Chocolate goes savory

Mole, dukkah offer a different taste of cocoa

Chocolate can flavor savory dishes, from cocoa-rubbed ribs to the mole sauces of Mexico, from a dish as prosaic as a bowl of chili to one as elevated as British chef Heston Blumenthal’s caviar spooned on white chocolate disks. The ingredient has a long history that predates its use in desserts.

“The Olmec people in Mesoamerica made a drink out of cocoa beans,” said Debra Music, co-founder of renowned Theo chocolate in Seattle, about the naturally bitter beverage dating back four millennia. “That drink was highly valued, incorporated into religious ceremonies and only consumed by kings.”

Music and Joe Whinney opened Theo 10 years ago as the first certified organic, fair trade and bean-to-bar chocolate-maker in North America. They co-wrote their first cookbook, “Theo Chocolate: Recipes & Sweet Secrets,” in fall 2015.

The most famous savory use of chocolate is in mole, a wildly complex dish native to Mexico. But it’s important to know that there are innumerable versions, and many don’t contain chocolate at all. For those that do, like mole poblano and mole negro√ (black mole), calling it a chocolate sauce doesn’t do it justice.

“The predominant flavor is chocolate, with an equal balance of chilies,” said Sylvia Casares, who owns Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen in Houston and just released “The Enchilada Queen Cookbook.” “It’s a delicate balance of heat and chocolate. ”

Casares, who worked as a food scientist, said it took her years of testing to get the balance right. Her recipe takes a while to make, but she thinks it’s worth it.

Meanwhile, the Theo savory chocolate recipe for cocoa-scented dukkah (a condiment of nuts, spices and herbs that originated in Egypt) is easy enough to make every day. Plus, its key ingredient, cocoa nibs, hides a secret identity as a socalled superfood. Never nibbed? “They’re crunchy but not dry, because they have quite a bit of fat in them,” Music said. “A healthy, fat cocoa butter. They’re roast-y, cocoa-y and nutty without being sweet, which is a really interesting taste experience.”

MICHAEL TERCHA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE; MARK GRAHAM/FOOD STYLING Cocoa-scented dukkah delivers a twist on what originally was an Egyptian condiment of nuts, spices and herbs but has since grown in popularity all over.