OP: Chocolat: l'Envers du Decor

Les Editions de l’If, France, 2000. Hardcover. Fine. First printing.

The Philippes Bertrand and Marand, both professional pastry chefs and instructors at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy, come together here with photographer Moussa Elibrik to showcase exceptional levels of chocolate work.

Not for the uninitiated, the book offers only a brief historical and scientific overview before getting into the primary attraction: techniques for elaborate showpiece sculpting. While some examples are regularly seen in any advanced chocolate book—milk- and dark-chocolate striped “cigarettes,” curls and rosettes, thin “straws” or “nests”—others are more novel. For example, white chocolate becomes flowing seaweed when poured over a cylinder filled with ice cubes; or fresh, supple tree leaves can be painted with red cocoa butter and tempered chocolate to create sturdy, edible fall leaves.

Though probably not the only book you’ll need to advance your skills, Chocolat: l’Envers du Decor (2000) is an aspirational and illuminating resource on the potentials of chocolate. Ours is a Fine first printing copy. Published bilingually in French and English, though the English text is somewhat passive aggressively printed in light gray italics, making it a strain on the eyes.