January 2007 Archives

Living abroad, naturally, one of the great joys in life is getting a care package from 'home'.

A box arrives unannounced from a friend, and it's a wonderful surprise. You rip it open and find it's packed with all sorts of things that you miss about your country.

For an American, especially one who bakes, contents might include, say...corn syrup, peanut butter, a mini-Sharpie keychain (yes!), and a homemade potholder.

I've also gotten local newspapers, chapstick, and dried apricots and sour cherries.

But...?

I hope the next one reunites him with Marie...

The Time Out Paris: Eating and Drinking is one of the most up-to-date dining guides to Paris, and the reviews and information are snappy, solid, well-researched, and remarkably up-to-date.

The newest guide, Edition 8, has essential information on over 850 restaurants, and included are chapters on Bistros, Brasseries, Classics, Haut Cuisine, Trendy, and Regional cuisines, as well as a good section for les Vegetarians. But my favorite is the section on Budget restaurants, which are fun to explore...especially if you're interested in veering slightly off-the-beaten path.

There's also chapters packed with addresses directing you to gourmet stores, tea salons, and an enormous amount of information on ethnic dining. Plus sidebars directing you to gastronomic specialties around town; where to find cheese, ice cream, or where to take a wine tasting.

The index is particularly excellent, as it allows you to search for restaurants alphabetically or by arrondisement, where the restaurants are also broken down by cuisine. There's city maps and a lexicon of French-English culinary translations too.

Although I have little space on my book shelf for lots of guidebooks, I always buy the new Time Out Paris Dining guide as it gets updated. It's easy to carry, compact, and truly the most useful culinary guide to Paris in English that I know of.

Very highly-recommended if you live here or are planning a visit!

I met Gale Gand a few years back at a culinary conference. I love meeting other bakers since we all share an unspoken bond, and we're generally the nicest people you're likely to meet (if I do say so myself). And I was happy to discover that Gale was no exception.

Gale's the author of four highly-regarded books on baking, Just A Bite, Butter Sugar Flour Eggs, Short & Sweet: Quick Desserts with Eight Ingredients or Less, and her latest, Chocolate & Vanilla, aside from all the other hats she wears.

Gale is also the host of one of the few baking programs on television, Sweet Dreams, and is the Executive Pastry Chef and co-owner of TRU restaurant in Chicago. Gale also (whew!)) won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year in 2001 and she owns a coffee shop...and a soda company!

We've kept in touch over the years, and I was really happy when my copy of Chocolate & Vanilla arrived so I could tackle some of Gale's recipes. (And for regular readers who've followed my problems with getting deliveries, you can imagine I was really, really happy just that it arrived at all!)

But it also gave me an excuse to take a moment to chat with Gale about her career in baking, and everything else that she's involved with...

David: How did you get your own program, Sweet Dreams on Food Network?

Gale: They called ME!

I used to call them when I was going to be in New York to be on Sarah Moulton's show and they'd give me a show date. Then one time I called to get a date and they said they didn't have any for me. I was shocked (and pouting)! Then there was a pause on the phone and then they said, "Because we'd like to offer you your own show!"

So I got super lucky. No try outs.

D: It sounds like your appearances on Sara's show were your try outs. So you probably weren't a jangle of nerves.

Speaking of nerves, what's the hardest thing about doing a television program?

G: Leaving my husband and kids for 2 weeks to stay in New York while I film...and leaving my restaurant staff too.

D: Is there anyone on Food Network that you really liked cooking with, and anyone you didn't?

As you can imagine, after living in San Francisco for almost twenty years, I have some pretty wacky friends. While I don't want to recount everything that happened back in the days of free-love, many of us have grown up and gone on to tastier things.

One friend has a wildly successful cheese shop. Another opened a bakery, and others opened restaurants , a chocolate factory, or became wine importers...and more folks I knew opened bakeries, and ice cream shops, and chocolate shops, and bread bakeries, and...(hey...someone remind me why I moved...)

But who was lovin' the apricot jam?

As it turns out, my friend Eric was, using the organic Blenheim apricots from one very old tree in his backyard.

A recent issue of Food+Wine called it "...simply the best jam we've ever tasted." And one of their editors liked it so much that he's now the first person on their waiting list for it. Sounds like it's (almost) jam worth moving back for.

