Recchiuti Confections when I was in San Francisco this spring and was thrilled when I saw this book -- Michael Recchiuti sharing his secrets to chocolate making and making wonderful chocolate desserts. I have made several of the recipes already and they are all wonderful. The Gingerbread Cupcakes with a White Chocolate Lemon Topping is marvelous and the Rocky Recchiuti Brownies are the best I've ever made. This book will make your holiday baking out of this world and the book makes a terrific gift for any food lover on your shopping list.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Practical December 19, 2005

By M. Drew

Format:Hardcover

This is not the book for you if you're impatient with precision and specifics; if you want good results, you'll do what Michael Recchiuti tells you to do. You'll buy the higher-butterfat butter, you'll use the Scharffen-Berger or Valrhona and chuck the Hershey's, and you'll be so glad you did, because every recipe --and I mean every single one of the seven or eight recipes I have tried from this book thus far-- has been fantastic.

I would not call this a good beginner's cookbook, though the photography is gorgeous enough to qualify this as a coffee table book even for those who don't want to get in the kitchen. Some baking experience is helpful, as is a well-equipped kitchen (stand-mixer, immersion blender, heavy-bottomed pots for sauces etc). This is an outstanding book and I highly recommend it.