How did you spend the pandemic? I've been writing. And taking photos...thanks iPhone 13!

As a professional taster, to prevent the loss of smell and taste that are key symptoms of Covid-19, has kept me hunkered down and masked. Two years plus now, I've been vaccinated, 2x boosted, still masking and avoiding crowds. I've been fortunate to avoid the dread virus. Before chocolate or ministry, I had a life as a health care provider. My background in speech-language pathology gave me the skills to investigate smell and taste . Add to that my work as a taster, and I thought I might make some contribution to the emerging crisis. So I've been working on another book, this one on the rehabilitation of smell and taste. Look for that to publish sometime in late 2022. As Covid has produced more variants and Long-Covid has emerged as a tragic sequelae, the need for compassion and treatment for those experiencing smell and taste loss remains a compelling.

Other work. I've continued to take assignments for Cheese Connoisseur. I think you'll enjoy those articles. In addition to writing, I've provided some of the photographs. Necessity has turned me into a bit of a photographer. You can subscribe to Cheese Connoisseur for the lovely, full text and photo treatment, or find a modest digital version by searching R. M. Peluso, Cheese Connoisseur. Most of my articles include tasting notes and pairing suggestions.

On a deeply personal note, my beloved little dog passed away a week ago. She was our constant companion throughout the pandemic, as well as 15 of her 20 years. She indeed lived to a ripe old age and made her transition at home with her loved ones attending her. We are still in mourning. Here's a photo of our angel.













​​(C) copyright 2022, words & photos by R. M. Peluso


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This is the epicenter. New York City.  Covid-19. Aka, the Novel Coronavirus. It struck here several weeks ago. In small numbers at first. But we who were paying attention knew it was time to prepare. We did our 'pandemic shopping' and waited for the signal to sit it out at home. How long, we weren't sure. But I thought it might be a year until therapies were proved and vaccines tested, so I readied myself psychologically. Provisions for several weeks included the basics, medications, non-perishable foods, and chocolate, of course. But I always have months worth of that in my chocolate fridge.

About two weeks ago, the numbers started to reach significance. Day by day, they have mounted, the reported cases, then the confirmed cases, once Cuomo got the tests rolling, and the deaths. You will read it all in news articles of these times, so I don't have to cite the  numbers. What really punched my gut, the hospital beds set up by the Army Corps of Engineers at the Javitz Center, the refrigeration trailers wheeled up to hospital exits as morgues to handle the overflow of the coming corpses, the frantic calls of the Governor to find ventilators and PPE masks, visors, gowns and gloves for our medical teams.  Finally, it was time to pull up our gangplank. We, my husband, our dog, and I, were now officially shut-ins. My years of germaphobic practices would now pay off. I hoped. I worked with my husband to refine our preventive procedures. He stopped saying I was being ridiculous. 

Those of us who live lives of the mind and creativity are blessed by those traits while others might consider their apartments prisons. We leave our enclosure once a day, walk a half block to Riverside Park to exercise, or if we can wake up early enough, to make a run to the market, some with special hours for us old folks. Regardless, we mask and glove, make sure it isn't crowded, then dash in, grab, pay and run. Once home, we go through meticulous decontamination rituals. Still, any throat clearing by one of us is enough to send the other running for the exit. Is this the day all the ICUs will reach full capacity? Doctors and nurses, ill equipped, forced to reuse masks are themselves becoming ill and dying. The death of one today brought tears to my eyes. He was so young. So brave. So dedicated.The best of us. 

It is spring. The flowers in Riverside Park have burst open in defiance, determined to remind us that there is beauty in the midst of such grimness. I pull down my mask to smell the blossoms on the breeze. I smile at people ten feet away, walking their jaunty dogs. The wind blows eastward from the Hudson. Drizzle smacks down dreaded droplets to the ground. 

At home, there is chocolate. A retreat into these senses opens the spirit to times beyond the plague. 

