Farmer's Market ChitChat -Part 2- Pairings

August 03, 2015

Last week’s blog post was all about our white chocolate tastings at the Farmer’s Market. We have so much fun with our Fat-Ass Fudge tastings and look forward to bringing new flavors to our customers to try each week.

Another hot topic around the booth these days is chocolate pairings. When we talk about pairing chocolate, many people automatically think of wine/chocolate pairings or cheese/chocolate pairings. But, what about pairing chocolate with whatever is on hand?

At our Farmer’s Market we like to get a bit adventurous and our customers love getting in on the fun. We’re not afraid to pair chocolate with just about anything! When our customers walk up with a pickle, meatballs, Starbuck or Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, even lemonade, our job is to pair them up with a chocolate that will compliment whatever is available at the moment. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve learned a lot about pairing chocolate with all kinds of food and drink.

For the customers who don’t have a pickle or a meatball in hand, we always keep a stash of Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar nearby from one of our favorite local vendors, The Amazing Olive. After spending a few hours pairing in their store, we just couldn’t keep our discovery to ourselves. The vinegars from The Amazing Olive compliment our fudge so well!

We’ve also begun to introduce cHarissa Spice, a wildly popular spicy condiment developed by a local Long Islander, in honor of his late wife. The spice paired with the sweet is amazing and our patrons absolutely love it.

Pairing these condiments with our fudge has been a very unexpected (and delicious) surprise, not only to the Chocology team but to our customers as well. Who knew spicy and vinegary would go well with chocolate?

One of our Market patrons exclaimed, ""Chocolate bliss, this is chocolate for adults," which became our tagline for the day. Another said, "I'm thinking holiday gifts!" And we agree. Some of these pairings will likely land on our holiday menu in the coming months!

For those of you who aren’t able to join us at our Farmer’s Market booth pairings, why not set up a chocolate pairing party of your own? Here are a few tips from an article we read on the SheKnows website.

White Chocolate pairs well with lemon, blueberries, strawberries, pink peppercorn and lots of other unique flavors. White chocolate paired with the right flavors can create some unique tasting experiences.

Milk Chocolate pairs well with pink Himalayan sea salt, caramel, coconut, bacon and walnuts. Try a milk chocolate that is creamy and not too sweet.

Try Dark Chocolate with lavender, ginger, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar. Dark chocolate is paired well with tangy or sweet flavors.

Whether you join us for pairings at the market or choose to do pairings of your own, always remember to be adventurous and give those ideas a try! Have fun with it. You never know what’s going to taste good together until you give it a go!

Have you paired chocolate with something unique? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Tell us all about it here in the comments section or on Facebook or Twitter.

Wishing you a week filled with fun foods and chocolate!

~ The Chocology Team