Bacon chocolate!


Guest Blog from Mr. Neil, Master Butcher (and wanna-be chocolatier?)

So regular readers of Mardi’s blog will know she Neil likes all things chocolate. And bacon. Well one of the recent “fads” it seems is bacon everything…including chocolate. And one of our favourite recent chocolate bars is the Lindt Fleur de Sel – with nice little grains of sea salt in it.

So when Mardi was away in San Francisco at the Foodbuzz Festival last weekend and I was left to my own devices… I decided to blend the two, and make my own chocolate brittle.

The end piece of Thelma (my hanging pancetta) was a bit of a messy affair, gnarly and bits of meat hidden amongst the fat. As sections were small, it really absorbed the cure and was saltier than ideal (see pizza post).

So I chopped away the cracked-peppercorn crust to get the meat. Apart from my nibbling during the process (it IS tasty), you can see how much waste there was.


But in the bowl, chopped almost brunoise, it made for a good-looking additive for my bar. Note the different colours…end bits and inner, which have a quite different taste and texture as well.


Of course, I had a matching glass of wine during the process as sustenance.


Then the chocolate: I used a milk bar instead of dark…dark would have been my preference but did not have on hand. Poor planning.



Chopping away, in the double-boiler it slowly melted. This is where it gets messy and I had a phone call in between, so not pics of the pancetta being added. The saltiness of the meat would work well with the chocolate, I thought. For added measure, I put in some sea salt near the end as well, just before taking the chocolate off the heat so they would not dissolve. Mainly our French standard, with some Sicilian coarse as well as ode to our pancetta origins.


Then into my “mold” – best I could do was use a small fry pan with parchment. Won’t be the most elegant-looking – and did not attempt to temper the chocolate either – but preliminary tasting as I was spooning indicates I think this may be a success.



Cleo did a taste test, seeing as it had pancetta – but it was only worth a sniff.


Then into the fridge to set….stay tuned for reviews when Miss Mardi returns!


The result:



Mardi’s verdict? Surprisingly good! Salty, chocolate-y, chewey deliciousness. You could only eat a tiny piece of this because it IS so rich but I am liking it a lot. Thanks Mr Neil!

Bacon on Foodista

24 thoughts on “Bacon chocolate!”

  1. oooh wow 🙂 I can't wait to try this. Daniel & I love sweet & salty combinations with bacon as well, and this one sounds like a winner 🙂

    Reply
  2. I recently just had my first homemade bacon and dark chocolate truffle, and truth be told, it could have used more bacon. So, if you don't want to wait for Mardi to return I would LOVE to be your taste tester 🙂

    Reply
  3. I'd try it. You did a lot of work, too; I'd probably just nuke some good dark chocolate and dip in pieces of the pancetta. Like fondue. Or the old "you got peanut butter on my chocolate" "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" Reese's commercial. I like salty pretzels in my chocolate ice cream, I add sea salt sprinkles to my choc. chip cookies as a secret ingredient and I do really want to try the Lindt bar you mentioned. I think the milk chocolate as opposed to dark is throwing me more than the bacon, but I definitely wouldn't be opposed to trying it.

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  4. Whoah! Great idea! I often add a pinch of salt when cooking a chocolate cake, it really enhances chocolate flavor… So why not marrying bacon and chocolate 😉 I need to try this one!

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  5. Yum Yucky – you would be speechless if you tasted it too – it's soooo good!

    Divina – well Cleo didn't like it so much (shes not a chocolate lover!) but we did!

    Cocina – oh you definitely have to try this!

    Noelle – fun to make AND yummy!

    Rachel – perhaps we should start selling it!!

    Evelyne – I think you would like it!

    Duo – he's a keeper, for sure!

    Chow – indeed!

    Mum – it's actually really good

    Penny – coming right up!

    Conor – Thelma did not die in vain.

    Kablooey – next time we will make it with dark and report back. But of course who could say no to this combo?

    Fresh Local, 5 Star – it's a GREAT combo!

    French Cooking – yes you do!

    Reply
  6. Very creative. I usually put little bits of cooked defatted bacon in my chocolate chip cookies, adds a salty crunch! Have you ever tried Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges chocolates?

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  7. Brad – what a great idea!!!

    Chris – thanks!

    Best Family – you never know what might make its way to London or Michigan…

    Reply
  8. Mardi and Neil- this looks really amazing- seems we share a brain sometimes as you'll see by the bacon ice cream 🙂

    Reply

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