First Look: The Mast Brothers Chocolate Cookbook

For chocolate fanatics, there's only one cookbook that matters this Fall: Mast Brothers Chocolate: A Family Cookbook by Rick and Michael Mast tells the story of the bearded brothers from Iowa who make "bean-to-bar" chocolate in a storefront factory in Brooklyn. Wrapped up in a jacket that looks like one of their chocolate bars, the book tells the story of the Mast Brothers, from their apartment production beginnings through their sourcing expeditions to Africa and South America to eventually attracting the attention of chef Thomas Keller and providing chocolate for his restaurants. (Keller wrote the introduction for the book.) It's almost like a adventure book for kids growing up in artisanal foods-obsessed Brooklyn.

The best way to enjoy high-end chocolate may be in plain old bar form, but the book also contains recipes from pastry chef Vesa Parviainen. And oh, the recipes: devastatingly pretty photographs from Tuukka Koski (also shooting the upcoming Battersby cookbook) accompany classics from brownies to turtles to hot cococa, as well as less traditional ideas like a cocoa nib country pate or a cocoa balsamic vinaigrette. Other cookbooks could learn a thing or two about how luxuriously simple recipe layouts can be from this one. Mast Brothers Chocolate: A Family Cookbook comes out from Little, Brown on October 22 (pre-order on Amazon). Take a look inside:

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· Mast Brothers Chocolate [Amazon]
· All Mast Brothers Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Chocolate Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Cookbook Coverage on Eater [-E-]