Experts in Chocolate?

Oh my...

This is a very subjective subject you've brought up.

My general preference, though, is to go opposite of what the food is. Something sweet? Go dark...the darker the better.

A bit on the salty/bland side? Go sweet - and dark!

Yeah, pretty much go dark whenever you can! Actually, I do like the opposite pairings but will use milk chocolate if absolutely necessary. But for fruit stuff, dark is the way to go. Especially with your sweeter fruits like strawberries. If you want to go tart fruits (like some apples) I'd actually go caramel covered chocolate but either way - milk chocolate.

I NEVER like using white 'chocolate' which is not chocolate at all. But this is more of a sweet like a cream so what you'd pair with cream can be good for white chocolate - also along the lines of sweet tarts like cranberries, raspberries and such.

As for working in a gourmet chocolate factory? Only the inside of my kitchen. And i've made some wonderful things - some day I would love for everyone to have at least one piece of my Chocolate Sunrise (modeled after a 'Tequila Sunrise') and Chocolat Duc A'larange. Yes, I do tend to create some loverly and delicious alcohol based confections along with other flavors.

Rabe...

Dark Chocolate and red wine is a great combo.
Also, I've seen brewery type restaurants serve their house brewed beer with little pieces of chocolate. I don't know much about beer, but it was supposed to complement the beer. (Probably a very dark beer)

Chocolate tastings and pairings and even varietals and vintages are all hot right now. This is a good place to start.

Just to clarify, white chocolate contains cocoa butter which comes from the same plant as cocao powder. Dark chocolate contains cocoa powder and no cocoa butter, which is why it has more of a waxy texture (ie, no cocoa fat to make it smoother). Milk chocolate should contain a mixture of cocoa butter, cocoa powder and milk (normally milk powder/solids or condensed milk), but in recent years the cocoa butter has sadly been replaced in some products with vegetable oil (eg, UK Cadbury is not considered chocolate in the EU).

After visiting the Chocolate Museum in Brussels, I discovered something interesting which might explain why bananas and chocolate go so well together. When the cocoa pod full of seeds is fermented, it's wrapped in banana leaves!

Conching is a very important part in chocolate creation. I'd Google it if I was you.

The more often you heat and cool chocolate, the lower the quality. This is why some European chocolatiers demand that their chocolate arrives molten, in trucks with heated units, ready to be poured into their same-temperature molten vats.

I really would have loved to have worked in the chocky industry...

bylinebree said:

Opinions: What do you think of cheese and chocolate? (not cream but cheddar or something?) Is that gross?

Click to expand...

I do like a bit of chocolate with my Guinness. It adds to the flavor of both. I understand the principle works the same with other liquor. Something to do with the combination of sugars and yeast...for the most part. I'm not a big wine drinker though.

Actually I'm not much of a drinker of anything liquor but...sometimes...

But cheese and chocolate isn't so far off. It would be about the same flavor combinations as anything else. I'm not sure I would make a cheese/chocolate cracker...but to have cheese and chocolate on the same course? Sure...why not? I've had chocolate covered peppers as well as some chocolate covered other things that don't really seem to go together.

Again, I would try to opposite the flavors - a really sharp cheddar I'd probably go more milk chocolate. A milder, or smoother cheddar, I'd go dark again.

((again, personal statement here: Dark chocolate is the ONLY real chocolate! Don't worry, all my friends disagree))

This is actually a combination I try to do with all my special meal planning. By switching it up, it makes the flavors stand out more.

Rabe...

Chocolate tastes different depending on where the cacao plants that it's made from were grown. I visited a little gourmet shop in Vancouver a couple of years ago, and the guy had us tasting all of the different chocolates he had from around the world - I only remember two in particular - one that was grown in an area that had previously been used for banana plantations, the chocolate tasted like banana, and another type was grown in an area where there were a lot of fires, and the smokiness of the soil made the chocolate taste smoky - it was awesome!

bylinebree said:

Hmm, Rabe: I checked out ICEmpress' link, and they disagree with you...they suggest mild-with-mild, and strong-with-strong in flavors. I can sorta see their pt.

I'm no expert, but wouldn't putting, say, a strong dark chocolate with a mild wine or beer (or cheese) just overpower the milder flavor? Maybe that's why the website suggests pairing like with like?

