Celebrity Chefs Reveal Secret French Love Affair

San Francisco -- February, 2004 -- Their customers may have long suspected it, but these chefs' secret is finally out. They're in love. Their love affair is not with each other however, it is with a much more seductive paramour: chocolate. French chocolate, to be exact. The chefs involved, including highly-ranked award-winning culinary artisans from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Australia, Switzerland and France, have been rumored to be obsessed with using the finest chocolate ingredients in their dishes, but the truth was finally confirmed when each chef contributed a favorite recipe to the new book, "Chocolate French: Recipes, Language and Directions to Frangais au Chocolat."

The 50 recipes showcased range from simple chocolate crepes, Creole hot chocolate, and dipped camembert chocolate sandwiches to chocolate fondant, couscous au chocolat, truffles, and chocolate croissant pudding. "Chocolate French" also includes profiles of American and French chocolatiers (chocolate makers) such as Guittard, Scharffen Berger, Lake Champlain, Debauve & Gallais, and Jean-Paul Hivin.

Says Publisher A.K. Crump, "This is rare. These chefs and chocolatiers are among the best in the world. They've been taught at the Cordon Bleu and other four-star establishments. Still, they did not hesitate to share their insights and experiences." One of these insights was the strongly held conviction that though the Spanish brought chocolate from the New World to Europe, it was the French and other francophone cultures that brought it to its current sensually addictive peak. Rather than viewing it as a guilty pleasure, French culture has embraced chocolate as a necessity of a satisfying life.

The French generally prefer chocolate dark, and one sign of the French-style is a reluctance to mask flavor with sugar. The result is a deeper and more profound experience. Comments Chef Isabelle Alexandre of Santa Barbara's Citronelle, "The flavor, the richness, the intensity are to the point that your body is in a trance, and shivers."

This reaction comes as no surprise to anyone. French has always been known as the Language of Love.
TCB-Cafe Publishing is a media company focused on food, art, lifestyles, education, and society. Recent bestsellers are "The Cafes of San Francisco, 2nd Edition," and new release "Seduction by Shakespeare." The firm also is sponsoring "Photography Competition 2004." New acquisitions include "Food for the Soul," by author Monique Y. Wells.