Somehow, during a conversation with some of my co-workers, the issue of odd flavor combinations came up yesterday. I had remember reading something in the NYT about chocolate covered bacon and how it was an either love it or hate it type deal (
link to the article). One of my friends said that chef Michael Symon did it once on an episode of Dinner Impossible (apparently I missed that episode but
here it is if you wish to watch) and that she would be open to trying it. Now, being a scientist who cooks, I'm pretty much willing to try anything
at least 3 times. Having easy access to cheap bacon and keeping an ample supply of chocolate in my house just makes things easier. So, after frying up a couple slices, tearing them into small pieces, and covering them in dark chocolate last night I sampled as many people in my department as I could find to get their impression.
End results: some liked it, some where disgusted, and a few said it would have worked better with milk chocolate and crispier bacon (that would primarily be my friend who said that's how Michael Symon did it). I would have to agree with her though. I buy the big bags of the Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips from Sam's Club (and 25# bags of flour and sugar for that matter) because its cheaper and I use dark chocolate when I make truffles (yes, there will be a post about the flavor combinations I've done). Unfortunately, there was a strong fruity note that didn't jive well with the bacon. I think I may need to start keeping a supply of
milk chocolate chips
now. I'll let you know how the next batch turns out.
Also, NYT has a rather interesting article about butter and its importance in baking, check it out, its a good read (
Linky)
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