That was no exaggeration; I was a chocolate ignoramus. Except maybe at dessert time (or often during any day, mornings and late nights included), I never thought much about the stuff. John Glusman, my editor, and Geri Thoma, my agent, had the confidence to think I could fill a book on the subject. But I couldn’t have come close without Chloé Doutre-Roussel.
Generosity poured in from all sides. Aodaoin O’Floinn covered my back. Hadley Fitzgerald sent books, wisdom, clippings, and energy. So did Gretchen Hoff, Willis Barnstone, Phil Cousineau, and Barbara Gerber. Louis and Paul Kay, and their parents, showed me some basics. David Lebovitz was generous with prodigious knowledge and time despite work on a book of his own. Sophie Body-Generot and Kerrin Feldman got me started. Olivia Snaije, Daphne Benoit, Ariane Troujman, Cecile Allegra, Linda White, Pan Kwan Yuk, Jerome Delay, and a lot of others helped along the way. The aid of Claudio and Steve and other chocolate masters is evident in the text.
Above all, of course, there is Rose, née Jeannette Hermann, who fed the process, from start to finish, and then helped clean up the mess.