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Hot Chocolate: Chocolate lends its unique flavor to savory dishes, too
• by By Andrea Hellmann • Photos by David Torrence Photography
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When I think of beets, I don’t think chocolate. David Lawrence, co-owner and head chef at Pestalozzi Place, does. A beet salad, sprinkled with shaved unsweetened chocolate and accented with chèvre and champagne vinaigrette, makes up one of the restaurant’s more unusual and, yes, popular menu items. It may sound strange, but the final product is intoxicating.
Last February, Lawrence and co-owner Steve Graef introduced a conceptual menu, Chocolate Fest. (It’s back again this month.) Starting on Valentine’s Day and running through Mardi Gras, the Tower Grove East restaurant served chocolate everywhere on the menu, from butternut squash with mole sauce (pronounced “mo-lay”) – a traditional Mexican sauce using chocolate – to the beet salad (pictured at left).
“A lot of our friends give up chocolate for Lent,” Lawrence said. “If you give up something, you need to have a lot of it beforehand to survive the six weeks of Lent. We thought since people have such an affinity for chocolate on Valentine’s Day, we’d focus on chocolate.”
Chocolate is very versatile and becoming a popular item to experiment with in non-traditional chocolate dishes, such as chocolate vinaigrette dressing or lamb with chocolate sauce. Chocolate offers a unique, balancing flavor that is perfect for savory dishes.
“I like the undercurrent that kind of tickles that taste bud and reminds you of something,” Lawrence said. “Chocolate evokes memories for people. They may not remember the past event, but it’s the experience you’re going for.”
Chocolate contains chemical compounds that elevate moods and stimulate endorphins, according to Dan Abel, owner of Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate, which has 13 locations in the St. Louis area. It is also known as an aphrodisiac, making it the perfect ingredient for a Valentine’s Day meal.
“Chocolate gives you the feeling of love,” Abel said. “It masks pain.”
Until recently, chocolate was always used as a dessert in America. Now, that’s changing, but chocolate has been used in savory dishes for centuries in other parts of the world. Graef said if you look at cookbooks from different cultures, you won’t find a lot of recipes for chocolate desserts.
Mexico is responsible for one of the most popular chocolate dishes, mole sauce, made of dried chile peppers, nuts, spices and, of course, chocolate. Mole, which originated in the Mexican state of Puebla, can be red, green or even yellow, depending on the region. It traditionally accompanies poultry, such as turkey or chicken, according to Moni Ramos, assistant manager of Pueblo Solis in South City. Ramos said mole is time-consuming to make because it requires so many ingredients. The restaurant buys it premade, but Ramos learned the recipe from his mom and makes it occasionally at home.
Chocolate is also popular in some European dishes, which is how Kevin Vizard, owner and head chef at Vizard’s on the Avenue in New Orleans, discovered it. Vizard enjoys discovering the origins of Creole cuisine, which is primarily derived from French, Spanish and African food. When he looked at Spanish cookbooks, he noticed the use of chocolate in savory dishes. Now, it’s one of his favorite ingredients to play with, and its popularity is growing.
“We have the chef movement, and the popularity of the Food Network has driven a lot of people to begin experimenting,” Vizard said. “The fascination with food is there.”
Experimentation is how Vizard came up with his Black and Blue, a flourless chocolate cake filled with blue cheese and topped with a port reduction sauce. “The chocolate molten is something really different, and I just kind of stumbled on it during a port tasting,” Vizard said. “Some ports have a chocolate taste. So, I put some chocolate and blue cheese in a small cup and finished it with the port sauce. I tasted it and said, ‘Wow, this is really good!’”
Vizard has found that chocolate really finishes a sauce and adds a unique flavor to relatively simple dishes, such as the New Orleans staple, shrimp Creole. Vizard adds a little chocolate at the end, which darkens the Creole and “does something wonderful.” To keep his menu inventive, Vizard reads cookbooks and talks about new ideas with fellow chefs while prepping. The key is being open to possibilities.
Anyone can cook with chocolate – but not just any chocolate. You probably won’t be using sweet milk chocolate, like a Hershey bar. Semisweet chocolate won’t provide the flavor you’re looking for, either, or a smooth emulsion. Lawrence suggested using bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate. They are the purest forms of chocolate. Which one is best for which dish is really up to experimentation.
Chocolate, just like butter, will add sheen and richness to sauces. For example, a tomato sauce can be runny, and butter will richen and thicken it so it sits on the tongue longer. Chocolate does the same thing, according to Vizard. It tightens the flavor and gives you more time to savor.
Chef Barton Philipps, chef de cuisine at the Missouri Athletic Club in Downtown St. Louis, said chocolate is ideal for balancing flavors in savory foods. Philipps frequently worked with chocolate in pastries and desserts while working at the Hershey Hotel Resort in Pennsylvania, but he’s since seen an evolution in the use of the dark stuff for savory dishes. He uses just a hint to accent other flavors, not to overwhelm a dish with chocolate. Philipps warned not to overuse chocolate because the taste can be overpowering. A little goes a
long way.
