Why an olive ganache? The fruity nature of olives is quite similar to a variety of bittersweet chocolates. Similarly, if you puree olives until they are smooth and silky they resemble melted chocolate. With these comparisons it is no wonder I became inspired to make an olive ganache. The difficulty lay in deciding whether or not to add any chocolate to the ganache. After much debate we felt that the addition of a percentage of chocolate to the olive base would yield a more rounded flavor profile with the chocolate accenting and highlighting the olive flavors.
Thus we made an olive puree and enriched it with some dark chocolate creating the olive ganache. We added a bit of carrageenan to the base to add some final structure to the ganache as well as some heavy cream to smooth out the flavors of the olives and chocolate. In order to compliment the olive base we incorporated a pretzel praline crust and crumb. The crust is our pretzel praline pulverized to a paste and then rolled thin between sheets of plastic wrap. The pretzel crumb is just the ground praline. In order to add a refreshing quality to the dish we added created a puree of northern beans spiked with vanilla and Meyer Lemon. Finally, an olive brine and burnt sugar caramel adds a striking sweet, salty and bitter element to the dish.