In a previous blog posting (10/30/16), I wrote about chocolate makers who were using nibs aged in whisky (Bourbon) barrels and as flavoring in caramels. Since then I've encountered more chocolate makers producing whisky-inspired bars and bonbons. In these later tastings, Scotch was used rather than Bourbon. Zotter of Austria produces a dark milk bar which contains a peated Scotch caramel filling that is quite pleasing, but rather subdued. It is suitable even for consumers who may not like Scotch. But for a heady aromatic experience of peated Scotch, Chocolate Tree's 70% dark Whisky with Nibs bar really satisfies.

Scottish chocolate maker Alastair Gower soaks Marañon nibs in a peated Islay whisky and sets these crunchy wonders in a bar made from the same beans. Gower says that the alcohol is lost in the process, so don't look for a buzz beyond the sensory delights of aroma, taste and texture. A great Islay classic would not have been my first choice for treating nibs because it has medicinal and marine notes. There are peated whiskies that don't, so I might have recommended Connemara, for example. But the medicinal and island notes don't really show up in this bar. instead, the rich smoky aspects pour from the bar as it does from a dram.
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​If you are a fan of smoky peated Scotch, you will like this bar. Chocolate Tree also produces a caramel bonbon (praline) with a non-peated Scotch inclusion. The ultra-soft caramel center is a miracle of liquid suspension, a thick nectar sipping consistency. The Highland (Speyside) Scotch flavor is true, full and satisfying. Gower was fully transparent with me about the sources of his whisky. But unless the chocolate maker discloses on line, I won't name names. The reason is many whisky producers enter into non-disclosure agreements with those who simply age and/or bottle the "juice" their spirit and sell it under another label. Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume the same agreements may be in effect with chocolate makers.

Also from the UK is Hotel Chocolat. And they just opened a shop in NYC! A British chocolate maker that grows their cacao in St. Lucia, HC has a delightful range of spirit filled bonbons, not just whisky. They don't publish the source of their liquor. Even though I may discover their source, it's not my place to disclose.

Chocolate began life as an unsweetened Mesoamerican drink, a savory, a spice. Occasionally, it was mixed with honey, but more often, corn flour and chilies. Sweet chocolate was a European innovation following the introduction of sugar cane, plantations, and the tragedy of slavery. Sweet chocolate drinks were sipped surreptitiously by creole church ladies of New Spain and exported to the monasteries and courts of Europe. Wherever Spain ruled, cacao and chocolate soon followed. It was traded widely. Before coffee, hot, sweet chocolate rivaled tea in the colonies of Northern America. But cocoa often found its way into recipes, and not just desserts. A fan of Mexican cuisine, I was always aware of cocoa or chocolate as a savory. I lapped up Mole sauce at any opportunity. Even sweetened chocolate, preferably     with cacao content in excess of 70%, can bring excitement and hearty nutrition to appetizers and main courses. 

For the past year, I've taken the pairing of chocolate and whiskey that inspired my book Deep Tasting Chocolate & Whiskey to the readers of Whisky Magazine and expanded the concept. My recurring column is about quick and easy, modern entertaining and features triads that include cheese as well as chocolate and whiskey. These triads can be pulled together with a minimum of smart shopping––you just have to know a world class cheese monger, a well curated chocolate online or brick and mortar store, and a reliable liquor store. Add a good green grocer for fresh fruit and a vendor of whole grain breads. Then slice and serve!   Instant party. 

Invite your whiskey-loving friends over and pour them a dram. Serve the chocolate with the bread and cheese, side by side, or melted on toast as a sandwich. If you scroll down to previous posts, you'll find many pleasing pairings and triads. Here's another one featuring all Hudson Valley, New York ingredients. 

Try: 
Hillrock Double Cask Rye Whiskey with Fruition Chocolate Heirloom Costa Rica 74% and Cochran Farm St. Johnsville Goat Cheese.

Serve with a whole grain or sourdough by Bread Alone bakers. Maybe you didn't know that New York produces more varieties of apples than anywhere in the country. True! Finish with apples grown right here in the Hudson Valley and send everyone home satiated and superbly nourished.  

