Secrets of Chocolate: A Gourmand’s Trip Through a Top Chef’s Atelier

With pen in hand, graphic artist Franckie Alarcon shadowed a magical chocolate chef and his assistants in their studio, while recording their fabrications of sumptuous, mouth-watering chocolate delights. From the year spent as an observer, an intern, and an eager sampler of the products from the Jacques Genin Chocolate workshop comes this docu-comic diary of how chocolate is made, the intricate research, and trials are undertaken to develop and refine flavors. The reader can almost smell the aroma of chocolate while reading through the pages, all trimmed in chocolate shades, and will envy the author as he enjoys samples of truffles, pralines, ganache, chocolate mendicants, and hot chocolate; for all of which recipes are provided. Holiday goodies in the form of chocolate valentines, or painted eggs for Easter are enticing, while the writer also checks out the source of this magical elixir by studying the cocoa beans from Peruvian cocoa plantations. Written with whimsy, the cartoon story illuminates the beguiling properties of this botanical product that are further flavored to convert us into addicts. This is a delicious read for all chocolate lovers and will especially delight chocoholics.