The nature of chocolate is so intense that it is rarely paired with another food or beverage, lest it interrupts the heavenly cocoa taste. “Food pairing is the art of putting together food that goes well, and the method is based on the principle that foods combine well with one another when they share key flavour components. While the most popular pairings involve wine and cheese, chocolate pairings, too, have caught on quite well,” says chocolatier and baker Shreya Rajadhyaksha, who runs Frosted Bites, a bakery at Chembur.

This one needs no recipe. Take a bowl of melted chocolate and served it with some crispy fries

Experimenting with salty ingredients and chocolate, Heston Blumenthal, chef of The Fat Duck ion the UK, discovered that caviar and white chocolate are a perfect match, adds Rajadhyaksha. “Chocolate pairing is all about bringing chocolate together with food that brings out different flavour profiles such as salty, tangy, spicy and hot.”

Balance the intensity
According to Chef Sandeep Pande, executive chef, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel, chocolate tends to coat your palate, so the pairing has to be balanced. “The liquer drink, Crème de menthe, a Corsican mint-flavoured liquor, goes well with chocolate as mint’s flavour can match the strong taste of cocoa.

The Mayans discovered chocolate, so another South American drink of the same region, Cachaça, can replace white rum in a mohito made with brown sugar and mint. It is an excellent option to serve with white chocolate. Another alcohol that goes beautiful with chocolate is tequila,” explains chef Pande. So, you don’t always have to finish it with salt and lime.

Another Juhu-based baker, Smriti Mehra, says there is no rule when it comes to choosing your chocolate. “But, chocolate with 70 per cent cocoa is ideal to serve as it is neither too sweet nor too bitter.”

As a starter, chocolate goes awesomely well with bread, so serve bread pieces with a little molten chocolate for dipping and you’ll have your guests drooling, recommends Mehra, who owns Parfait.

The Royce counter at JW Marriott’s Bombay Baking Company in Juhu has introduced a chocolate pairing menu, which pairs the sinful slab with tea, coffee, cocktails and single malts. “One of our pairing is Twinings Glendale Twirl, which is a spicy Nilgiri black tea, with Pure Chocolate Ghana Sweet which has 60 per cent cocoa. While pairing, instinct and experience, both, play an important role,” says Executive chef Himanshu Taneja.