For example, in Philipps’ cocoa-encrusted scallops, he coats the scallops with cocoa powder and cayenne pepper. The spice and chocolate, both aphrodisiacs, add a strong flavor to the naturally sweet scallops without overpowering one another.
“Look at what typically goes well with chocolate, cherries, orange flavor and other fruit flavors,” Philipps said. “Incorporating fruit is one of the easiest ways to add chocolate to your savory dish. I also make a beef tenderloin with a dried cherry and chocolate sauce.”
Philipps said the best way to learn to use chocolate is to experiment. He suggested starting with what you like, whether it’s chicken, beef tenderloin or fish. Then figure out how to best incorporate chocolate in that dish. Coating works best for firm items, such as scallops, that will then be seared. Other preparations, such as dishes that will be roasted, are best topped with a sauce.
Philipps recommended coating something with chocolate before trying your hand at sauces. He said breadings are easier to work with than sauces, which require a little bit more finesse. Mix bitter cocoa powder with any spice you wish, though chocolate works very well with spicier flavors such as cayenne pepper. Tone down the flavors if you’re going for a more Italian-style dish.
“You have to think of how chocolate is going to work with whatever meat or fish you want to use,” Philipps said. “You want to use as few ingredients as possible. Simplicity is a factor in this. It tends that the more items you put in, you get away from the original thought of what you want to accomplish.”
Anybody can experiment with chocolate at home. Whether you want to make a romantic chocolate menu for Valentine’s Day or just experiment with cooking, chocolate is a great avenue to explore. Using chocolate in savory foods offers a chance to explore the more creative side of cooking.
“Keep it basic and just enjoy the creativity of it,” Philipps said. “Using chocolate in savory dishes is a relatively new field that isn’t used a lot, but I believe it has a lot of possibilities that can be used in everyday menus. It never hurts to stand out in a crowd.”
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Black & Blue
Courtesy of Vizard’s on the Avenue’s Kevin Vizard
12 to 14 individual cakes
1¼ lb. 47-percent dark chocolate
6 oz. (1½ ssticks) butter
9 whole eggs
4 cups sugar
3½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 lb. Cabrales blue cheese, divided into 1-ounce balls
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
• Whisk the eggs and then add the sugar, mixing till the mixture is smooth.
• Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Whisk in the flour until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool.
• Spoon the mixture into 6-ounce metal ramekins leaving about 1 inch from the
top. Push a cheese ball into the chocolate in each ramekin.
• Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. The center of the cake should be soft with the outside firm. Let rest for 10 minutes before inverting onto the center of plate.
• Serve with reduced port wine syrup and whipped cream.
Mole Sauce
Courtesy of Pueblo Solis’ Moni Ramos
5 servings
5 ancho chiles
5 pasilla chiles
10 animal crackers
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
¼ cup almonds
½ cup peanuts
2 quarts chicken broth
1 plantain
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cumin
½ package Abuelita chocolate*
6 cloves
½ cup raisins
3 cloves roasted garlic
½ onion, diced
• Toast the chiles, crackers, sesame seeds, almonds and peanuts in a skillet. Once toasted, grind the ingredients in a food processor.
• Put the chicken broth in a pot over low heat and add all the ingredients. Stir frequently for about 10 minutes.
• Blend well in a food processor, then strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and serve over poultry.
*Available in the Hispanic section of grocery stores or at Mexican or international grocers.
Cocoa-Spiced Scallops With Raspberry Sauce & Flash-Fried Leeks
Courtesy of Missouri Athletic Club’s Barton Philipps
2 servings
For the scallops:
½ Tbsp. toasted cumin seeds
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 Tbsp. European cocoa powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
6 fresh jumbo scallops
Vegetable oil
• Place the cumin and thyme in a coffee or spice grinder and blend well.
• Add the cocoa powder, cayenne and salt to the other ingredients in the grinder and blend.
• Place the cocoa mixture in a dish and coat each scallop.
• Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet and sear each side of the scallop.
For the sauce:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 pint fresh raspberries
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup white wine
• Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the raspberries.
• When the raspberries start to cook, add the brown sugar followed by the wine.
• Cook until the liquid starts to thicken. Remove from the heat.
• Pass the raspberry mixture through a fine sieve and save only the juice.
For the leeks:
1 leek
Vegetable oil
• Cut the end off of the leek, using only the white part.
• Cut the leek in half lengthwise and wash any sand out.
• Cut the halves into thin strips, about 3 inches long.
• Heat the vegetable oil until it starts to smoke. Add the leeks and cook until they are lightly brown. Remove them from the pan and place on a paper towel.
• To serve, place the raspberry sauce in the center of a serving plate, making a 3- to 4-inch round. Place 3 hot scallops in a triangle with the fried leeks in the center of the scallops. Serve immediately.
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