New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- After a chocolate-making session at the 35-year-old artisanal lab, Concept Chocolate in Brussels, owner and chocolatier Maxime Pliester sets out three kinds of flavourful, locally produced beer to be paired with some of his fruitier handmade chocolates.

Pairing chocolate with alcohol can be tricky, with even wine often failing to partner up comfortably with the varying textures and tastes of different kinds of chocolate. But chocolate is a crowd-pleaser as is beer, which makes the coupling seem less outrageous than it does when one first hears about it in Belgium-especially since the country is famous for both.

"Don't ask that," barks the otherwise good-natured Pliester when asked the difference between Swiss and B...