Four Savory Ingredients in Sweet Dishes
We’ve all had enough of salted caramel by now, but there’s so much more to the world of combining sweet flavors with savory ingredients. These are our favorites.
Bacon
It’s salty, fatty, and crispy, and enhances all the flavors around it: bacon. Wrap a pitted date in bacon and then put it in the oven… This is so delicious! Why does bacon work so well in sweet dishes? Just like Parmesan, it also has the fifth taste: umami. Loosely translated from Japanese: a wonderfully savory taste. Bacon contains no fewer than six of the umami flavors, which often come from salty and smoky preparations. And it has all of that.
6 surprising things you can do with bacon
The fact that bacon is also crispy makes it ideal for combining with soft textures (again: that oven-baked date!) Does it sound like a strange idea? Bet you’ve already eaten a bacon pancake with syrup many times. And speaking of bacon, a crispy piece of fried chicken skin creates the same effect.
Mayonnaise
A little piece of history: although Hellman’s likes to claim it invented mayonnaise in cake, this was invented much earlier. One of the first recipes dates back to 1927. It has a long shelf life, after all, but contains both eggs and oil. At a time when American refrigerators did not yet exist, this offered a way to replace fresh products such as eggs and butter. The result: an extra-moist cake. It is important to balance the flavor, for example by using chocolate or strong spices. Think red velvet cake or carrot cake. And of course, you can use Hellman’s mayonnaise.
Foie Gras
Endless variations are possible with this soft, subtle (but also controversial) delicacy. Forget pâté and imagine it with strawberries, chocolate, donuts, and ice cream. Sweet flavors and liver go well together, in appetizers but absolutely also in desserts. The flavor of foie gras is quite intense and full-bodied, which is why it is often refreshed with something sweet. At the popular restaurant Kaagman & Kortekaas, they opted for a classic decadent dessert: brûléed foie gras with sugar bread, pear, saffron ice cream, and poppy seeds.
Plain Potato Chips
Addicted to chocolate? Check. Addicted to chips? Check. If you find it hard to choose, here’s the solution: a potato chip cookie. All the deliciousness of a buttery cookie combined with the sweetness of chocolate and the saltiness of chips. Martha Stewart came up with it—and yes, there’s also—there it is again—bacon involved. Have some (ridged) chips left over? Melt some extra chocolate and dip them in it for the ultimate sweet-and-salty combo. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt over them to finish it off. WOW.
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