So if you're interested, visit We Love Jam and get yourself on that waiting list!

For your convenience, here's links to the four posts for Sugar High Friday #27: Chocolate By Brand:

Here it is!

The final round-up for Sugar High Friday #27: Chocolate By Brand.

These are the last entries for the event and thanks to everyone for their participation.

I was overwhelmed by the number of entries (to say the least...) but was happy there was so much interest in chocolate and was amazed at all the beautiful and well-crated dessert folks are making out there. It was also a pleasure to learn about a few new chocolates and I plan to do a post in the near future to write more about them.

Due to the very high number of entries, over 100, a few photos in this post aren't included. If you're one of those who did send a properly-sized photo (100x100) and it's not here, please re-send it to me and I'll insert it. Desolé.

Thanks to Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess who came up with Sugar High Friday, the event on which these posts are based.

Starting off is a gorgeous Schokoladen-Ingwer-Tropfen mit Zimtsauce und Mango Püree, a professional-looking, teardrop-shaped river of Chocolate Ginger Tears with Cinnamon Custard and Mango-Ginger Puree which are so pretty, you'll shed a tear too!
Brigitte used Michel Cluizel couverture from France.

Two great tastes, one great dessert!
Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Chip Bars from Lisa Yockelson, using Callebaut chocolate.
Samantha's raised the bar for bar cookies with these buttery beauties.

Karen at Familystyle Food whipped out a simple and sensation Chocolate Truffle Tart. using her 'embarrassment of riches' (check out her chocolate stash...it rivals mine!), she plucked one tablet of Nestlé Chocolatier 62% bittersweet chocolate.
And oh, how bittersweet it is...

Slipping in at the last-minute was Plum who instead of paying the $50 bribe...er...I mean late-fee, sent a photo proving she owns all three of my books. (Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get my attention...or $50 works too, fyi.)
So here's her Chocolate-Raspberry Truffles. She wanted to use a local chocolate, but ending up using Callebaut 53.8% drops.
(Plum: Are you sure they weren't 54.6%?)

Abby at Confabulation Cooks goes all-out with Warm Chocolate Pudding using the ever-popular Lindt brand bittersweet, in her adorable new ramekins she broke out (not literally!) just for Sugar High Friday.

Another adults-only recipe, although a quick visit to Cucina Bella's site shows a younger-sort rifling through her chocolate stash! She used Trader Joe's bittersweet chocolate for her Adults-Only Mudslide Mousse with a mature measure of Bailey's Irish Cream.

Does size matter?
I think you'll have to decide that for yourself, but Brigid at One More Bite answers the question Does Brand Matter?
In her classic S'mores, she finds that good-'ol Hershey's hits the spot.
And not that spot...get your minds out of the gutter...

And from Trini Gourmet comes a fusion-filled recipe, Upside Down Chocolate Cake with a thin, biscuit-like crust and a cakey, creamy layer of fudge on the bottom. She broke out her Trinidadian chocolate for this special event: Blendo's.

The Round-Up Continues...

Ashley made Chocolate Truffles with Edible Gold with a basic ganache using Valrhona 70% Guanaja chocolate.

At Gastronomicon, she dipped her way to passionate delight with Passionfruit Truffles surrounded by El Rey chocolate, used for its robust flavor.

Baked Chocolate Fudge was a New Zealand treat from Arfi, who used Whittaker's 72% dark to scratch that chocolate itch.

Over at Café Lynnylu, there's a batch of Little Chocolate Cherry Cakes, heart-shaped, waiting for you. Using Ghiradelli 60% for these robust chocolate treats, she found these equally good for breakfast as they were for dessert!

The avalanche of entries for Sugar High Friday #27: Chocolate By Brand continues.

Thanks again to all participants, and be sure to visit their sites and click on the chocolate links to learn more about the different kinds of chocolate used from around the globe. This entry takes us all over the world, from Paris, to America, through South and Central America, as well as Istanbul and Holland.

A real Dutch-treat, Ashleigh at Stiched in Holland whipped up a Dark Chocolate and Cherry Steamed Pudding, which she claimed was hard to photograph (although I'm sure it was easy to eat.) A trip to the natuurwinkel yielded a tablet of Green & Black's organic dark chocolate, which she put to delicious use.

