An Unexpected Experience: Beer & Chocolate
By far, my favorite part of the Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience this past weekend was discovering the delight of pairing beer with chocolate. The fact that I’m surprised about this combo is surprising in itself, considering my penchant for stouts and the pairing of chocolate with, well, anything. Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery featured one of the best exhibits at the event, offering a menu of six of their craft beers paired with six selections from Madison, WI-based David Bacco Chocolats. The picture above is a representation of the chocolate half of the standout pairing of the bunch: Fromage de Bleu with the Bell’s Doppelbock. The Fromage de Bleu is described as “full-flavored Hook’s blue cheese, hints of pear and lush, fig balsamic vinegar infused into 49% amber milk chocolate ganache over toasted hickory nuts.”
Whenever I eat something that completely catches me off guard with its ingenuity, I feel a little thrill shoot through my body. The complex flavors of the chocolate, bleu cheese, and vinegar were smooth, nuanced, and robust - punctuated nicely with the crunch of the tiny nut crumbles. Together with the solid, malty, and not too-hoppy Doppelbock, the chocolate shone as the star of the show.
The rest of the F&W experience was a lot of wine and a lot more “eh.” Though I probably won’t return as a paying attendee in the near future, I thought the show was well-run and had some interesting events (the cook-off competition was neat, though a tad sedate). It was a good experience to see what the Experience is all about. The fact that I was able to try/see food and drink in a different way was worth the jello-arms from running around with pitchers of water as a volunteer and all of that crappy bruschetta that was EVERYWHERE.