I have a new favorite thing in the whole entire world. Sorry, cezi receli. Our affair, while brief, was passionate nonetheless.
Alas, today I discovered Mo’s Dark Bar from Vosges Haut Chocolat. (You have to say that while swanning around waving your arms to and fro, by the way).
Here’s a little tip: If you want me to do any type of favor for you in the future, bribe me with a Mo’s Dark Bar or two. Anything at all – pet sitting, laundry, errand running, paper writing, caring for your children (I use the word “caring” quite loosely. What I really mean is “leaving them to fend for themselves with a box of saltines lying nearby.”)
I’m familiar with Vosges, a chocolate (excuse me, “chocolat”) maker out of Chicago. My friend Emilia and I got familiar with Vosges when I visited her in New York this past summer and we took a chocolate tour (HIGHLY recommended). And, that same Emilia brought us a lovely box of them when she stayed with us for a night (she had just been in Chicago for work).
Hmmm, funny, I don’t remember bringing her a gift when I stayed with her.
Anyway, so I know a bit about Vosges. But none of their varieties have ever really tickled my taste buds.
Until now.
Mo’s Dark Bar is 62% dark chocolate with hickory smoked uncured bacon and Alderwood smoked salt. I only really comprehend what about half of that means, but I know it adds up to pure, unadulterated and barely legal deliciousness.
I love, love, love the combination of sweet and salty. It’s a scientific fact that that is the best flavor combination in the world. This bar delivers with the dark chocolate (I like my chocolate dark to the point of bitter) and the smoked salt. Perfection.
Then you add bacon and well, you’ve got a mouth party. The bacon gives it a bit of texture, similar to toffee, which I am not a fan of since it invariably gets caught in my teeth. And, well, bacon is better than toffee, obviously.
And my girl Katrina Markoff (founder of Vosges) describes the bar perfectly:
“I began experimenting with bacon + chocolate at the tender age of 6, while eating chocolate chip pancakes drenched in Aunt Jemima® syrup, as children often do. Beside my chocolate-laden cakes laid three strips of sizzlin’ bacon, just barely touching a sweet pool of maple syrup. And then, the magic—just a bite of the bacon was too salty and I yearned for the sweet kiss of chocolate and syrup, so I combined the two. In retrospect, perhaps this was a turning point; for on that plate something magical happened, the beginnings of a combination so ethereal and delicious that it would haunt my thoughts until I found the medium to express it—chocolate.
From there, it was just a matter of time…and what began as a love of salt and sweet quickly unraveled into an obsession.”
Guuuurrrl, I hear you so clearly. I feel like we could be friends. Be my friend, Katrina. We can hang out and make pancakes (apparently, there is a Mo’s Bacon Pancake Mix!!) and braid each other’s hair and share issues of US Weekly.
I really could use some sort of hookup inside Vosges since this lovely Mo’s Dark Bar is $8 a slab at Whole Foods. This could become a very, very expensive obsession. Anyone need their car washed? Will work for Mo’s.
Two side notes: Damn you, Caroline for tipping me off on Mo’s (and thank you). And Amy, our own little maker of chocolate-covered bacon, you can have some too — it’s gluten free.