You'll be gnawing at your computer screen when you see Piperata's Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies which she baked up in her kitchen in Milan. Zani chocolate, produced-nearby, was her choice for the dark chocolate, and a bar of Lindt white chocolate was sacrificed as well for this sweet event.
(Although I wonder where the heck she got dried cranberries in Italy?)

Suzy, who claims Suzy's Not A Homemaker, process herself wrong by whipping up a picture-perfect batch of Chocolate Hazelnut Scones. Unwrapping a bar of snow-bound chocolate bar she had from Starbucks, Suzy proves she was up to this sweet challenge.

Alanna at A Veggie Adventure who fussed & fumed about what to make, before deciding on a silky, creamy, Light 'n Easy Chocolate Pudding she made in minutes. Alanna likes Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder, because it gives chocolate desserts, like her low-fat chocolate pudding, a dark-black chocolate color.

Although she's finds lots of chocolates to choose from in Metz, France, including Cémoi organic, Julie at Cookbook Addict chose to use Lindt 70% for her Individual Butterless Chocolate Cakes. Although it's hard to imagine a cake in France sans beurre, she pulls it off...these chocolate cakes may look small but they're big on addictive chocolate flavor.

The word 'consulting' always sounds like a dream job when you're stuck working in a restaurant kitchen, slaving over a hot stove, on the line. As a consultant, it sounds like you sweep into a kitchen, where the staff welcomes you with open arm as their savior, and you magically transform the meals coming out of the kitchen into extraordinary feats of culinary magic.

In fact, it couldn't be more different.

Restaurants call in consultants when they've exhausted all other possibilities, and the kitchen is in such dire trouble that they need to get some poor sucker from the outside to come in a try to fix what they've screwed up. The pay seems great, until you walk in the kitchen and realize no one wants to talk to you, no one wants you there, and worse, no one wants to change anything, since it means more work for them (and if they really cared about their work, they wouldn't have had to call in someone from the outside in the first place.)

I was once a consultant for a corporation that owned several prominent restaurants. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out that one of their major problems was that there were a lot of high-paid executives sitting in meetings upstairs, while there were a lot of low-paid people downstairs, in the kitchen, putting the food on the plate. And let's face it: Customers don't care about executive meetings, they care about the food.
And that's basically it.

When I mentioned this discrepancy to the high-paid executives (who hired me to tell them things like that...right?) we had another round of meetings, discussing things for hours and hours, until I told them I couldn't sit through any more meetings since I had work to do in the kitchen. (Stupid me! What was I thinking? Those meetings were totally cush. Why slave over a hot stove? Maybe those executives weren't so wrong after all...)

Welcome to Sugar High Friday #27!

What?
You might be saying, it's not Friday yet, David!

To be honest, I was blown away by the amount of entries and the quality of responses, and decided to start the round-up early in the week to get them all in. Thanks to everyone who participated and although I tried to leave comments on many of your blogs, time didn't always permit me to, so I thank you all here and now.

So, dear readers, here's the chocolate entries, based on the theme I chose: Chocolate By Brand. Bloggers made chocolate recipes, including an infinate variety of cakes, cookies, creams, and candies, using a particular brand of chocolate and talked about why.

Enjoy!...

Veronica at Kitchen Musings was a double-dipper and made Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes X2, two recipes from two cookbooks...using two chocolates! One recipe with ScharffenBerger and the other using Valhrona.
If you like lots of lick-able chocolate frosting, you'll love 'em both.

Over at Winds and Breezes, Treasa used Lindt 70% chocolate for a scrumptious-sounding Chocolate Cake, with chocolate she brings back from France every time she "sets foot in the place."
(The French are wild over Lindt chocolate, as you'll see in other entries, and apparently so is Treasa.)

It's a Rocky Road over at Sui Mai, who used Cailler dark chocolate to bind together marshmallows, almonds, and dried blueberries. And where did she get the chocolate she used? And why did she use that one?
The plot thickens...like her chocolate...

In the Très facile category comes Chocolate Hazelnut Madeleines from Marie-Laurie of Autres Delices using Nestlé chocolate.
Her tiny, shiny, shell-shaped little cakes would make Proust proud!

My Franco-American compatriote stateside, Béa falls for chocolate with a petite Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with Chocolate-Ginger Mousse, infused with ScharffenBerger cocoa powder and Valhrona's Manjari chocolate.
Although it seems pretty fancy-pants, Béa makes it all look so easy, mais oui!