Let's get over the notion that chocolate is just for dessert. Dark chocolate bars are palate-opening appetizers. They're also stunning with a main course. When it comes to dessert, think chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, even milk chocolate. Oh, yes! Apples, too.

Researching chocolate compatibilities with whisky and other foods has meant knocking on many literary and actual doors. Since publishing my book Deep Tasting Chocolate & Whiskey, I've had the privilege to write for Whisky Magazine (UK) and, along the way, was delighted to encounter the writings of Martine Nouet, a leader in pairing food and whisky for over 20 years. A prolific writer in her native French, fortunately, Ms. Nouet's book `A Table: Whisky from Glass to Plate is available in English. Her insights and basic principles are gems. Take her concept of a food bridge. A bridge food uses the texture or flavor of one food to facilitate a favorable interaction between two others. The result is a gustatory triad. Ms. Nouet and I share a regard for specificity. In other words, the exact brand and expression of a whisky matter when attempting to pair. In my experience, it’s the same when attempting to pair chocolate, cheese, or anything else.


Ms. Nouet spent decades experimenting. Meanwhile, a quiet revolution has been going on in food science. Flavor specialists and molecular gastronomists have been busy deriving formulae for successful pairing. One idea that has shown promise is “molecular rhyming,” that is, pairing foods that share molecular compounds. There are websites, such as the subscriber-based foodpairing.com, co-founded by Bernard Lahousse, Peter Coucquyt, and John Langerbich, and IBM’s Chef Watson :https://ibmchefwatson.com. Among several books on the topic is the latest, The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes, by James Briscione of New York’s Institute of Culinary Education and wife Brooke Parkhurst. Contrary to the use of the word “pairing,” the focus is actually enabling home cooks and chefs who want to combine ingredients to create novel dishes rather than simple pairings as ends in themselves. Dining versus tastings. As far as whisky is concerned, both foodpairing.com and Chef Watson lead in including broad categories of whisky. But that’s also their limitation. They do not list specific brands nor distinguish between their expressions. Their databases are more advanced in descriptions of beer and cheese brands than whisky or chocolate, which are, in reality, presented as generic ingredients. Ms. Nouet’s recommendation to consider whisky as a spice when using it as a cooking ingredient is consistent with that approach.


When it comes to tasting two or three individual items, pairing is a matter of subtlety and nuance. Just as the flavor profiles of whisky brands and expressions, chocolate cannot always be reduced to the broad industrial categories of dark, milk and white. Fine chocolate is more than “chocolatey”; it contains complex aromatic and flavor notes, and those flavor profiles must be considered carefully when pairing. The science-based data bases referenced above are simply not yet specific enough.

It’s essential to describe complex flavor profiles when working with artisan or craft chocolate in the context of pairing only two or three items. We need to tease out and appreciate the full spectrum of flavors and textures available to us. This need for specificity extends also to cheese, as I’ve been finding out. A Gouda aged 1-2 years is an entirely different animal than a Gouda aged 4 years. A raw farm house cheddar that whispers barnyard is a world away from the sublime notes of the Dorset's Coastal Cheddar ® or even an unpasteurized (raw milk) cheddar like Montgomery's (also UK). These cheeses will pair with whisky in an entirely different maner too.


Whisky, chocolate, cheese. When I recommend any of these, I know I need to be as specific as possible. So start with a great whisky, then locate a reliable cheese monger and a purveyor of fine, craft (artisan) bean-to-bar chocolate bars or the chocolate-maker's online store.


Let’s try some pairings and triads.


Whisky
Redbreast 12 year (Ireland) with its rich, sherry-endowed dried fruit notes
pairs beautifully with….


Cheese
Coastal Cheddar ® (Dorchester, England), aged a minimum of 15 months. It has a nutty and floral nose and a fruity, buttery palate. In a word–superb.


Chocolate
Castronovo (Florida, USA), Sierra Nevada (Columbia) 72%. The profile is fruit and forest.
or, easier to find in the UK–
Akesson’s, Brazil, Fazenda Sempre Firme, 75%. Earthy roast characteristics brings out oak and spice notes in the whisky, then balance the triad completed by the cheese.


