Dessert By Candy

New Cookbook Acquisition

I had a rare day of leisure today because I somehow managed to squeeze in my two hour workout before my facial appointment. As soon as my appointment was done, I felt so thrilled to have a whole day ahead of me with nothing planned in particular. My first stop was J-Town in Markham for some Japanese treats and I saw this gorgeous shrub blooming with pale pink flowers. Spring is here at last! I saw some bottled pure yuzu juice on sale for $12 and I was very tempted to get a bottle. I wonder if it has enough acidity to make a yuzu curd?

My next stop was Metro Square, a place that I have not returned in years. I used to shop there very often because of the Taiwanese grocery store. Since that store was gone, I don't really have a reason to visit. I don't know what came over me today but I decided to drop by just because. I'm sure glad I did! There is a bookstore which specializes in books published in Taiwan. Taiwanese publishers have, for many years, done a great job of translating many Japanese-authored cookbooks to Chinese. With such a vibrant pastry scene, the dessert cookbooks from Japan range anywhere from intricate to innovative, but always very attractive. These cookbooks are characterized by the colourful step-by-step pictures as well as the marriage of Japanese flavour/ingredients with French pastry.

My two new acquisitions are "I Love Maracons" and "Dessert In A Glass". Macarons used to be some mysterious French treat that appeared impossible to attempt in my own kitchen. Of course the mystery ceased to exist once I figured out how to duplicate them with my own two hands. However, macarons continue to be a finicky thing to make. This cookbook devotes entirely to macarons wtih step-by-step instruction, tips for troubleshooting, flavour variation, filling variation, packaging idea, and even recipes to use up the leftover egg yolks. It makes me happy just flipping through the pages.

"Dessert In A Glass" is a topic dear to my heart. Ever since my introduction to Pierre Herme's Emotion series of dessert, I've fallen in love with creating dessert in a glass filled with layers of constrasting taste, texture, and colour. This cookbook offer many inspiration such as the snowman in honey yogurt gelee on the left. I picked up some cool technique including making homemade "tofu" by shaping a gelatinous mixture with a piece of Saran wrap and setting it in an ice bath. There are also discussion of different setting agents that introduced me to all the different root starches used in traditional Japanese dessert. I am very excited to try every one of the recipes in this book!

Inspiring Words From M. Linxe

I found a copy of La Maison du Chocolat: Transcendent Desserts by the Legendary Chocolatier at half-price last weekend. It contains very enticing photographs, some of which are the pastry from the recipes and many of the signature products from La Maison du Chocolat. I have not yet tried any of the recipes but I do plan to experiment with the florentine and the chocolate fruit cake soon. The florentine I bought from this chocolatier is one of the best I've tasted. It's crunchy, doesn't stick to my teeth, fragrant with citrusy scent from the candied orange peel, and the sweetness is kept in check by the dark chocolate.

Like most recipe books, there's a section in the front of the book that contains "words from the author". This is pretty much a wildcard section of any books...some can be exceedingly thoughtful, some can be vain, some are saccharine, some are preachy, some are just down right boring. However it is written, I do enjoy reading this section because it gives me more of a glimpse into the author than the recipes would reveal. After reading La Maison du Chocolat, I was totally floored by its founder's, M. Robert Linxe, passion for his craft. This chapter draws comparison of chocolate-making with jewelry design, composing music, and perfume-making, which makes perfect sense. Furthermore, it is also informative in the sense that it tells us about the care that the artisans at La Maison du Chocolat put in to create a well-balance and delicious bonbon. Everything from the blending of different cocoa beans from different origins to create distinctive layers of flavours to the matching of flavour ganache to the selection of different couverture chocolates that complements the ganache are covered in this book.

However, after reading this book, I am most inspired by the following quote from M. Linxe. I think it captures perfectly his passion for chocolate and his pursuit of excellence.

"You can never achieve perfection," says the founder of La Maison du Chocolat. "It takes stubbornness, perseverance, and a lot, a lot of hard work, to get...somewhere. You must taste, discern, and evaluate. But this 'somewhere', for me, is still out of reach. Even though I have not yet attained it, I am content with what I have done. Creation is a never-ending process, constantly improving upon itself."

Technorati: chocolate

The Chocolate Connoisseur

I recently read this book The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloe Doutre-Roussel. As the chocolate buyer of the UK gourmet department store Fortnum & Mason, Ms. Doutre-Roussel is, without a doubt, extremely knowledgeable on the subject. Her passion for chocolate shines through the pages of this delightful book. This book covered quite a few topics such as the history of chocolate, introducing the different types of chocolate, how to tell the difference between good and bad chocolate, etc. Ultimately though, Ms. Doutre-Roussel tries to arm the readers with the knowledge to learn how to taste chocolate like a connoisseur. She includes some very practical guidelines in her book on chocolate tasting such as what to observe using your five senses, how to look for the different notes in the chocolate, when is the best time to conduct chocolate tasting, all of which I find tremendously useful. Although she may sound preachy and a little snobbish at times, her passion for chocolate is contagious enough that instead of being turned off by this attitude, I'm eager to learn more. The best part that I like about this book is the chapter on throwing a chocolate tasting party. I have a feeling that I will host a party very soon.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves chocolate and would like to get more enjoyment out of this subject by learning to approach chocolate tasting just like wine tasting.

Technorati: chocolate, Chloe Doutre-Roussel

My Cookbook Library

As a haphazardly organized (isn't that an oxymoron?) person, lists make me happy. I've been slowly building up my cookbook library in the past few years and I think I've reached a point where I have enough books lying around the house to warrant a nice catalogue. I would like to start with my English and French cookbooks first and perhaps as I have more time, I'll include my Japanese and Chinese collection in the catalogue as well.