Check out Orange-Flavored Milk Rice with White Chocolate Icing from Nemisbéka in Hungary, which her dessert will make you, especially when you see how she uses both Nestlé Caramac bars and Milka hearts from Switzerland.

Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Roll by Kristin at Dine and Dish, with a heady suspicion of Grand Marnier. Like her chocolate cake roll, Kristin got so light-headed on chocolate she forgot to note which brand she used. When she came back down, she noted it was San Francisco's Ghiradelli.

Claudia at Food For Food made some very tasty-looking Chocolate Honey Caramels using Valhrona chocolate. Even though she claims the recipe was supposed to be difficult to make, she did an admirable job, as you'll see...

Across the border in Umbria, Judith at Think On It! got over her aversion to chocolate (!) to participate, and added some chilies to the spun sugar to give it an extra kick. Check out her dessert, simply titled Hot Silk, made with Valhrona, which she says makes everything, including stuff on her other site, a little yummier.

Although the name One Whole Clove doesn't make one normally think of chocolate, check out Lou's sinful Boules au chocolat et au rhum. They're enriched with Montignac 85% sugar-free chocolate, sweetened with maltitol, which she found at her local chocolate shop Cupidon.

One of my favorite things to do in Paris is just wander around, often in neighborhoods that aren't really known for anything special. There's always something interesting to find; shops specializing in vintage hairbrushes and combs, a locksmith for doors installed only during the reign of Napolean III, or the recently-departed Reptiles World (sic), which was one of my favorite places to pass the time while waiting for a train at the nearby Gare du Nord.

And of course, I'm usually on the lookout for food, and am especially keen when I come across a shop specializing in candymaking or chocolate. If I get lucky, I discover some little treasure, often in the most unlikeliest of places.

Le Furet Tanrade was opened in 1728, and it's still one of the sweetest little chocolate shops I've found in Paris.

Sure, their chocolates aren't nearly as sleek or refined as their Left Bank counterparts, but I appreciated their handmade charm all the same. Especially the petits dark squares filled with a crisp morsel of mint fondant cloaked in brusque, dark chocolate. And the chocolates filled with caramel and feuilleté were certainly as delicious as those found in swankier boutiques.

One chocolate that piqued my curiosity was flavored with chanvre, a word I wasn't familiar with. Although I've been previously familiar with the green leaf embedded atop the chocolate in my younger days, she offered a sample since she was having difficulty explaining exactly what was inside. (The French word for what I thought it was is a four-letter word in English...madame might not have appreciated my translation.)

But then, in that little shop, I learned my Word-For-The-Day: the ganache was infused with hemp.

(For the record, I'd advise against overseas shipping.)

But should you find yourself near the Gare du Nord or Gare d'Est, and need to pass a bit of time (or want try to get a bit of a buzz)...or if you just want to take a journey to a less-visited quartier of Paris, Le Furet Tanrade certainly makes a tasty stopping point.

Le Furet Tanrade
63, rue de Chabrol (10th)
Tél: 01 47 70 48 34
Métro: Poissonière

Gretchen di Limur...come on down!

You're the winning contestant for my Paris Chocolate & Gastronomy Tour in the Menu For Hope III auction.

Am I going to have to take my fabulous culinary tour of Paris all by myself?

Get in touch.

Sorry about the less-than-stellar photo.

I was trying to take a picture in a hectic métro station, and when there was a break in the frenzy of commuters, I tried to get my shot. But soon the people behind the glass in the information booth started taking notice of me snapping a few pics of the high-security features of the métro, like metal railings and door handles.

So I snapped quickly and packed up my camera fast, especially when I saw one of the guys stub out his cigarette (a sign I took that he was really serious about coming out of that booth), fearing he'd ask me what I was doing. Then I'd have to explain that I have a food blog but I write about Paris as well and I was going to do a post about something called 'Métro Hands' and wanted to take a photo to accompany the text for the edification of my readers which was all in the name of fun but sometimes encompassed serious topics, although often shrouded in stories that are either offbeat, funny, poorly-written, lively, contains typos, insulting, unedited, over-edited, timely, insightful, amusing, pathetic, or when all else fails, is accompanied by a recipe for a chocolate cake or cookies.

(I doubt that he would have understood what I was talking about, though in his defense, I can't blame him—neither would I.)

