Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Chocolate & Cheese Pairings

TeamBuilding Unlimited often pairs Chocolate with Wine, or Chocolate with Beer for a unique teambuilding/teambonding event. But now we're also offering Chocolate and Cheese Pairings. Contact TeamBuilding Unlimited for more information, but if you want to do this at home here are several hints. 

Thanks to the California Milk Advisory Board for this post on Chocolate and Real California Cheese Pairings. Use this post as a guide. Love to hear which chocolate and cheeses you pair. Photo on the right is a pairing of  Cowgirl Creamery Triple Brie & Taza 70% Stoneground Chocolate. Great combination.

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Chocolate and Cheese: Rich, bold, decadent – this pair is a savory-sweet love connection is sure to make your foodie heart race. Creating the perfect pair is easy with these dating guidelines. Foods with similar flavor profiles go together best. For darker chocolates, choose a more complex, aged cheese while sweet milk chocolates work best with buttery cheeses, like Brie. Bright, fruity chocolates are perfect with sharper cheeses and nuttier chocolates find a perfect pair in high butterfat cheeses. Want to spice things up a bit? Try pairing spicy chocolates with sharp cheeses – the intensities play off each other beautifully!

· Pair a dark chocolate with more the 80% cocoa with a delicious true Blue cheese
· Indulge in burnt caramel chocolates with a beer-soaked table cheese
· Pair a Bordeaux-style chocolate with a creamy triple crème Brie
· Treat yourself to candied orange peel and an aged Cheddar

Take the pairing up a notch with help from “Pair Savvy” a smart phone app that helps you pair the myriad of delicious California cheese varieties with the wine and beers you enjoy. The user-friendly application is free for download on most smart phones, including iPhone and Android devices, available at pairsavvy.realcaliforniamilk.com.

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