Chocolate and olive oil
Fat on fat, which should not work and does. The oil's peppery bitterness meets the chocolate's rather than compounding it.
Good extra virgin olive oil with dark chocolate is a Mediterranean combination that sounds unlikely and works consistently. Both are fatty, which by the usual logic should give a heavy, cloying result.
What rescues it is that olive oil's bitterness and pepperiness come from polyphenols, and they read as a green, peppery lift rather than adding to cocoa's bitterness. Combined with a little salt — the traditional serving is chocolate, oil and flaked salt on bread — it becomes one of the better savoury chocolate preparations.
The principle
A peppery extra virgin, not a mild one. The polyphenol bite is what makes it work, and a neutral oil contributes only fat.
Pairings
The oil's peppery polyphenol bite reads as a green lift alongside cocoa's bitterness rather than adding to it.
For example: 70% dark with peppery extra virgin olive oil and flaked salt
Olive oil replacing some of the fat in a mousse or ganache made with a very dark chocolate gives a lighter, more savoury result.
For example: olive oil mousse made with an 85% dark
A tentative suggestion rather than an established pairing.
Serving
On bread with salt is the traditional serving and the best introduction. A neutral oil contributes nothing.
Related
Chocolate types this pairs with
- Dark chocolateThe oil's peppery polyphenol bite reads as a green lift alongside cocoa's bitterness rather than adding to it.
- Extra dark chocolateOlive oil replacing some of the fat in a mousse or ganache made with a very dark chocolate gives a lighter, more savoury result.
Sources
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)