Soiree on the Salty Seas with Ghirardelli

The Sous Chef is out of town for the weekend, doing manly, outdoorsy things.  Which leaves me at home, to do...

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...anything I want!  I love my Sous Chef more than I can put into words, but his unexpected departure this weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to break into that chocolate I received last week from Ghirardelli as part of the FoodBuzz Tastemakers Program:

Today, I sampled the Sea Salt Soiree Intense Dark Chocolate.  I was especially excited to try this one, since it seems that a lot of people are experimenting with combining sweet and savory ingredients these days, particularly chocolate and sea salt (or chocolate and bacon!).  I'd heard that the salt helps to bring out and clarify the flavor of the chocolate; that idea doesn't seem too far-fetched, given that many dessert recipes call for a little salt to be thrown in.  I can't tell you how many times I've watched a TV chef throw in a dash of salt into nearly any dish, saying, "It'll help tie everything together."

Along with the chocolate, Ghirardelli enclosed a little pamphlet with food and wine suggestions to accompany each of the flavors of chocolate.  For Sea Salt Soiree, they suggested dried sweetened black cherries (all I had were cranberries, so I used those) and Shiraz.  (Some of the other chocolate varieties I received suggested other red wines, hence the Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend I bought).  Some other recommendations were: BBQ potato chips, candied orange peel, and aged Tequila!  Interesting...

I tried the chocolate by itself, and was pleased at the salty punch it had - it's as if all of my taste buds had something to do, instead of a "one-note" chocolate that only hits the sweet spots.  Next, I ate a bit of chocolate and washed it down with some wine.  I immediately noticed more flavors that I hadn't picked up on the first time; the wine intensified the flavor and made it last longer, and somehow it felt creamier as well.  The dried cranberries weren't a hit; I think they were too tart to go well with the chocolate; next time I'll definitely try cherries.

I would definitely recommend this variety of Ghirardelli chocolate to a friend; it's not an everyday kind of treat, and the combination of dark chocolate, sea salt, and almonds is quite pleasing!

How do YOU do dark chocolate?