But now I'm curious and want to try both, and actually pay attention to what I'm tasting. You've got me taste-buds all riled up! *goes down to kitchen*

Click to expand...

Her link is wrong. HA!!

No, seriously have you ever done the 'potato chips' and 'ice cream' mix?

Yes? No? If the answer is know HIGH THEE TO THINE SUPERMARKET FOR THE INGREDIENTS!!!!

Seriously though, the idea isn't to mask one flavor with another. It's the 'shocking the system' kind of thing. You chase a strong flavor with the milder one and the tongue is revved up for the bitter so the sweeter flavor is actually intensified. Where you go with the mild, the sweeter side is revved up and suddenly the stronger flavor is intensified. Which is why I don't advocate for a chocolate covered hunk of cheese but chocolate following cheese, or cheese following chocolate.

When you pair mild with mild and strong with strong, you don't get the combative synergestic effect. You get complimentary and they just go 'blah'! The same idea of putting red against a green field, or green against a red field. They are contrasting colors and the one that is lesser seems more vibrant. But if you put blue on blue, they compliment too much and just sort of blend.

But, if you've had ice cream (vanilla usually) with potato chips (the Lays regular or Ruffles kind and of the two, Ruffles are better) then the tongue is activating sweet and salty at the same time and you experience them both in a stronger contrast.

But, go give it a try yourself. You'll find that I'm right.

Cause I'm *always* right - except for when I'm voting.

Rabe...

Two of my favourite foods in the world are chocolate and cheese: living in France is definitely working out for me!

However, I would never consider mixing chocolate and cheese. I might have a cheese platter after dessert, which might involve chocolate (the French normally have the cheese platter before dessert, in case you're interested), but I see no reason why I would ever want to eat chocolate and cheese at around the same time.

Chocolate cheesecake is, of course, the exception, but as you've pointed out, it's not really cheese in the same way.

http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/chocolate/pairing-wine2.asp

Hope this helps. There's actually a lot out there on this subject.

bylinebree said:

Interesting. Why do they have cheese, which seems such a heavy food, after the main course? Though I've heard that "dinner" in France is a pretty light deal normally - so cheese & dessert too wouldn't be so much?

What kinds of chocolate desserts do they prefer in your region?

Click to expand...

I'm in a traditional farming region in the Alps, which means the main courses are far from light: fondue, tartiflette, raclette - basically anything with potatoes, cheese and bread.

Cheese platters usually contain the local cheeses, so, for where I am, you'd have Reblochon, Tomme de Savoie, maybe Tomme Blanche (young Reblochon) or Tommette (goats' cheese version of Tomme de Savoie), Beaufort etc. Perhaps something from further a-field such as the Jura ranges, but unlikely to have Camembert (it's from the North) or anything else from beyond the Alps.

Chocolate desserts include Fondante au Chocolate (a muffin-sized chocolate cake, served warm, with a soft centre of melted chocolate), tiramisu (hey, Italy is visible from here!), and chocolate fondue (served with bananas, kiwi and star fruit usually, but of course, lots of variations). Simpler desserts include chocolate crepes, Nutella crepes, chocolate icecream/gelati, and chocolate waffles.

I must weigh in on the no-cheese-with-chocolate issue. A nice nubbin of good Cheddar or Double Gloucester, chewed boldly with good dark chocolate, is a shock to be sought after. My first taste was accidental, but not anymore!

For those who must watch sugar: even non-sugar-free dark chocolate contains very little sugar. Safe, I'm told by my endocrinologist, in small quantities (granted, large quantities are much better). As a diabetic, I praise the Maker who figured this out and saved me from a chocolate-free middle age.

There's one chocolate company that does chocolate with smoked bacon in it, with curry in it, olives, etc. Not sure that tickles my fancy. (I read an article--I think in the Daily Mail--about chocolate with bacon, and not surprisingly, the reviewer thought it was pretty disgusting!)

This is the website, if you're interested in trying some!

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars

www.maxbrenner.com

we've several of these in Israel, they have hot & cold chocolate drinks, with or without alcohol, chocolate fondue, chocolate 'pizza', truffles, cakes, 50 types of candies and 3 vats big enough to bathe in (but they wouldn't let me) holding white, milk, and dark chocolate.