General Cooking

1. The All New, All Purpose Joy Of Cooking
2. Gordon Ramsay's Secrets
3. In The Heat Of The Kitchen: US paperback version of Gordon Ramsay's Secrets. This is an autographed copy given to me by L.
4. Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals: This is another autographed copy given to me by L.
5. Savoring Provence: Recipes and Reflections on Provencal Cooking: This is a gift from BM.
6. Complete Entertaining Cookbook: Another cookbook from the Williams-Sonoma series. It is a fun read that organizes menus by occasions including tablesetting suggestions.
7. The Way To Cook (Julia Child): This is my reference book on French cooking.

Professional Cooking

1. El Bulli: 1998-2002 (Ferran Adria)

Professional Baking

1. Le Grand Livre De Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse: Desserts et Patisserie (Alain Ducasse, Frederic Robert)
2. Patisserie of Pierre Hermé (Pierre Hermé): An autographed copy that SC kindly purchased for me from Paris.
3. Ph 10 : Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé (Pierre Hermé)
4. Larousse Des Desserts (Pierre Hermé)

Dessert & Pastry

1. Plaisirs Sucrés (Pierre Hermé)
2. Desserts By Pierre Hermé (Dorie Greenspan, Pierre Hermé)
3. Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé (Dorie Greenspan, Pierre Hermé)
4. Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From The City's Best Pastry Shops (Dorie Greenspan)
5. Baking With Julia (Dorie Greenspan)
6. Gordon Ramsay's Just Desserts (Gordon Ramsay)
7. The Last Course: The Desserts Of Gramercy Tavern (Claudia Flemming)
8. Simply Sensational Desserts (Francois Payard)
9. Gérard Mulot : Pâtissier à Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Gérard Mulot, Alba Pezone, Laurence Mouton-Furon)
10. The Cake Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum)
11. The Pie And Pastry Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum)
12. In The Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker's Companion (Regan Daley)
13. Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques
14. La Maison Du Chocolat (Robert Linxe)

Cookies

1. Rose's Christmas Cookies (Rose Levy Beranbaum)
2. Cookies Unlimited (Nick Malgieri)
3. The Good Cookie (Tish Boyle)

Bread

1. The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering The Art Of Extraordinary Bread (Peter Reinhart)
2. The Bread Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum)

Food Writing

1. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly (Anthony Bourdain)
2. A Cook's Tour: In Search Of The Perfect Meal (Anthony Bourdain)
3. The Man Who Ate Everything (Jeffrey Steingarten)
4. It Must've Been Something I Ate (Jeffrey Steingarten)
5. Cooking For Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship, With Recipes (Amanda Hesser)
6. The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen (Jacques Pepin)
7. On Rue Tatin: Living And Cooking In A French Town (Susan Herrmann Loomis)
8. French Lessons: Adventures With Knife, Fork, And Corkscrew (Peter Mayle)
9. A Year In Provence (Peter Mayle)
10. The Making Of A Chef: Mastering Heat At The Culinary Institute (Michael Ruhlman)
11. The Soul Of A Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection (Michael Ruhlman)
12. On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen (Harold McGee)
13. Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring The Science Of Flavour (Hervé This)
14. The Chocolate Connoisseur (Chloe Doutre-Roussel): My review is available here.

Reference

1. French Cheeses: The Visual Guide To More Than 350 Cheeses From Every Region Of France (Kazuko Masui)
2. Food Lover's Guide To Paris (Patricia Wells)

A Weekend Of Book-Shopping

I acquired quite a number of food magazines and cookbooks this weekend of various languages--some I understand, some I don't. Interestingly enough, I did not buy any of the books in my usual haunts for books.

While I was waiting for my dad at the airport, I stopped by the newstand out of boredom. I bought Fine Cooking's Weekend Cooking and Feb/Mar 2006 Fine Cooking magazine. There is a master muffin recipe in the magazine that allows for many fresh fruit combination. I would very much like to give it a try this week. The weekend cooking special issue is intriguing because it contains many menus with corresponding preparation schedules. Since I like to entertain, this would be rather helpful for casual get-togethers.

On Saturday, I went shopping at J-Town for japanese groceries. I stopped by the bookstore out of curiosity (and I can't even read japanese!) and I couldn't help but be attracted to the lifestyle magazine Orange Page. With enticing photography and special features on make-at-home izakaya dishes and osechi ryori, I just had to get it. There was an interesting article that features a cook-off between two single guys on instant curry dishes. None of the recipes take over an hour to prepare and over half of them make use of instant curry cubes. I think even with my minimal understanding of the language, I manage to figure out a few of these recipes. I'm hoping to give the bacon and egg curry fried rice a try soon. In addition to the magazines, I found some interesting books in the consignment section of the store. At the bargain price of $3.80, I bought "Tetsujin Chen Kenchi no Chuka Ryori" (Ironchef Chen Kenchi's Chinese Cuisine). I probably wouldn't make anything from this book but it would be a hoot to share it with SN. I also bought a cake & pastry book aimed for beginners. It contains a hodge-podge of desserts from european, japanese, and chinese origin. I doubt that I would cook from it either but it offers great inspiration in terms of flavour combination and presentation.

My last acquisition came from T&T Supermarket when I was (again) making my weekly grocery run. They had a table set up near the fish department with a bunch of cookbooks written in chinese. I bought "Japanesque Delicious Meals" authored by a Taiwan chef trained in japanese cooking. This book focuses on homestyle dishes which would be useful for my weeknight meals.

Technorati: cookbook, Chen Kenichi