Anyhow, I don't know if the French have a phrase that corresponds to this, but when you arrive at someone's house or at a restaurant, often one will excuse themself shortly thereafter to wash up, claiming a case of 'Métro Hands', which usually gets paired with a slightly queasy expression. I've seen both French people do this, as well as Americans, who many folks view as a band of raging germophobes (although curiously, you can't touch produce at the market, and men must wear bathing caps and a barely-there Speedo in a public pools in France, for l'hygiene...mais oui!.)

So what are 'Métro Hands'?

Just a chocolaty reminder that next week, I'm hosting Sugar High Friday #27, and the theme is Chocolate By Brand.

Readers will be able to enjoy a cavalcade of chocolate desserts from all over the world!

The winners of Menu For Hope III have been announced!
Click on the link, or the logo below, to find out if you're one of the lucky winners.

You can read the original post to review the prizes and the information provided by the donor.

Here are instructions for the winners:

• Visit the blog which hosts the prize or prizes you've won (just click on the prize name at Pim's site) and let the blogger know that you're the lucky winner of his/her fabulous prize. Their email address should be at their site. If not, please contact Brett (below).
  
• Please be sure to use the same email address you gave us on your donation form. The email address will identify you, and not any other 'Liz'- as the real winner.
  
• You are responsible for contact the blogger and providing him/her with the shipping information so the prize could be mailed to you or to make arrangements for tours or events.
  
• Then sit back and wait, your prize should be mailed to you shortly. (Please be aware that mail service varies in certain regions.)
  

Please Note!
A few of the links on Pim's site are broken, for prizes EU01-05, EU06, EU19, EU21, and EU34. They lead back to my site, which is incorrect. To contact the donor, please email them directly using the following links:

O-Chateau (EU1-5)
Divina Cucina (EU06)
Context Travel Gift Certificate (EU19)
Gale Gand Chef's Jacket (EU34)

Instructions for the donating bloggers:

• For bloggers hosting European prizes, with the code prefixes EU, please contact Brett at In Praise of Sardines to verify the email address of the winner of your prize(s) once you hear from the winner.
  
• Please ship your prize to the winner promptly, or be in touch with the winner with instructions to make arrangements for their tour or event.
  

Please contact the Menu for Hope Prize Manager for European Prizes: Brett at In Praise of Sardines.

Or you can also contact Pim directly with additional questions.

In the previous post on chocolate-making, I included some information that was given to me that was erroneous.

The original post contained information told to me by one of the world's leading chocolate experts, which didn't relate to the quality of the company's products, nor reputation of the company, which was then taken and reprinted. When I received a message questioning its authenticity, I telephoned the person that gave me the original information, who couldn't recall his source.
So I deleted it immediately as well as any comments relating to that topic.

The post has been amended and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The intention of the post was to highlight the exciting world of American chocolate, which many people are unfamiliar with, most notably in other countries and it was not my intention to print misinformation.

In that post, and in many others I write, I generally include links.

As always, I encourage readers to visit the site of the companies listed to learn more about their products.

The other night I was having dinner in a restaurant, and struck up a conversation with the fellow dining at the next table, who turned out to be Swiss. As we talked, the conversation turned to what I did and when I replied that I wrote cookbooks on baking and chocolate. His curiosity was piqued...as well as that of the two Belgian women at the other table.

I knew exactly where the conversation soon would be heading, and of course, I was asked the inevitable question: "Which country do you think makes the best chocolate?"

Before I go on, I would just like to say for the record:
"Who cares?"

It's really a pointless question.
What if I asked; "What country makes the best wine?" Well, you might answer that there's great wine made in Italy, France, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, etc. And there's lousy wine made in all those countries too. As you may have tasted.

But is there one country quantitatively better than at making wine than another? Is there some formula that one can follow to show who wins the mantle of Best Winemaking Country in the World? Perhaps one could argue that the soil in one county is better than another, or the weather, or maybe other factors. But for making chocolate couverture, pure, solid chocolate, most of the time the cocoa beans aren't grown in the countries where chocolate is produced, with a few exceptions.

And is there really a country that makes the Best Chocolate In The World?
Is there some competition going on that no one told me about?

Anyhow, back to dinner...

So I answered, "The best chocolate in the world is made in the United States."

