Savory Chocolates to tingle your taste buds

A sweet is a sweet and is made up of sugar and all things nice and that is what we are familiar with. In India most of us love our traditional sweets  From the Bengali rasgullas dipped in a heavenly cardamom sugar syrup, or the famous Chandni Chowk's delectably crisp jalebis with their delicate saffron flavors oozing tons of ghee and sugar syrup, to the Mysore Pak our own desi version of honeycomb/Hokey Pokey , a heavenly concoction of gram flour, ghee and of course an abundance of sugar, we love them all. Yet the international sweets and dessert scenario is undergoing a big change.

There was a time when a sweet was just "sweet" and a savory was a salty dish and perhaps the twain rarely met. Today the lines are totally blurred and desserts have been invaded by unusual ingredients like salt, miso and wasabi. Even bacon, chicken and kidney beans and many other such savory items are appearing in dessert ingredients lists. This trend of savory ingredients incorporated into sweet dishes has in fact revolutionised the standard sweet dish into something more sophisticated and given it a depth of flavor and added complexity and surprisingly has elevated its sweetness factor to another level.

 This play of the savory on the sweet is a fascinating phenomenon and perhaps the greatest and most popular pairings have been with chocolate.  Spices have already been very successfully coupled with chocolate and this has created interesting and palette tingling combinations. Salt, chili, ginger, and cinnamon have today become commonplace pairings with chocolate but some flavors out there just border on the bizarre side.

You can buy a bar of dark chocolate with wasabi flavour from Lindt (wasabi has a strong horse radish-mustardy flavor, something akin to our mouli!)  If you are a green tea fan then the Matcha green tea chocolate is a must try for you. In the spice section you can now find curry, chipotle and cayenne flavored chocolates to suit your preferred degree of hotness! These are easily available in most chocolate boutiques in the metros.

In case cheese is what you crave then there are a variety of chocolates out there for your satisfaction.  Dark chocolate, cheese, pepper and pear combo is available at Chuao Chocolatier. Although I have not had the pleasure of tasting it, I am told it’s a heavenly combination..  KitKat also has a  Gouda Cheese flavored version which has been specially designed for the Japanese palette.

If you are a confirmed non vegetarian there is the popular bacon flavored chocolate from Vosges Haut Chocolate Mo’s Dark Bacon Bar. You can even buy ant chocolate, yes, yes you heard right.  Ant chocolates are available from Graffiti Zoo Chilean Fire Ants. You may also opt for chocolate covered insects if you wish. Yes I know one has to be a bit adventurous to try these but maybe someday. I have not tasted these but I am guessing ants and insects qualify as savory additions.

Check out these sites for their unusual flavors

http://chuaochocolatier.com/bonbons/bonbon-collections/dark-chocolate.html

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

Chocolates from Rita’s Kitchen: Liquor:  rum, whiskey, vodka, Irish Cream

Summer collection:   Orange (with real orange marmalade and bits of orange) Caramel with rosemary and a hint of chili Chunky peanut butter robed in dark chocolate Coconut centers with dark chocolate

(Contains no artificial flavorings)

We take corporate orders in Delhi and Dehradun

Contact: 08447598100 email: ritav18@gmail.com ritakitchendehradun@gmail.com