Days of Wine and Chocolate
I’m probably just late getting to the party, but I have only recently discovered how marvelously Dan Schreiber’s Salted Dark Milk Chocolate pairs with red wine!
Especially the less tannic, more fruit-forward, international style of wine that’s still dominant. I first tried this “red wine” from Chile when it was on Piccadilly’s tasting last month and was immediately won over by this blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Carignan, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I am not usually a fan of the soft, easy-pleasy wines made from Merlot, but this but this one is quite a bit more serious while still being easy on the tongue and on the wallet. It’s a Jorge Ordonez selection, so you’d expect it to be a great value, but unlike some of his Spanish wines, which now taste more like Vanilla Creamsicles from all the toasty American oak they marinate in, this wine spends a few months in French oak barrels. Just enough to give it some backbone and smooth the edges of this concentrated and seriously ripe blend. It’s a great value for $10 or so.
And yesterday, I had my first chance to try Dan’s new “Pious” bar, made with one ingredient: cacao beans.
That’s right, 100% chocolate! Way back in the early fall, Dan joined us for a bike ride and, just outside of White Heath, he pulled us over to sample some unsweetened chocolate that he had brought back from a trip to Seattle. I could tell by the fire in his eye that it would not be long before he was making his own.
Unsweetened chocolate is generally sold as “baking chocolate” and not meant to be eaten. And for good reason. With no sugar to mask or gloss over its industrial quality, a nasty, bitter, astringency can be the dominant flavor. But done right, Dan believes that this is the “pure” expression of the cacao bean.
As you would expect, Dan’s bar is austere or uncompromising, but not bitter. Incredibly smooth in the mouth, it has deep, dark, roasted flavors like coffee, and indeed it went wonderfully with the pot of espresso we made. I also find an alluring, earthy, scent, akin to the smell of fresh-turned dirt in the spring, but, again, as if that woodsy dirt had been dark-roasted in the oven, purified by fire.
I haven’t tried his new “Grand Canyon” bar, with almonds and apricots, but I plan to bust out some apricots soaked in Sauternes when I do!
[...] Though bake you must not! While typical 100% chocolate is harsh dusty stuff that bears more resemblance to soil than the food of the gods, with care, one can make a dry chocolate that fumes with the saturated aroma of it’s cacao. It may remind you of dirt, but it shouldn’t taste like it! Eating unsweetened chocolate, unlike eating the earth, can be a pleasurable experience. If you really want to impress me (and your friends) with some braggadocio, try a bite! I’ll salute you for it. [...]
I salute you and your pork-pulling, emulsification-elongation abilities, Larbo!
It didn’t occur to me when I posted this, but I thought I should clarify for those who don’t quite know me yet that to describe the smell of something that you would put in your mouth as “dark-roasted-spring-turned-dirt” is a COMPLEMENT and a HIGH RECOMMENDATION!