Sunday, June 5, 2011

ChocolateBet: June 5, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Poco Dolce
Olive Oil Sea Salt Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.763 oz. (50 g.)
Calories: 264 calories (estimate)
Cost: $5.00
Purchased from: Poco Dolce

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Olives are a prominent culinary motif in Mediterranean countries. Olives were often cured in salt water from the sea. Given the tsunami of chocolate flavor pairings, mixing chocolate or cacao with olives, or more commonly olive oil, was inevitable.

Today's Olive Oil bittersweet chocolate bar from Poco Dolce  (San Francisco) was flavored with a feather-light sprinkle of tiny crystals of grey sea salt (embedded in the underside of the bar). Poco Dolce, in English, translates as just a little, or not too sweet. This bar was very smooth, almost buttery -- likely a result of the olive oil, in addition to cocoa butter and soy lecithin.

I wish I had saved some of this ultra-smooth bar to melt down to make an Ouzo-flavored fondue. Maybe later. Visions of chocolate cakes with almond flour, orange, and olive oil swam around in my head today as well.

Other possible Mediterranean-inspired savory side dishes to experiment with: an olive tapenade (flavored with either cacao nibs, or a dash of unsweetened chocolate) on gluten-free toasted bread; or maybe an eggplant, mushroom and olive dish with nibs over rice or polenta. 
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