Caramelized Cauliflower and Cocoa pairing

One of the things that modernist cuisine has given us is the pairing of food based on common aromatic compounds found in both foods. This can bring an element of surprise to a dish that will hopefully delight.

In this case I’m entirely sure if cauliflower and cocoa would be classed as sweet or savoury because it can equally well with ice cream or with roast chicken. It is a little unnerving how well their aromas and taste blend so that you can barely tell where the cauliflower ends and the cocoa begins.

Fry up some cauliflower in butter, the smaller the pieces the more surface area. I added some powdered creamer which provide more sugars and amino acids, which in turn boost the marvellously mellifluous mailard reactions. — Step 1: Fry up some cauliflower in butter, the smaller the pieces the more surface area. I added some powdered creamer which provide more sugars and amino acids, which in turn boost the marvellously mellifluous maillard reactions.

Step 2: Add enough cocoa to cover all the little bits.

Step 3: Once all the bitty-wits are covered pop into a blender to make a thick chocolaty ganache/mousse type thing.

I blended it but made sure there were still some cauliflower remnants left to help the texture – sometimes reminding yourself that there is cauliflower in there helps when your brain goes “Hey! This reminds me of cauliflower?!”

The mixture is like very thick chocolate icing (can I hear a big yum!), so I put it in cling film, into a ramekin and into the freezer to firm up a bit.