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.
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