Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook
Posted: 20 April '10 by Niall
Willie's Chocolate Factory Cookbook
Willie Harcourt-Cooze is an eccentric entrepreneur, the star of the Channel 4 series Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory, and on a mission to teach a nation of chocoholics how wonderful real chocolate can be.
Twelve years ago, Willie and his wife Tania sold everything they had to buy a cacao farm in the Cloud Mountains of Venezuela. Recently Willie and his family have returned from the rain forest where Willie learned how to grow, harvest, and process their own cacao beans, to the hills of Devon, building a small chocolate factory to makes his 100% cacao bars.
Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook is in two parts: The first half of the book is an autobiography and tells the story behind his goal to produce the very best chocolate in the world; the second part has a range of recipes that use his cacao as an ingredient.
What’s in the book?
The autobiography
The first half of the book is all about his upbringing and the trials and tribulations of producing his chocolate bars.
His parents lived a very alternative lifestyle and believed in self-sufficiency long before it became the trendy thing to do. Much of his childhood was spent on a small island in the South-West of Ireland where he learned to salt fish, make cheese and youghurt, and to pickle fruit. When he grew up he knew that he wanted to follow this lifestyle.
So, when he was shown a cacao farm on his travels through Asia and South America, he knew he had found his calling and managed to buy the farm. And it was here that his real struggles began – to introduce a high-cacao chocolate bar to the British market.
The recipes
We’ve grown up to think that chocolate is a treat, and a sweet one at that, when in actual fact the real thing is a very versatile ingredient used in both savoury and sweet dishes. Overcoming this conditioning takes some doing, and some of the recipes don’t appear to be that exotic or worthwhile at first glance.
The cacao bars have been difficult to get in the past but we persevered and managed to make a few of the recipes in the cookbook.
Like salt or pepper, just a small amount of Willie’s 100% cacao can enrichen the flavours in food, adding depth and body. Willie’s recipes show how the ingredient can be used in a wide range of dishes, from Tiramisu and Venezuelan Hot Chocolate to Chicken Mole and Porcini, Gazpacho soup, and Chocolate Risotto.
You do have to remind yourself that the cacao isn’t chocolate-y, so there won’t be that distinctive flavour that you’re expecting. But it’s great stuff all the same.
Details
- Title: Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook (hardback)
- Author: Willie Harcourt-Cooze
- Pages: 224
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 978-0340980514
- Cost: RRP. £20 (now £12.87 on Amazon)
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our Verdict:
Kelly and I loved the TV series – it was really compelling viewing, and through all of the set-backs and struggles we were rooting for Willie and his family to pull through.
Although you don’t have to have seen the series it did whet our appetite for the cookbook and we were both looking forward to some amazing recipes.
As far as the cookbook goes, while I think that it’s a very interesting read, the book itself isn’t really worth the price-tag.
The autobiography makes up half the book, is “read-once-never-read-again” in the way of most autobiographies, and was essentially already covered in the TV series.
Which leaves the recipes: the best of these are traditional South American dishes and you can easily find the recipes online with a little effort.
In short, I’m glad I had the chance to read Willie’s story again, but I haven’t picked up the book since.
Other information:
It has been difficult to get Willie’s chocolate in the past – but the good news is that Co Couture on Chichester Street in Belfast are now stocking them!
You can also buy the cacao on Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s website: www.williescacao.com.
Tags: book review, cookbook, Willie Harcourt-Cooze
Categories: Books for Cooks
