We were recently asked by the Wensleydale Creamery if could pair some chocolate and cheese for an experimental tasting session as part of the Wensleydale Cheese Festival. I confess our first reaction was Urh! However, reluctantly ;-)…I took one for the team and spent the next few days on a diet of cheese and chocolate looking for those elusive combinations. Yes, sometimes life as a Chocolate Factory Proprietor is tough!
Nevertheless, I persevered and as it turns out, Cheese and Chocolate is a bit of a revelation!
After my fastidious tasting and research, we made the following pairings ready for the event on the day:
- Yorkshirte Wensleydale cheese with Inspired Chocolate’s Chunky Milk Chocolate and Cranberry.
- Wensleydale Sheeps Milk Cheese with Inspired Chocolate’s Chunky Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut
- Wensleydale Blue Cheese with Inspired Chocolates 55.5% dark chocolate
I genuinely had no idea how well these quite different flavours and textures would pair and what the tasters on the day would think.
As well as the cheese and chocolate pairings, Sloemotion Gin had paired a number of their delicious gins with the cheese too and so a real treat for the 10 people taking part in the workshop on Sunday afternoon To quote one gentleman shortly after commencement of the workshop “this is the best day of my life”. I think he momentarily forgot he was sat next to his wife and was quickly corrected!
In conclusion, the combination of gins, chocolate and cheese worked very well, with the standout favourite being the Blue cheese and dark chocolate.
So, watch this space for some blue cheese dark chocolate truffles!