——————--
Whiskey
Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The significant rye presence in the mash bill wins this year’s Kentucky Derby. It goes well with another winner…

Cheese
Prairie Breeze™ (Iowa, USA). A “Cheddar-type” cheese aged a minimum of 9 months has garnered international awards in the Cheddar category. It has a fresh-lemony and slightly nutty nose. As soon as your teeth sink in, it explodes with depth, cream crumble and perfect salinity.


Chocolate
Creo Chocolate (Oregon, USA), Heirloom Hacienda Li´mon (Ecuador) 73%. A delightfully rich mouthfeel with an earth, fruit and honey-caramel profile
—————————-
Whisky
Westland Peated American Single Malt Whiskey (Washington, USA). Peat in the nose along with orange zest, spice and malt. Herbal palate and roast notes. Cinnamon and smoke finish. But let it breathe a long while and chocolate notes hit you in the face. One great innovator deserves another two …


Cheeses
Bay Blue (California, USA). With caramel in the nose, and dark chocolate on the palate, it’s fudgy mouthfeel still finishes blue.


Chocolate
Fruition Hispaniola 68%,batch 23 (New York, USA) The fruit and spice profile complements the chocolate notes in the Westland perfectly.


———--
or go for a Scottish peated option with…


Whisky
Ardbeg Peated Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 year. Peaty and malty, of course, roasted notes, coffee, chocolate and smokey finish.


Cheese
Colson Bassett Stilton PDO (England). Milk chocolate and butter nose, peanuts and chocolate that bites back. Firm, butter mouthfeel.


Chocolate
Marou (Vietnam)Tien Giang 80%. Spice profile with the power to stand up to any Islay peated. If you prefer a chocolate with less muscle, try the Marou Tien Giang 70%

ALLERGIES ANYONE? Check out my next blog on alternatives for cheese allergies.


(C) copyright 2018 by R. M. Peluso.

R.M. Peluso spoke to a filled-to-capacity crowd at her Chocolate & Whiskey tasting class at the DC Chocolate Festival on April 28, 2018. Among the many participants was the legendary cacao specialist Ray Majors.
​“ It was a thrill to finally meet Ray, “ R.M. said.
The participants greatly enjoyed learning about the origins of flavor in both whiskey and chocolate as well as the perception of flavor. Dr. Peluso led the group through tasting the whiskeys and paired chocolate.

​Book sales for both her first book and the latest, both pictured here, exceeded expectation.
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Looking for a signed special edition of Deep Tasting Chocolate & Whiskey? Festival organizer, Marisol Slater, of The Chocolate House (DuPont Circle) now has a few at her shop for those who didn’t get a chance to purchase them at the show.
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Thanks to chocolate makers Fruition, Potomac, Charm School and Castronovo.

(C) copyright 2018, all rights reserved

Writer's Tears Copper Pot Single Malt 

​As a writer, the name of this distiller captivated me. That's because I love the unique way the Irish use language–so colorfully, inventively, playfully. I spent a couple of days in Dublin at a young, impressionable age, and it totally opened my ears. It's no wonder so many great writers of English hail from Ireland. 

Writer's Tears is difficult to find on the shelves, but if you ask a good wine and liquor store to order it for you, it is obtainable. And it is highly affordable. Typical of Irish whiskey, it is triple distilled, then aged in ex-bourbon barrels. As of this writing, this is the only expression available in the States. But I've heard that there are plans to begin exporting their sherry-aged Red Head expression to the States soon.  Can't wait to try it.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: apple, vanilla, honey ginger and malt

Palate ginger and spice, butterscotch, toasted oak:

Finish:long, "subtle milk chocolate"

​Pair it with:

Dandelion Chocolate, Mantuano, Venezuela 70%: has earthy, roast notes of espresso and almond. With Writer's Tears, goes rich and quasi-mahogony wood

Castronovo, Honduras, the Lost City, 72%: Takes the chocolate's earthy, roast, cinnamon, brown fruit, banana and almond even richer.