If you haven't treated yourself to a chocolate bacon truffle or two yet, then you're suffering needlessly.

What's that you say? You didn't even know such a confection existed? Well, neither did Your Humble Author until he came across one in a high-end chocolate shop. Having had the infamous Vosges chocolate bacon bar in the past, there was no way I was going to pass up this little chunk of ambrosia.

It was worth the cost -- which, by the way, was substantial, though not as bad as I had feared. I'll get back to that in a bit.

Given the chocolatier's tendency to mix any old thing with chocolate, there's no lack of extreme chocolate products for us cacao lovers to experiment with. On this site, we've happily provided you with reviews and recipes for such things for years now.

But humans are endlessly inventive with chocolate, so the parade continues! Here are a few interesting items we haven't covered before. If they're not all new, they're definitely newish. Each has its charms, so start buying and dig right in!

You know, Jamaican hot chocolate is one of those recipes that wonderfully illustrates chocolate's incredible versatility, and our human willingness to experiment with this natural ambrosia. Oh, and it's mighty tasty, too.

If you've tried it, you'll understand where I'm coming from. If you haven't, then keep this in mind: as a true extremo who's tried chocolate in hundreds of dishes and combinations, from all over this world, my very enthusiasm ought to be a hint that it's worth testing for yourself.

I have to admit, when I first heard about chocolate tortilla chips, the first thing I thought of was something I called choco nachos when I was a kid. Now, I'm not talking about Klondike's Choco Tacos, which you can rarely find these days; those are different, and we'll speak of them anon.

No, my choco nachos were tortilla chips with chocolate syrup poured on them. Don't try this at home, kids. I can't imagine now why I liked them then, but maybe it was that sweet/salty knockout combo you get when you bite into them. Of course, if you like that sort of thing, go for it.

All well-done liquid-soaked pastries, from Caribbean rum cake to Mexican tres leches, have their attractions; but for the chocolate lover, it's hard to beat the French delicacy known as gateau l'opera (opera cake). Never heard of it? Well then, sit back and let us tell you all about it.

The combination of chocolate and coffee isn't necessarily an extreme one, but it's usually extremely delicious. If you've ever had a mocha latte (and what chocolate extremo hasn't?), then surely you know what I mean. Ain't it great to be able to combine two perfectly legal mind-altering substances in perfectly legal ways?

There are many options for imbibing your coffee/chocolate combos, and in this article, we'll discuss a few interesting ones. But first, this public service message!

You know, we go pretty far afield sometimes to find extreme chocolate treats... but chocolate asparagus just jumped right out at us, the result of someone's offhand comment that kids would eat more asparagus if someone dipped it in chocolate first.

Of course, kids would eat rocks if someone dipped them in chocolate first. Some adults would, too. Hmmm... we hereby copyright that idea.