trying the pliable ganache recipe as written on bravos web site; didnt like the flavor...tasted off. anyone know specific reasons certain ingredients are in there for? like sorbitol? is it just used as a sweetener? how about the glucose?
the agar and gelatin i understand. i guess im not sure why its not a standard 1:1 chocolate/cream, with agar and gelatin to make it pliable.

i think both sorbitol and glucose syrup are used as the "sweet" agent of the dish. Not sure about sorbitol, but glucose is used because at the molecular level, the chains are much longer than say sugar. I know in candy making they use corn syrup along with sugar to prevent an abundance of crystallization (results in grainy texture). I suppose in a pliable ganache, using glucose ensures the smooth texture of the ganache is preserved.  Tho don't take my word for it :D

thanks for the information. i have been trying various ratios of chocolate to cream and agar to ganache, and have been only moderately successful. I found that, as far as the chocolates pliability, the recipe as printed on bravos web site worked the best. the chocolate was manageable and did not crack on the plate (i am doing a roller coaster style loop with the ganache) ; i also tried the recipe in the alinea cook book, which is essentially the same, however it has significantly more cream. I found it worked well but it would crack soon after plating, and break within a minute. I tried 1.5 x the agar, which helped a little but i also held the ganache at a lower temperature (in a blast chiller to set, then in a freezer for about 15 min) before cutting and plating. it held for about 5 mins UNDER REFRIGERATION before breaking. it is worth noting that the first time i used 72% chocolate, which i attribute to poor taste (cheap chocolate=bad taste), i have since been using a 53% (i think..somewhere around there) that has a much better taste...could this have anything to do with the breaking of the ganache? if so, any recommendations for a 72% that isnt too fruity?