In a city of mediocre Tex-Mex it is refreshing to stumble over authentic Oaxacan food. I ate at a little spot in my neighborhood the other night and swooned over a chocolate-based mole draped, like satin, over pork-belly enchiladas. It's pig 'n' chocolate…come on! Those Oaxacans know how to make this gringo happy.
As a result, I've been thinking about chocolate and pig combinations for days. So this morning, when I walked into the office to find one of the new Mo's Bacon Bars on our "give-away table," the choco-puerco fiesta came to mind immediately. I ripped it open and dove right in, waiting for the chocolate to melt from the heat of my mouth and give way to crispy bits of bacon-y goodness…ooh yeah, I waited…
And waited.
And after a long 10 seconds I just went ahead and started chewing. And I chewed…
And chewed and finally got past the waxy chocolate-flavored substance, down deep to the heart of this supposed treat, only to find that Mo's Bacon Bar tastes more like the barnyard than the pig and more like the rubber tree than the cocoa pod.
How could something with such great potential be so God-awful? How could something so right go so wrong?
I realize that there's a lesson here: All else being equal, skill and hundreds of years of culinary evolution will always win out over experimentation and wacky marketing.
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