Lynne's Holiday Gift Ideas for Cooks
December 15, 2001

For the cooks on your list, Lynne suggests giving edible treats they may not buy for themselves:

Aromatic Black Peppercorns: Put together a little sampler containing a bag each of fruity, spicy Telicherry and mellow Malabar peppercorns. Find them in kitchen and specialty shops.

A Chocolate Tasting: The newest thing is chocolate made from a specific cocoa bean. Valrhona has three and each one does taste different. They're labeled "Grand Cru" and you can find them in specialty food stores. Consider packing them in an 8-inch square baking pan along with a recipe for brownies.

• Valrhona Pure Caribe Grand Cru, 70-71% Cocoa Mass is soft in the mouth and mocha flavored with coffee undertones.
• Valrhona Manjari Bittersweet Grand Cru, 70-71% Cocoa Mass is very round and fruity with a hint of pineapple. It takes a while to "grow" in the mouth then blossoms like an old wine.
• Valrhona Guanaja Bittersweet Grand Cru is very big, assertive and chocolatey.

The French Answer to Balsamic Vinegar: At once sweet and tart, Bouquet de Pommes Balsamic Apple Cider can be used as you would balsamic vinegar. Try it drizzled over a chunk of good Cheddar cheese or vanilla ice cream. Available at Fairway Markets in New York City and specialty food stores. Imported by Bel Canto Fancy Foods, Maspeth, NY.

Books: For the cook's library consider two excellent new books that have been overlooked by the media:

• The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes by Maricel E. Presilla (Ten Speed Press, 2001). For the chocolate lover who enjoys a different take on the subject, this is a real insider's book written by a woman who grew up in a family that raises cocoa beans. There's history, there's recipes, and there's technical information like how to taste chocolate and how to temper it. There's even a breakdown of the taste each kind of cocoa bean gives to chocolate.
• Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry by Donna Hay (William Morrow, 2001). For the sometime cook, this is one of the best real world, day-to-day cookbooks I've seen.

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