Give Even More Flavor To This Smoked Meat By Adding Chocolate To Your Spice Rub

Smoked brisket — particularly, Texas-style brisket — is referred to by many as the holy grail of barbecue. It's a tough cut of beef due its high amount of collagen, but when you cook the meat low and slow, that same connective tissue melts into a gelatinous mass of richness, making the brisket irresistibly tender and juicy. To make things even better, all that buttery flavor blends with the complex mix of spices that give the brisket its bark — an earthy, warm, smoky crust that is enhanced by the addition of one surprising ingredient: chocolate.

Cocoa powder brings a tremendous amount of nuance and complexity to your spice rub, but also balances every element so well that you don't even need a refined palate to appreciate it; it's just really good. Chocolate can have floral, citrus, and nutty notes that naturally complement the flavors of peppers that usually go into a spice rub. The smokiness of paprika adds depth to the sweetness of chocolate, and hotter peppers like chipotle add zing to the palate while also being tempered by cocoa.

At the same time, chocolate's bitter and sweet notes go well with the beef's more savory profile without being overpowered by the intensity of the latter's flavors. The richness of the brisket's connective tissue ties everything together, allowing every layer of flavor to mingle without clashing. With the right chocolate, you can make gourmet-level brisket that keeps people coming back for more.

Because spice rubs are already strong in flavor, you'll want to use a darker cocoa for your brisket. Dark chocolate is bold enough to be a complementary flavor to the spices rather than a submissive one, and its inherent bitterness means that you won't have to adjust the amount of sugars in your rubs and sauces. If dark cocoa isn't available, go with an unsweetened one. For maximum flavor, grind your own spices before adding the cocoa.

If you like your spice rubs hot, you might want to consider using a Dutch-process cocoa. This type of cocoa powder has been alkalized, so it won't add much acidity to an already-acidic rub. The flavor of Dutch-process cocoa also tends to be smoother and milder, so it's more likely to bring the spices forward rather than ground them.

To bring even more chocolate to the mix, try adding it to your favorite barbecue sauce. You can chop up some dark chocolate squares and melt them into tangy sauces to introduce more depth, or you can go crazy and use chocolate syrup and toffee bits as a sweetener for barbecue rib sauce. Customization is the key to the perfect barbecue sauce, so keep experimenting with different chocolates and ingredients to find your favorite blend.