5 Intriguing Flavours that go with Chocolate

We all know there is a sliding scale of chocolate and with that comes a feast of flavours, that can be broken down into cocoa, sweet, fruity, aromatic, roasted, acidic and bitter qualities and each chocolate takes on these characteristics in varying quantities... For example 80Noir Ultra is a combination of all these but it prominent accents are cocoa, fruity, and aromatic.

Therefore its no real surprise that many food go with Chocolate, its just are you really brave enough to give it a go and try for yourself. We all know that Mole from Mexico is famous for its chocolate, so why can't other food types be this intriguing. So we have pulled together 10 slightly different versions to open the door to experimenting and hopefully if you do, you will share your experiments with us on our social media channels noted below:

1. BEER
Thank Belgium for this, their greatest exports are beer and chocolate, do in fact work extremely well together. try pairing dark chocolate truffles with powerful ales and/or heading to the milk bar section and adding it with a raspberry and cherry beer.. Go on - try it and report back!

2. MOLE POBLANO
Okay, so i hinted at it early but this is a centuries old balance of delicate flavours coming together for the mole sauce. Eaten slowly so you can saviour every complex flavour as the dark chocolate is counter balanced by zesty tomatoes and cracking chillies, which the seasoning of cloves and other spices help to improve and deepen the chocolate accents. It takes a long time to make as it deserves the time and effort to make such an explosion of flavour, but its 100% worth the effort, and if you are doing for a dinner party (one day) it will be highly regarded!

3. RED WINE
Well we all know this really, but it really works. They both contain resveratrol, which is thought to lower cholesterol and protect brain function. Which is why when you head for the wine, grab a few bars of dark chocolate too, in particular a Argentine Merlot which is great for any chocolate over 70%, so when you next fancy it, grab yourself a 80Noir Ultra mini bar and enjoy.

4. CURED FAT
Not necessarily a known dish in the UK, but in Ukraine, traditional recipes are found of salo, cured pork fat. If you coat this is in chocolate, which was originally done to bring in punters to restaurants but ultimately been done for real and enjoyed. Its a lovely sweet/savoury pairing.

5. ABSINTHE
We all know "la fée verte" or the Little Green Fairy from *Moulin Rouge* and that its synonymous Absintheand Europe's Literati... The usual way to make white absinthe the french way is using a spoon and sugar cube, and if you accompany this with dark chocolate, the drinks anise notes balance perfectly with the chocolate. If you end up in Italy, they have combined it all for you and have chocolate-absinthe ready and waiting!

Try these out and see what you think and report back whether thats by adding comments here or taking #80noirultra on Instagram.