The man was surprised, and the two women started rolling their eyes and laughing. And my French dining companion just smirked at me, since he knows that I said that matter-of-factly as well, just to irk them. But seriously, I don't know what was so funny. Maybe they were laughing at themselves for not realizing that there's very good chocolate produced in the United States.

How silly of them; what were they thinking?

Starting this weekend, you'll be able to buy my delectable Chocolat Chaud au Caramel-Beurre-Salé, aka Hot Chocolate with Salted-Butter Caramel, right here in Paris.

In partnership with Régis Dion, of La Farandole des Sels, we've put together a packet using a special recipe I've created for making the richest, most luscious hot chocolate in your own home using his silky-smooth creamy caramel-beurre-salé and fleur de sel, the fine salt hand-raked from his family's salt marshes off the coast of Brittany.

My Hot Chocolate with Salted Butter Caramel mixture will be available for a limited time at the outdoor markets (below) where Régis offers his fine salts.

UPDATE: Régis has closed his business and the hot chocolate mix is no longer available.

You can try the Wittamer Hot Chocolate Mix, or my Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.

There's a classic recipe for Salted Butter Caramel from Brittany in my book, The Sweet Life in Paris.

Below is a list of food blogs that I invited people to add, so they'd have a place to share their sites with me, as well as others.

I've since discontinued that, because I recently added a 'rolling' blog feature which presents the blogs that I currently read, and changes as they're updated, automatically. You can check these out on my Links page.

In the comments, you can read about many of the food blogs that folks have left their information about. Please note that I don't participate in 'link exchanges' so don't leave comments or messages requesting one, as they'll be deleted.

If you're searching for recipes, you can use the Food Blog Search engine:

Thank you all for your kind words about winning the Food Blog Award for Best Chef's Blog.

It was nice to be noticed and recognized for the blog, and I'm glad so many of you are enjoying my adventures, tips, whining, recipes, ramblings, stories, travels, and other things I post here on the site.

I don't think anyone starts a food blog for any reason other than to share a part of their lives. And in the case of a chef or baker, they share the hard work that they do as well. Anyone who takes the time to chronicle their craft in a food blog deserves a great deal of merit no matter what.

And while it's nice to be recognized (especially when there's prizes!) for all the energy we all put into our blogs, this doesn't feel like a competition, but a chance for readers to discover some new food blogs through this event that highlights the interesting places all over the big tangle of the web. I was fortunate enough to find several new places to stop by during the nomination process and I hope you take a moment to do the same.

So big thanks and congratulations to voters and all the winners and nominees, especially the excellent blogs in my category which I suggest you visit and add to your reading list...

Jesse at Corduroy Orange, who offers excellent cooking tips and advice with step-by-step photos, as well as well-written discourses about food and dining.

Young chef Aidan Brooks admirably and enthusiastically writes about his cooking adventures with tremendous passion for his craft.

Kelli and Andrew at Lovescool, the two very fine bakers who own Amai Tea & Bake House, which has gorgeous desserts that I can't wait to taste when I visit New York this spring.

And Shuna at Eggbeater, who nabbed top honors as Best Food Industry Blog. It's always interesting to read her personal insights and thoughts about life as a pastry chef, both in and out of the kitchen.

Did you know that when a chocolate cake recipe says to 'grease a cake pan and dust it with flour', you can substitute unsweetened cocoa powder for the flour?

Simply butter the cake pan then spoon in a heaping spoonful of cocoa powder, then shake the pan to distribute the cocoa over the bottom and sides of the pan.

Voila!...a bit more chocolaty flavor in any chocolate cake.

One of the hardest things about writing about food is coming up with that killer opening sentence. It should start with something that grabs your attention right away, tickles your curiosity, then encourages the reader (which would be you) to follow the writer (which, or course, would be me) deeper into the story. Thankfully when writing about chocolate, I can include pictures to help me get going, so most of the work is already done.

The other difficult thing when writing about chocolate is that there's only so many superlatives you can use to describe it, and words like: dark, unctuous, bittersweet, delicious, seductive, etc...don't really seem to pinpoint that feeling that you get when you walk into a pristine chocolate shop and are completely overwhelmed by the heady experience, inhaling that sweet, unmistakable scent of chocolate that permeates the air and overtakes you. There's that quiet moment, when you step into a special place full of chocolate, where you briefly forget all that's going on outside.

