There are many of us who can have chocolate spread with everything — on a pizza crust, croissants, toast and dosa, too. But that’s as far as most of us must’ve experienced divine ‘chocovention’. How about chocolate with meats and steaks? It’s not a new trend, in fact chocolate has been used in savoury dishes all over the world.
It’s a common ingredient in certain parts of Europe and Mexico. While several Spanish/Catalan dishes are flavoured with chocolate, in Italy chocolate is used to accompany boar and hare dishes; chocolate also makes a great accompaniment to game dishes. Mexico’s traditional dish mole (pronounced molay) a chilli and chocolate sauce is renowned. The sauce is used in several meat and vegetable dishes.
Taking from mole, Kshama Prabhu, Executive Chef at the The White Owl Brewery & Bistro, tried her hands at a chocolate spiked BBQ sauce and jazzed up a vegetable kheema sandwich with it to good effect. “I used the easily available dark compound chocolate Morde for the sauce for a vegetable sandwich that was served as a chef’s special. We still serve it on prior request,” she shares.
Chocolate Glazed Roast Chicken with Thyme and Red Wine is a combination that Rahul Kulkarni, Executive Chef, Serafina, recommends trying. While it may not be among their best selling dishes, it’s a Valentine’s special every year. “The magic comes from the red wine jus with cocoa butter and Callebaut’s 75 per cent cocoa powder,” and the effect is mellow and smooth, he tells us. For a finishing touch, he says he adds pepper for a spike.
Executive chef Paul Kinny of InterContinental Marine Drive also recommends chocolate glaze with spicy flavours to go with. “Pour chocolate flavoured with jalapeños, chilli powder, rock salt and herbs and spices over meats and torch it for a perfect glaze,” he says.
If you, however, want a taste of things right away then you could try the Smoked bacon, 64 per cent valrohna manjari kulcha with walnut dust at Masala Library. Himanshu Saini, their Chef de cuisine, says, “Using chocolate in a snack, not dessert, in itself adds an amount of surprise to the diner. While the combination of chocolate with smoked bacon is a perfect marriage of flavours, it is also about blending the bitterness of chocolate with the saltiness of bacon.” The fat content in both key ingredients helps with making the kulcha soft, while not requiring any additional use of fat for cooking. “And the result is smoky, nutty and sinful,” he says.
Going cocoa at home
With a dearth of chocolate laced meals at restaurants, foodies shouldn’t be afraid to try chocolate recipes at home, say chefs. The flavour of chocolate is usually subtle. What you get is a silky texture, close to what red wine brings to a dish. Slight tart overtones in your dish would be a good sign, and only come if good quality dark chocolate is used. To begin with, try spaghetti recipes with chocolate; bolognaise would be good for starters.
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