Chiles and Chocolate

I'm intrigued by the combination of chiles and chocolate, because they are both indigenous to the Americas, and Aztec cuisine used them together in both sweet and savory dishes.

I first tasted a chocolate bar with chiles a few years ago. If I remember correctly, it was made by Flyer Chocolates, and it was extremely spicy. I love spicy foods, but here the heat overwhelmed the chocolate, and nothing should overwhelm chocolate. I checked their website and didn't see it listed among their products so they may have stopped making it, or maybe I'm mistaken about the brand.

I few weeks ago I encountered another chocolate-chile combination in a delightful sampler pack made by Lake Champlain Chocolates. The chile in this confection was less aggressive, and it also had a pumpkin seed, which I thought was a great touch since the Aztecs also enjoyed pumpkin seeds in both sweet and savory dishes. There was also a hint of cinnamon, which is an Old World food, but is commonly used in Mexican chocolate today. It was subtle enough to work.

This week I encountered my favorite chocolate-chile combination to date, in a bar made by the Italian company BruCo. The package said it was "inspired by the fine Mexican chili, the 'ancho.'" It had a layer of very dark chocolate that contained no chile, and inside was a sweeter layer of milk chocolate, which contained the chiles, as well as a tiny taste of salt. Like the Lake Champlain bar, the chile was not too hot, and balanced well with the chcocolate.

The experience of eating it was like listening to a tale told by an expert storyteller. The outer layer had that complex bitterness of fine dark chocolate, eased by an perfect smoothness. By the time I got to the center, the taste grew much sweeter, but then the chile kicked in, not enough to burn, but just enough to offset the sweetness. The salt added another dimension to the balance.

I'll keep trying chocolate-chile combinations, but for now I have a winner.