As I was foraging through my pantry the other day I kept finding salt. Why do I have so much, Isn’t salt bad for you? Well I suppose it is if you take an exuberant amount of the stuff or if you count all of the crappy iodised table salt which gets loaded into so much food these days. On the other hand if you tease your food with a high quality salt it can go from meh to mwahh in a second.
I gained some of my salt collection from gifts and some from my recent caramel making endeavour. Salted caramels and the sweet/salty combo have been around forever just like chocolate with bacon, I remember when I started selling Vosges Chocolatier’s Bacon Bar at work. It was met with lots of curiosity and some customers balked at the thought of having a meat product in their chocolate bar. Truth was when you unwrapped the bar, it looked plain and friendly allowing people to get over that initial fear and letting them experience the taste which is what the bar was all about. We had customers returning for that bar numerous times over.
I didn’t make this recipe to set any new trends or to reinvent the already amazing chocolate and salt marriage. I merely had some left over honey caramels which had been in the “caramel jar” for a while. They were still good but I’ve been making so many caramels lately that I think my wife is just over them. I dipped them in some melted Guittard and sprinkled each one with a different salt. Sure enough as soon as she saw them her interest peaked again and they’ll be gone by tonight.
Oh my, these chocolates look amazing! Caramel and salt and I am in heaven. You have a wonderful collection of salt there too. Passionfruit and chili salt…I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Oh these look absolutely lovely and yummy..
Gerry, that picture is GORGEOUS!!!!
Yum. I’ve always been a fan of black lava salt…on avocado with lime!
xo
Ohh Missus, avocado and black salt sounds good!
What a beautiful picture Gerry and my goodness, don’t those chocolates look delectable?!
Mmmmm…love salted chocolates.
Gerry, you’re so right about salt and honestly I haven’t sampled too many salts but just switching from the Morton table salt to kosher salt made a HUGE difference in my cooking. At Christmas, a friend of mine actually bought me a set of different salts similar to those you have listed – it’s incredible how different salts taste well…so different ;)
Im glad you switched! Get those salts out and get experimenting :)
OH MY! This is one of the most beautiful posts… I am pinning that gorgeous picture! And I bet it tastes even better than it looks! Great post!
Amazing! Your creations speak to me :) Love this idea.
It’s a good thing you’re on the other side of the country, because I’d have to spend my entire mornings chained to a treadmill, if we were neighbors. Those look amazing! Your wife is a lucky girl. Thanks for sharing.
I could ship!
Yum, your chocolates look so good. I also very much like your photos, beautiful.
I love black lava sea salt. The first time I used it, I couldn’t believe how much smokiness it added to the dish. I now know to use it much more sparingly! I need to try some others now too, you’ve peaked my interest with a couple of these.
You are the caramel king…I want to sample them all!
Gerry, this is an amazing idea and presentation stunning. You know, you’ve reminded me of a red wine salt I bought in the Loire Valley and it’s lurking in the cupboard somewhere. Smoked salt I love, too. Black lava? I need to try this. What inspiration!
Gerry, love this post, I think chocolate and salt go so well together and your presentation is amazing!