That's Sweet

BOOK REVIEW: Anita Chu's Field Guide to Candy

by Drew Lazor

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Halloween is done, meaning those six-bags-for-a-buck Snickers deals at CVS have gone the way of your fructose-eroded molar enamel, at least till candy cane season kicks off (in 3, 2, 1 ... ). I can't think of a better excuse to pick up Anita Chu's new Field Guide to Candy (Quirk Books, $15.95), a book that'll help you properly identify (and make) more than 100 varieties of treats — some contemporary, some esoteric, all presented in unadulterated, cavity-inducing glory.

This book, which came out in October, was put together by the too-fittingly named Chu, a trained pro baker who now runs the beautiful sweets blog Dessert First (dessertfirst.typepad.com). The author breaks candy down into digestible categories ("chocolate," "sugary sweet," "creamy/sticky/chewy, etc."), with an easy-to-reference full-color photo key neatly wedged in the middle of the book, like the nut part of a Jordan Almond.

Slick icons break up the home baking/preparation processes for each of the candies, and it's this encouraging, hands-on approach that makes the book far more enticing than what could've turned out to be nothing more than a sugar fiend's checklist/compendium. Accompanying each entry, too, are plucky historical tidbits that suggest Chu is as much a student of the craft as she is a teacher (ancient Persians ate nougat? That was not in 300).

Though some of the recipes are by their very nature ill-designed for the impatient (the four-page marshmallow entry, though clear, might make you want to just go out and purchase some Jet-Puffed), there's ample material here for those homebodies looking for something new to impress guests. This'll prove especially helpful with the holidays approaching, as Chu tackles sweets like peppermint bark, toffee and gumdrops in great detail.

(drew.lazor@citypaper.net)