The Chocolate Connoisseur (Hardcover)

by Chloe Doutre-Roussel (Author)
Key Phrases: chocolate revolution, cocoa presscake, chocolate profile, Michel Cluizel, Claudio Corallo, Scharffen Berger (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The chocolate buyer for the London department store Fortnum & Mason has taken it upon herself to educate the world about life beyond Snickers bars; the difference between "candy" and true ("artisanal") chocolate, and then between chocolate and chocolates (bonbons); and how to learn to love the good stuff, en route to becoming a chocolate connoisseur oneself, as skilled as any wine or cheese taster. Her approach is that of an unabashed and evangelical snob, a bracing combination of Mary Poppins and Miss Manners. Along the way, Doutre-Roussel skewers some sacred cows—Belgian chocolates, Godiva—and lists with approval a dozen brands most people have never heard of, with, fortunately, mail-order and online sources to find them and instructions on how to savor them when found. This is a beautiful little book, chockfull of charming pictures, maps, charts and graphs, sidebars and boxes of advice, lore and even a few recipes. Paired with a few choco-gourmet samples, it would make a scrumptious Valentine's gift for nearly anyone. (Feb.)
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Review
'sensuous and entertaining' - The Independent on Sunday --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (February 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585424889
• ISBN-13: 978-1585424887
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #746,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Three stars for me, but five for you?, March 19, 2006

By	Nicole S. Urdang (Western New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a life-long chocophile, I have immersed myself (not literally, as someone in this book has!) in the enjoyment of chocolate. Naturally, I am interested in almost everything that has to do with the subject. Chloe Doutre-Roussel's book is a great place to start if you don't know about the different plantations, chocolate history, and her.
I found the book self-serving and a bit disingenuous. She does love talking about Chloe, and, she gives the impression she can eat a pound of chocolate daily and stay quite thin. Only at the end of the book does she tell you that she's exercising a minimum of two hours a day (swims an hour, does power yoga, and walks briskly).
I am not putting her down for her regimen, as that would be hypocritical. I enjoy chocolate and everything else I want to eat guiltlessly because I also love yoga and walking.
Chloe neglects to mention, let alone discuss, the history of slavery in the annals of chocolate lore; nor, does she even alight upon the current situations on the Ivory Coast, where child labor and terrible working conditions still exisit. I found this a huge omission.
Yes, fair trade chocolate may not rival Domori's line, but what about the good karma that comes from knowing no one was hurt producing it for your enjoyment? As she is someone with a great deal of power in the chocolate industry I was sad to see that she gave short shrift to this enormous aspect of the business.
She also omitted chocosphere.com as one of the great resources we have for buying our little delights in the US.
On the other hand, there were a number of things I really enjoyed about this book: *the health benefits of chocolate (not new, but concise)
*how to host a chocolate tasting (though I would include a bit in the beginning where everyone gets to speak about their own chocolate history)
*the art of tasting chocolate (this is also a bit of micro-management, but, then, I can enjoy a glass of wine without parsing out its merits)
*educating you about trends in the industry, the difference between beans, the finest producers
*and, most of all, raising the general awareness of excellent chocolate.
This is a good book for the novice who's developing a passion for more esoteric chocolates, and wants a basic course that's quick and easy to absorb.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Want to learn about chocolate? Then avoid this book!, November 10, 2008

By	Samantha Madell (Dundas, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chocolate Connoisseur (Hardcover)

The Chocolate Connoisseur takes the cake as the worst book I have ever read.

I am a cocoa trader and chocolate manufacturer, with a background in agricultural science. As such, I know a lot about cocoa trees, cocoa beans, and all things chocolate.

I am appalled by the amount, and magnitude, of misinformation in The Chocolate Connoisseur.

For starters, the author lies about her qualifications: contrary to what she writes in her book, Chloe Doutre-Roussel has never worked as an agronomist for the UN. In fact, she has never worked as a professional agronomist at all.

So what if the author lies about being an experienced agronomist? The problem is that she provides very dubious agronomic advice throughout her book. (Doutre-Roussel has an irrational infatuation with fragile, inbred cocoa trees. If her advice - to replace robust cocoa trees with inbred ones - was acted upon, she could one day become famous as the person who destroyed the chocolate industry).

Moving on from agronomy: The Chocolate Connoisseur contains dozens of factual errors about cocoa harvesting, processing, and manufacturing.

Also, The Chocolate Connoisseur's bibliography and referencing is a joke. (The bibliography contains just seven items - or eight, if you count the book by Jancis Robinson that is listed twice. And not a single one of the "scientific studies" Doutre-Roussel alludes to throughout the book is referenced).

To add insult to injury, the book is riddled with spelling mistakes (I counted eleven).

Doutre-Roussel is renowned for her "unbelievable" tasting abilities. Her abilities are, literally, unbelievable. For instance, she thinks that she can smell sucrose (which is actually an odorless substance). She also believes in the so-called "tongue map" (which taste experts have long dismissed as a myth).

In her acknowledgements, the author declares that chocolate is her best friend. Why am I not surprised that Chloe Doutre-Roussel's best friend is an inanimate object?

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, August 12, 2006

By	Food lover (New York and Paris) - See all my reviews

I adore this book. At the core of The Chocolate Connoisseur is a true passion for the subject and a completely selfless wish to share it. It tells the history of chocolate as well as the science behind it in a way that is compelling and interesting. But its strongest point is Chloe's encouragement to form your own opinion and deepen to your appreciation and pleasure - great life lessons indeed. That's what food writing is all about.