Chocolate in the Kitchen: A Shift in Perspective
Written by Chrissie of Awaken Your Senses.
Chocolate is everywhere. And for most of us we have a love affair going on with it. It is magical elixir that, with just one bite, all the world is right again. It is mysterious and dark with a velvety smooth, deep rich flavor that elevates our tasting experience to completely new heights. How can we not be in love with chocolate?
This is the ultimate chocolate experience, reaching that place that just one bite will transport you to, being fully present in the moment of tasting it, experiencing it with all of your senses. This is what a good quality chocolate will do to you, and is what I believe makes it so magical. So what happens then when we try to include that elixir ingredient in our own dessert creations? A bit of amnesia begins to surface...
When we go to bake something using chocolate we seem to forget about that magical experience that we had before. We begin to lower our standards when selecting a chocolate to use in our kitchen, thinking that it won't make that much of a difference given all the other ingredients that will be mixed in. But I am here to tell you that it definitely does.
When using chocolate in the kitchen, the quality of chocolate that you use will make or break the dessert (or savory dish) that you are trying to make. Just like you would take the time to go to the farmer's market to select fresh and flavorful ingredients, you should also take your time in selecting the chocolate you use.
So how does one go about selecting the appropriate chocolate for the dish you want to create? Well, it all boils down to what flavors you are working with in the dessert or savory dish you have selected. The chocolate that you choose should in some way reflect those flavors, provide a complement or interesting contrast with them. Like wine, chocolate actually has its own unique flavor profiles, and depending on the beans used and methods of toasting, drying and fermentation, they will vary with each one. Once you familiarize yourself with the chocolate's flavors you can then begin creating some to die for desserts and unique savory dishes. Here are some steps that you can begin to incorporate in your kitchen experience that will allow you to elevate the flavors in your chocolate dishes:
1. Keep a roster of chocolate tasting notes and samples in your kitchen
One of the most useful things I have ever done was to begin keeping samples and notes in the kitchen on different types of chocolate. This allows you to have on hand a selection of chocolate to choose from when starting a new recipe. What I do is, each time I buy a new type of chocolate, I sit down and do a tasting with it. I keep a little notebook on hand (just keep it with the other cookbooks) and take notes on what flavors I notice, the texture, the bitterness, etc… Although there is a step by step process for tasting chocolate, the most important thing to remember is to allow it slowly melt in your mouth before swallowing it. Bit by bit allow the flavors to come out as it is melting, move it around a bit in your mouth as you will taste different things in each area of your mouth. Then take some quick notes on what you find. Once you have the notes, cut a bit of the chocolate (if you have a big block) or save the bar and keep it as your "creative sample". Store it in an airtight container, away from the light, and each time you are looking for a chocolate to use in a recipe, you will have a bit on hand to taste and see if it will match your recipe or not. You can either keep the notes you made inside the container with the chocolate or keep them in the notebook separate from the stored chocolate. Either way, when selecting the chocolate it is great having the two on hand to reference. Not only is this super fun to do, but will keep you in a creative space in your kitchen resulting in delicious dishes.
2. Study the flavors in your recipe
When I try a new recipe at home, I always look to see what flavors are being used as that will help me to then select a chocolate to use with it. For example, if the recipe has cinnamon, cloves and cardamom as its flavor base, then I would select a chocolate that I know has cinnamon notes in it or smoky notes to complement the flavors in the recipe. The next thing to look it is sugar. Does the recipe call for quite a bit of sugar? Then maybe a bittersweet chocolate would add a nice balance to it. Or maybe a chocolate with a lower cacao percentage would work well because it is adding specific notes that would enhance the flavor of the dish. For example a white chocolate added to a salted caramel. These two flavors, although sweet on both sides end up enhancing each other because the flavor profiles complement each other. The salt also lowers the sugar flavor. Don't be afraid to play with the sugar quantities in your recipes. Oftentimes the sugar content is high because baking chocolate has none. So feel free to lower the quantity of sugar or use something as a substitute if you feel it may be too much or will mask the beautiful flavors that your chocolate has. Play with the elements of contrast, complement, texture, sweetness, acidity, bitterness and saltiness. This will make your dishes more creative, flavorful and all around more interesting.
3. Quality first
As mentioned above, the quality of your chocolate will play a big role in how your dish turns out. There are many chocolate makers out there, unfortunately, who add other ingredients ( like a lot of sugar, hydrogenated oils, vanilla extract etc) that are intended to mask the chocolate because the beans are of a lower quality. The chocolate, in this case, will have lost it variety of vibrant flavors, and taste either waxy, sweet or simply taste of nothing. This will then translate over to your dish rendering it dull, killing the original vibrancy and potential within the recipe that is awaiting creation. I always say that we deserve the best life has to offer, and that includes the choices we make in our food. The little extra splurge at the end of the day is worth the food experience that you will be creating.
Chocolate is truly one of the most beautiful, flavorful, and interesting ingredients out there to work with. It takes time to become acquainted with and really get to understand it, but when you do, you are introduced to a dazzling and brilliant being. You work with it to bring those elements out, respect it, coax out the deep, rich and mysterious in it. In return, you and those benefiting from your creations, will be transported to a new tasting experience. Now isn't that worth it?
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