I'm fortunate to live a city where there's an unusually large amount of very good chocolate shops, and all-too-often one needs a refuge from the fast-pace of the streets and sprawling avenues. Here in Paris, I have my favorites, and one of them is John-Charles Rochoux. His petit shop is located just off the bustling rue de Rennes. It's not just a refuge from one of Paris' busy boulevards, but a step back to another era. In his shop, chocolate is both an edible obsession and an object of sculptural craftsmanship, and you'll find many intricate, precious little chocolate sculptures, as well as a rather serious selection of bonbons from one of Paris' top chocolatiers.

Although there's several chocolate shops across the city that are terrific, at Jean-Charles Rochoux you'll find lots of little wonders here to keep you enchanted, including the amazing chocolate sculptures that M. Rochoux creates in his small, pristine workshop just beneath the tidy boutique. This kind of craftsmanship is rarely found anymore, even in a chocolate-obsessed city like Paris.

I was fortunate enough to take some time from my busy schedule to pose for Monsieur Rochoux, so he could create one of the most iconic pieces in the shop: Le torse.

Since I write in English quite a bit better than I do in French, the blog and my recipes are in the language of Shakespeare. However I realize a portion of my readers aren't native English speakers, yet tirelessly trudge through my writings sans complaint.

This post is for you.

I would venture to guess about 90%* of the recipes in print and on the internet are in English, and a majority of them are in good 'ol cups-and-tablespoons, forcing a great many people with whom we share our global village to do their unfair share of translating and converting.

So, it's turnabout time.
Here's a recipe that I made for Christmas gifts, which I distributed to some favorite people in Paris, such as shopkeepers I visit, chocolatiers I frequent, and vendors at my local market that let me slip in front of the dames who make them rifle through the onions for twenty minutes looking for the elusive best one while I wait patiently behind them while they count out the 14 centimes while the people behind me start pressing themselves up against my backside or shoving the wheels of their metal shopping cart against my heels as if I can possibly move forward.

(For fun, I usually start backing up slowing, which causes a near riot behind me and is great fun to listen to. If you're going to do this, though, whatever you do, never, ever look behind you. Keep staring straight ahead, as if you're completely oblivious to what's happening back there.)

The long-awaited chocolate television program which I participated in, Chocolate Confidential, is set to air this month on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) this month.

(They rejected my preferred title, David Lebovitz's Chocolate Hour, for some inexplicable reason...)

It'll be shown nationwide on Thursday, January 25th at 8pm, and will be repeated on the Canadian news network the following day (check listings for time.)

In other news, my blog is a finalist for the Well Fed Network's Food Blog Award for Best Chef's Blog 2006.
Voting ends soon!

You can vote for your favorite food blogs, like this one, by clicking here.

Let's start 2007 off on a very chocolaty note, shall we?
I'm the host for Sugar High Friday this month, and for some reason after hardly any discussion at all, chocolate seemed to be the natural candidate for my theme.

This sweet event was created by Jennifer, of Domestic Goddess and I invite any and all food bloggers out there to participate. (Well, maybe not all..there's a lot of food blogs out there...)

So my theme for this month is: Chocolate By Brand

To participate, whip up a favorite chocolate cake, a kettle full of candy, or a batch of chocolate-rich cookies. Or try your hand at something you've been itching to roll up your sleeves and tackle; dark chocolate truffles, delectable brownies, Mohrenkopf, Devils Food Cake, macarons, Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte, or chocolate Rice Krispy Treats.

Then include the brand of chocolate you used and write about why you used it. Maybe you used it because it tastes good. Or you bought your chocolate on a trip and were saving it for some special occasion. Maybe it was marked-down or collecting dust in a sale bin. All are good reasons!
Tell us why you chose your particular chocolate.

And don't feel compelled to use 'premium' chocolate either.

If you want to use a top-of-the-line brand, allez-y!...or use your local supermarket chocolate. Or melt down or chop up a chocolate candy bar that's a favorite from wherever you live. Whatever brand you use, I want to know why you used it, and how you liked it. Want to make cookies packed with M & M's? Go ahead! Recreate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or chop up a Nestlés Crunch Bar and toss the bits in a muffin batter and see what happens.

So go for it!

Here are the rules:

I've been spotted around the web...

