Cheese and Chocolate

There are well-known guidelines for pairing food, including cheese, with wine. Professional recommendations make it easier to decide what to try when one is not an expert.

I’m not a fan of alcohol in any form. The last time I had any more than a sip was in college, and even those times I could count on one hand. What is a lady like me to do who wishes to combine different flavors with cheese?

Enter chocolate.

Cheese and chocolate? Some might wrinkle their nose at the thought. Hey, any time I smell wine or beer, I do the same.

There are some general thoughts on this pairing. Dark chocolate with a higher cacao percentage is said to taste great with almost any cheese but is especially good with complex, aged cheeses such as blue cheese or aged white cheddar. For milk chocolate, experts recommend it would go better with younger, milder, creamier choices, like goat cheese or brie.

Over at Cheese Grotto (www.cheesegrotto.com/blogs/journal/my-guide-to-pairing-cheese-and-chocolate-youre-welcome), she created this fantastic guide of cheese and chocolate. These cheeses and chocolates are more gourmet and will help you up your cheese/chocolate game.

For a romantic date or dinner or just for fun this month, try a cheese and chocolate tasting board. Use several selections of chocolate and cheese and see what combos are pleasing. Some experts suggest tasting the cheese first, then the chocolate. Add grapes or strawberries to eat between tastings.

Remember these are more, to quote Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean, “what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” Eat what tastes fabulous to you. 

You could even look up recipes that combine cheese and chocolate. One that caught my eye was for a puff pastry using brie, raspberries, and dark chocolate. This needs to happen in my kitchen ASAP.

On a side note: while doing research for this article, I found out hot chocolate with cheese in it is popular in Ecuador. Interesting.

Enjoy your tasting!