The French like to give away Chocolate Truffles during Christmas – what a sweet tradition!  Often served with coffee, truffles are simply balls of chocolate (melted with varying amounts of egg, butter, cream or sugar) that are coated with chocolate or rolled in cocoa powder.  This base mixture can be used for many different flavor possibilities – brandy, rum, cinnamon, vanilla, coffee, whiskey, ginger, marshmallow, lavender, even paprika – almost endless combinations and varieties!  The flavoring process can be as simple as just adding the flavor (such as rum), or very complicated, combining multiple ingredients in a delicate sequence.

Muscadines are long truffles dipped in chocolate, and sprinkled with icing sugar, while Chamberry truffles (truffettes) add praline and fondant icing to create a delightful taste and texture.

I love making chocolate truffles, and have been learning different ideas and techniques since before I went to cooking school (a happy slave to my sweet tooth!). I have never used eggs in my truffle recipes – I prefer chocolate and cream as the base, and have had great results. Traditionally  made with dark chocolate (my personal preference),  some people prefer the less-bitter milk chocolate. I advertised truffles as wedding favors on my first website, and still happily fill custom orders…

The most popular flavors I sell are Brandy, Cinnamon, Espresso, Ginger, Mint, Orange and Tea; of course I can do custom flavors as well.   If you are interested in having chocolate truffles for your wedding or any other occasion, just let me know!

Lucille had asked me several times over the Christmas break, as we chatted happily and celebrated Christmas together at my Dad’s place in Ontario. Lucille is Joanna’s brilliant best friend, a multi-lingual vivacious Italian New Yorker, now living in Montreal. She is a super foody – she loves to talk and she loves great food – we were having fun, and I could she was seriously interested.

I thought of Lucille immediately when I spotted ‘The Flavor Bible’ at a bookstore in Vancouver, several days later. I was amazed and delighted when I started flipping through it – I knew immediately I had to have this book. I bought two copies, one for me and one to send to Lucille.

This book is brilliant! Flavors are arranged alphabetically, and each flavor is examined in delicious detail.

Say you want to do something with Apples, for example. Flip to the section on Apples, and you get such facts as season, taste, function, weight, and volume; a list of cooking techniques, a lengthy list of flavors and ingredients that combine well with apple, Next you get tips and dishes from famous chefs (such as Emily Luchitti of Farallon, or Michael Laiskonic, from Le Bernardin). Finally you get my favorite part, the Flavor Affinities, a deliciously-detailed list (apples + almonds + caramel or apples + cinnamon + dark chocolate + yams, for example). It’s so cool! I love it!

Ok, let’s try something else, something savory. Foie Gras. Again, a nice list of complementary ingredients – including allspice, Armagnac, cherries, figs, grapes, rhubarb! Dishes like Carrie Nahabedian’s Foie Gras with Roasted Plums. Bob Iacovone from the Cuvee in New Orleans, talking about stuffing Twinkies with foie gras (hmm) And of course the Flavor Affinities, including foie gras + strawberries + black pepper. Yum.

And there is more. You can also find these detailed flavor guides listed by regions, with sections such as Portuguese, Spanish, Cajun, or Thai cuisine, including of course those wonderful Flavor Affinities. Being from a German background, I took a look at the 10 different listed Flavor Affinities for German Cuisine. The list – including such favorites as ginger & sauerbraten; dill + cucumbers; cream + paprika + poppy seeds – is quite accurate, definitely convincing me the Flavor Bible knows its way around a kitchen.

Needless to say, Lucille was thrilled with the book, and has been using it daily. I have a standing invitation to stay with her and husband Valmont in Montreal. I must take them up on that!

For a chef, this book will open up cooking opportunities that may have been forgotten, and offer some new viewpoints. For a committed or curious foodie it is an exciting guide to ingredient combination and flavor opportunities. This is a great book, and I am sure you will love it as much as I do!