Short, Sharp, Choc...

As some of you may have noticed, I rather like chocolate and cocoa.  Well, the people at Bluffer's Guides certainly have, because they very kindly send me a copy of their latest book, the 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate', a mouthwatering prospect if ever there was one!

'The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate'
by Neil Davey
(Thomas Drewry, 2014)

The 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate' is a pocket sized volume, densely packed with everything the ambitious upstart needs to show off about the finer points of chocolate.  In just over 100 pages, Neil Davey covers chocolate from bean to bar, including a brief history, tasting tips, quipable quotes and the brand names to drop into conversation with elite confectionery experts.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but sadly, like too much of a good thing, it left me feeling a bit bloated.  I know that the idea of these books is to provide pocket-sized expertise, but far too much text was crammed into these few pages and I had to reach for some chocolate to cope with the stress of trying to take at least some of the information in.

There was a lot of really interesting stuff in 'The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate', but it would've been a whole lot easier to digest if the content was less text heavy and made into bite sized chunks.  Simple things like using diagrams to show the chocolate making process or pictures of the different types of machines used to make chocolate or maps showing where the main producers are.  If you learn easily through words alone, that's great, but my imagination could only take me so far and images would've really helped me understand some of the things described much more easily.

I still can't decide on what I thought of the humour used.  There's some sort of vague attempt at being tongue-in-cheek about the fact it's a 'bluffer's' guide, but it's a bit nervous.  On the one hand, I think the book was better with it, but on the other hand I'm not sure whether I'd want more humour in it.  I did enjoy the puns though.

On the whole, this book was alright and I might glance through it again, but I can't really see who it was aimed at.  It's not easy going enough for the casual chocolate lover nor funny enough for a stocking filler.  The humour suggests it's not really designed for an out-and-out social climber determined to break into the upper echelons of foodie society.  At least I don't think it was.  Overall, I'm not really sure what to make of it.

I have learnt a few things by reading this book though and you can be sure that I'll be showing my favourite sweet treat a bit more respect in the future.  Knowing how complicated it is to grow and make has left me amazed that such a luxurious foodstuff is so affordable.So the 'Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate' has achieved something.  So thank you Bluffer's Guides.  May your beans never be smoky and your chocolate never bloom.