...with Context Travel, in an interview about Paris sweets & eats.

...in an audio tour chatting about the Marais.

...profiled in The New Wave of Food Blogs, an article by Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write For Food.

...and...Ouch!

(Ok, ok...I like the damn bread. It's the best thing ever! Yikes...)

Cookies and Candies

Lemon-Glazed Madeleines

Chez Panisse Gingersnaps

Friendship Bars

Candied Peanuts

Butterscotch Pecan Cookies Cups

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (low fat)

Seaweed Cookies

Dulce de Leche Brownies

Very Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate-Almond Buttercrunch Toffee

French Chocolate Macarons

Caramel Corn

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Heidi Swanson)

Coconut-Chocolate Macaroons

Supernatural Brownies

Candied Cherries

Pralined Almonds

Giovanna's Maple Creams

Pineapple Coconut Cookies

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe & Marshmallows Recipe

Pain d'amande

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch

Cakes

Devil's Food Cake

Banana Bread

Gateaux aux kakis/Persimmon Cake (en français)

Carrot Cake, French-Style

Chocolate Idiot Cake

Banana Loaf Cake

Absinthe Cake

Individual Chocolate Cakes

Kugelhof

Kouign Amann: Breton Butter Cake

Chocolate Orbit Cake with Crème Anglaise

Sour Cream Cheesecake

German Chocolate Cake

Banana-Chocolate Chip Upside Down Cake

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake & Christmas Cake

Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Almond Cake

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Ring

Fruit Desserts

Polenta Crisp Topping

Red Wine-Poached Rhubarb

Baked Nectarines and Cherries

Tropical Fruit Soup

Persimmon Bread

Quick-Candied Cherries

Strawberry Granita

Apricot, Cherry, and Frangipane Tart

Summer Pudding

Warm Fig and Raspberry Tart with Marsala Sabayon

Baked Apples with Fresh Ginger, Dates, Almonds and Rum

Apricot Soufflés

Berry Cobbler

Warm Compote of Summer Fruits

Cranberry Raisin Pie

Orange and Cardamom Upside Down Cake

Ice Cream and Custards

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

Easy Chocolate Ice Cream

Plum Kernel Ice Cream

Chocolate Mousse

Goat Cheese Custards with Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup

Espresso Granita Affogato

Chocolate Ice Cream (agave-sweetened)

Pistachio Ice Cream (Gelato di pistacchio)

Candied Bacon Ice Cream

White Chocolate Sorbet

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Blood Orange Sorbet

White Chocolate & Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

Roquefort Honey Ice Cream

Butterscotch Pudding

Panna Cotta

Mocha Flan

Vanilla Ice Cream

Tarts
Chez Panisse Almond Tart

Savory Dishes

Rosemary, Sage, Garlic and Sea Salt Rub

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Ribs

Marinated Feta with Herbs in Olive Oil

Salmon Rillettes

Homemade Kosher Dill Pickles

Korean Pancake (Pa Jeon)

Spreadable Tuna Mousse

Summer Tomato Salad

Carnitas

Kig Ha Farz: Breton Buckwheat Dumplings

Haricots Tarbais: French White Beans

Duck With Prunes in Red Wine

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

Spicy Pretzel and Nut Mix

Lamb Tagine

French Green Lentil Salad

Cocoa Nib and Spiced Lamb Sausage pizza

Sui Mai: Chinese Pork and Shrimp Dumplings

Chocolate Mole

Zuni's Pickled Red Onions

Fresh Shelling Bean Salad

Confit of Tomatoes

Panzanella; Tomato and Bread Salad

Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles

Aunt Millie's Famous Kugel

Cosmopolitans & Nibbles

Fig and Black Olive Tapenade

Olympic Seoul Chicken

Kimchi and Kimchi II

Extras

Spicy Glazed Nut Mix

Elderberry Syrup

Buckwheat Crepes

Seville Orange Marmalade

No-Knead Bread

Shallot, Beer, Prune, and Cocoa Nib Jam

Homemade Cottage Cheese

Chouquettes

Bicerin

The Best Chocolate Sauce

Parisian Hot Chocolate: Chocolat Chaud

Dulce de Leche, Confiture de Lait

Vanilla-Poached Quince

Cherry Jam

Pâte à Choux: cream puffs

Wittamer Hot Chocolate

Making Caramel