Rating: 
Summary: Pick and Choose
Review: This book didn't really speak to me. I was disappointed with the amount of photos and boring commentary in much of the text. The chapter on the social influence of chocolate was a total snooze for me, but other readers may like it.Many of the chapter catagories were bland with mediocre recipes. As far as the cocoa nibs...I say, who cares.Out of the 90 or so recipes, I saw only 19 that looked interesting.
On a brighter note, some of the aforementioned recipes were really astounding though. I have been looking for a milk chocolate recipe for ice-cream forever and this book delivers.The information on truffles has never been covered before with such depth and was greatly appreciated.
If you want to have more technical knowledge on the workings of chocolate, then this book might be useful to own-otherwise, I suggest borrowing it from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: For serious chocophiles more than casual bakers
Review: This book is an unusual mix of biography and cookbook. How useful or entertaining it will be to you depends on what you're looking for.Alice Medrich is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of the chocolate revolution which is elevating Americans' palates away from mass-produced factory chocolates and toward the kind of diversity and quality we began to see with wines a couple of decades ago. "Bittersweet" tells the story of the author's role in that, from her first discovery of chocolate as a child to the chocolate czarina she is today. The heavy admixture of the author's life story means that there's a lot more of the first-person pronoun than is usual in most cookbooks. If what you're looking for is a comprehensive chocolate cookbook, you may find this title a little heavy on extraneous personal information and a little light on photos. As is becoming the trend in chocolate cooking, the recipes here range far beyond desserts, and include entrees (chopped chicken livers with sherry-cocoa pan sauce, for example), soups, salads, and the like. Most of the emphasis, however, is on baking, mousses, soufflés, and the rest. A generous "Before You Begin" section includes useful notes on buying, storing, and melting chocolate, tools of the trade, and other relevant information. "Chocolate Notes" accompanying most recipes offer additional tips and variations. Personally, I didn't know that Alice Medrich was, in the dust jacket's breathless description, "synonymous with chocolate." And so I found the biographic sections somewhat less than compelling. But her expertise is hard to deny, and the recipes themselves are interesting and frequently tantalizing. This may not be the best cookbook for picking up and browsing through. But for chocophiles interested in learning more about one of the celebrities of the gourmet chocolate world, I'm sure there's more than enough here to whet your appetite.
Rating:
Summary: a great reference
Review: This is one of the best books on chocolate that I have read. I was impressed by this book due to being the first that I have seen that discusses chocolate in truly great detail and in particular, the chocolates that are available to the average cook at home. The book is miles better than Malgieri's book, _Chocolate_, and the recipes are very doable. However, I highly recommend that you read the complete recipe and the proceeding technical introduction to the particulars of the chapter. The chocolate notes section to each recipe is invaluable. It allows the reader/cook much more control than other books who have recipes but do not explain the recipe and how chocolate behaves. The layout is done in a pretty manner and the pictures are done well though, I would have liked more instructive pictures instead of finished product. The text is in a paragraph style and the ingredient and equipment list is broken out in the beginning of each recipe. This book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to learn how to work with chocolate in both sweet and savory ways. It is unique in dealing with grand cru chocolates and provides a very good education on chocolate in its science, craft and art. It is not, however, a beginner's book, this is a book that you read after you are done with being real flashy and want to have a stripped down, certain elegance in one's chocolate endeavours. For the truffle making fanatics, this book is a required read explaining various types of truffles and their construction. I believe that this book is truly going to be a classic in its field especially with chocolate taking a more sophisticated place in the kitchen. Highest recommendation for the pastry/dessert library.
Rating:
Summary: a great reference
Review: This is one of the best books on chocolate that I have read. I was impressed by this book due to being the first that I have seen that discusses chocolate in truly great detail and in particular, the chocolates that are available to the average cook at home. The book is miles better than Malgieri's book, _Chocolate_, and the recipes are very doable. However, I highly recommend that you read the complete recipe and the proceeding technical introduction to the particulars of the chapter. The chocolate notes section to each recipe is invaluable. It allows the reader/cook much more control than other books who have recipes but do not explain the recipe and how chocolate behaves. The layout is done in a pretty manner and the pictures are done well though, I would have liked more instructive pictures instead of finished product. The text is in a paragraph style and the ingredient and equipment list is broken out in the beginning of each recipe. This book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to learn how to work with chocolate in both sweet and savory ways. It is unique in dealing with grand cru chocolates and provides a very good education on chocolate in its science, craft and art. It is not, however, a beginner's book, this is a book that you read after you are done with being real flashy and want to have a stripped down, certain elegance in one's chocolate endeavours. For the truffle making fanatics, this book is a required read explaining various types of truffles and their construction. I believe that this book is truly going to be a classic in its field especially with chocolate taking a more sophisticated place in the kitchen. Highest recommendation for the pastry/dessert library.
Rating: 
Summary: The last word in chocolate
Review: This sensuous celebration of chocolate, both the familiar standard kinds and the new high-percentage premiums, invites the reader to experiment. Medrich introduces many recipes with her own experiments, explaining the evolution of her methods and suggesting other adjustments for varied results. Many recipes include variations and each ends with a "chocolate note," describing the effects of various percentages of chocolate. The book begins with a primer: "details that make a difference" in preparation, equipment, chocolate and other ingredients. Recipe chapters include Ice Cream and Brownies; Tortes; Truffles and Mousses (with methods for avoiding salmonella); Soufflés and Confections; Specialty Cakes and Glazes; Cakes, Pies and Cookies; Playing with Cocoa Beans and Savory Dishes. Medrich concludes with a guide to high-percentage chocolates, including formulas for substitution, and winds up with a glossary and a sources list. The luscious photographs of such things as Strawberry Celebration Cake, Molten Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcakes with Marbled Glaze, Triple Mousses, even Wild Mushroom Ragout, should be avoided by those with diet plans - although most chapters include at least one low-fat recipe. Meticulously organized and up-to-the-minute, and dotted with informative, opinionated, and entertaining essays, this is for true chocolate lovers at any level of skill.
Rating:
Summary: Chocolate Perfection
Review: What a book this is - I've made several recipes (cookies, brownies, a cake, and easy, do-ahead individual chocolate souffles), none difficult, all stand-out fabulous. The key is access to high quality chocolate - my local grocery store now carries Scharffen Berger - because these recipes are designed to let it shine through. Obviously carefully researched and written, this book has high quality recipes (most important!) as well as detailed background information. Great fun - I'm very pleased with this purchase.
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