Chocolatier Giorgos Zarzonis and producer Spiros Karalis created the world’s first chocolate cheese.

ΟΓιώργος Ζαρζώνης είναι σοκολατοποιός, φωτογράφος και μεγάλος ταξιδευτής. This story begins on one of his great journeys — in distant Colombia.
There, Giorgos visited every traditional chocolaterie he came across along the way. And each time, along with the hot chocolate, came a small plate with a piece of cheese and a bit of cornbread. He recalls:
“One day, in one of those chocolateries in Bogotá, the waitress asked me in surprise, ‘You ate the cheese?’
I looked at her and asked, ‘Wasn’t it for me?’
She burst out laughing and explained that in Colombia, hot chocolate is always served with a piece of cheese — you’re supposed to dip it into the steaming drink, let it melt, and then eat it with a spoon.
They even say, ‘Chocolate without cheese is like love without a kiss.’
That was the spark — the moment I started imagining a cheese made with chocolate.”

Photo: Giorgos Zarzonis

In his search, he found plenty of tastings pairing cheese with wine, and others pairing chocolate with wine — but none that combined both. So, he decided to create the first chocolate cheese himself — designed specifically to be paired with wine. It’s worth noting that Giorgos Zarzonis is known for his originality and bold ideas. A quick look at the flavors of his handmade Cocoowa chocolates is enough to see how far his boundless imagination can go — chocolate with caramelized cardamom, coffee beans, smoked vanilla and ginger, rosemary and mastiha, Mexican peppers, caramelized corn and chili… the list goes on. It’s no surprise that he was the one to come up with the idea of making the world’s first chocolate cheese.
To bring it to life, he turned to Spiros Karalis — a cheesemaker renowned for his exceptional quality cheeses. At first, he was puzzled. But he agreed to become an accomplice in the experiment, and eventually crafted a graviera cheese using a blend of chocolate paste and a touch of pepper that Giorgos had prepared for him.

Photo: Giorgos Zarzonis

Eight months later — the time needed for the graviera to mature — the first chocolate cheese was finally a reality.
“There’s no other cheese with chocolate like this on the planet!” Giorgos exclaims with excitement. He adds that the next graviera wheels will be made with chocolate varieties he’ll bring from Colombia — “to give the cheese even richer, earthier aromas and make it pair even more naturally with wine.”

Photo: Giorgos Zarzonis

Photo: Giorgos Zarzonis

The chocolate cheese is set to launch on the market in October.
However, it was already tasted on February 23 at chef Andreas Georgoulas’ restaurant Kantari (Oplarchigou Palaska 15, Ioannina, tel. 26510 78917), which recently won a Gold Award at the Estia Awards in its category.

Source : Athens Voice.