Candy Dish Blog

My friend Andy Carvin asks the age-old question: What happened to all that chocolate-covered bacon in the lunch room? Apparently it was a big hit with the folks at NPR, where he works. Andy is an avid user of Twitter and can be found at @acarvin. You can also follow us at @candyusa.

What gets gobbled up at your office?

Okay - this wasn’t my idea. I am not recommending this, as I am not a health professional and as such do not know if this really does make worlds collide. Take this all with a grain of salt or a dah of seasoning. Discussing Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone’s recent flavor combinations, Miriam Wolf of Chow writes:

The bad boy of confectionary seems to have made an impression on Paris Chocolate Show-goers with his chocolates flavored with cauliflower and his…wait for it…chocolate biscuits encrusted with chicken skin. Take that, you bacon-candy addicts.

Chicken and chocolate. If you have gone that far, why not try turkey?

What do you think - are worlds colliding too much, bridging the gap between savory and sweet?

A few years ago I was mourning the loss of the wonderful M&M/Mars  candy bar, PBMax, to Marlene, a friend and colleague with  the Mars company.  She informed me there weren’t enough consumers of my ilk to sustain the product, which was designed for the sort  of person who likes to dip a solid chocolate bar  into a jar of peanut butter.  That’ s how much I love pure peanut butter and pure chocolate together.

The Peanut Butter and Co. is my newest discovery.  The company offers the Peanut Butter Cup Collection with milk, dark, white and inside out peanut butter cups. For peanut butter purists there are two varieties of chocolate peanut butter– Dark Chocolate Dreams and White Chocolate Wonderful. If you want an excuse to visit New York City the company has a sandwich shop featuring 12 varieties of peanut butter sandwiches (including The Peanut Butter Cup and Cookie Dough Surprise) and a whole host of peanut butter and chocolate desserts.  And if you still have a chocolate and peanut butter jones, there’s a cookbook with recipes to match every peanut butter and chocolate desire and more.  Here’s a recipe for Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate now that the weather is turning cold.

What’s your favorite peanut butter and chocolate combination?

Here’s how the people at Roni-Sue describe Pig Candy: “Roni-Sue deep-fries the bacon for extra crunch, (though we can’t claim it’s health food), then each piece is hand-dipped in Callebaut dark or milk chocolate.” And it’s tres popular. According to the Pig Candy order page, “DUE TO THE HIGH DEMAND OF PIG CANDY, RONI-SUE IS FRYING MADLY TO KEEP UP!”

So, the question is, why is it so popular? A little bit of bacon and milk chocolate, for instance, goes a long way. Yet, Roni-Sue sells so many one-pound boxes of Pig Candy that she can’t fill the orders fast enough.

I have a couple of answers but I’d love to hear yours. First, it tastes great. Second, it’s unusual. Third, sweet and savory food combinations are popular at the moment. Fourth - I don’t have a fourth answer. Perhaps it has something to do with a bit of advice from Roni-Sue: “Remember, life is short, eat dessert first!”