Add a sprinkling of geek
I’ve been setting up an office for my new G.A. position this past week, so I’ve been geeking out every chance that I get. That’s why I love this blog I’ve just found – Slashfood. It combines my two great loves. Geekdom (which helped to get me my G.A. position) and food (which helped me to get my current physique). And these people love food. I mean, they really love food.
Including chocolate. And dark chocolate. Witness their discussion of combining Lindt dark chocolate with Nutella.
So then what is left in my refrigerator? A perfectly dignified half of a three ounce bar of Guylian Belgian Dark Chocolate which I bought about a month ago and which has been patiently cooling it’s heels in my fridge ever since. Sure, it’s dark and pungent and no doubt so rich in tryptophan and phenylethylamine that a single little chocolate square will wipe clean a whole summer Monday worth of stress, but who cares? It’s European; it’s respectable; it’s boring.
But here’s where Nutella comes in. For those who don’t know, let me school you on this hazelnut and chocolate spread the European kids all love over there. It can usually be found near the peanut butter in your non-average grocery store, and it’s sweet enough to be a good yin to the austere and bitter yang of the dark chocolate (Note: don’t put the Nutella in the refrigerator after it’s opened – put it in the kitchen cabinet in plain sight so when you open the door to get sugar for their coffee, your guests think you’re European).
Break up the big squares of an 85% Lindt and spread a bit of Nutella on it, the way you might put cream cheese on a ritz cracker, then arrange the squares in an Escher-esque pattern on an ordinary small plate, garnish with strawberries if available, and serve with either after dinner coffee, chamomille tea, or Bombay Gin on the rocks with lime.
And the goodness doesn’t end there. Don’t care for the trans-fats in Nutella? Slashfood will point you toward Trader Joe’s trans-fat free Nutella clone. Looking for a healthy alternative to brown sugar? Slashfood suggests Sucanat – which, despite the trendy sugar alternative-esque name, is actually closer to natural sugar than anything else you’ll find in the stores.
Of course, there’s still enough elitism to make it a true culinary site, but it’s forgivable on a site this fun.
Alton Brown – I love “Good Eats,” but your blog could stand to look a little more like this.