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3 year aged Wheat free Tamari, amazing, Cleopatra is back in stock and more at chefshop.com/enews |
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Dear Everyone Happy New Year 2020 For the first time in memory there were no fireworks celebrating the awakening of the new year at the Needle. That’s the Space Needle for those who don’t know, the iconic structure in Seattle from the 1962 World’s Fair. The Space Needle which took 400 days to build, sits on a foundation of 5,600 tons of concrete. It has 74,000 bolts, is 605 feet to the top of the red beacon, 832 steps to the observation deck and one of the elevators can transport 25 humans. The trick is to be last one on so you can look out one of the slit windows (or first?). It takes 43 seconds to get all the way up and that in elevator time is a long, long time! The New Year’s Fireworks show has taken place every year since 1982, except this year due to weather. And there is a CHEESE connection as well to the Space Needle. (At least in acronym). From the Space Needle itself: “The Committee Hoping for Extra-Terrestrial Encounters to Save the Earth (CHEESE) claims to have plans from the 1962 World’s Fair that show the Space Needle was constructed to send transmissions to advanced beings in other solar systems.” This extra-special-terroir Parmigiano-Reggiano is expected to arrive by the end of January. And speaking of cheese, these blue cheese stuffed Manzanilla olives are out of this world when they land in your next martini! Take-off here for a dirty sip! Usually by the 25th we are pretty exhausted. We are tired of talking, tired of eating, and tired of standing! This year was the most exhausting in the last 22 years, and the most exhilarating! More than any other year, ever, we feel more connected to you all. Those of you who shop in person with us, those who read with us and those who chat about food, life, and the trials and tribulations that surround us all! Diet, meaning what we eat seems to matter more now than ever before. Food makes us feel better, and food can make us feel terrible, too. Finding which is which can be harder than one would think. We assumed it was age related (meaning old, yes baby boomers, you are old(er) now, just ask a teenager), yet we find that the next generation of cookers are in their 20's (yeah! good for the future of food) and many of them are addressing head on food allergies and their health before it it becomes an issue! And speaking of diet, it is what I am thinking right about now. One that can help me reduce calorie intake to reduce the weight gain of eating gluten (my personal body enemy) that I get every holiday season. I have to test, try, eat everything that comes in and that is a lot of really, really great gluten! yumm!! I have a plan, similar to previous years, with twists to make it taste new. One step is starting the day with oatmeal as my first meal, at least 12 hours after my last meal, a mini-fast if you will. This is the oatmeal that we have been eating for years, although keep in mind that any oatmeal works. Some just taste better, less mush and more bite. Check out our favorite oatmeal here. I have considered reducing sugar, and decided at least for the next month I will attempt to reduce my consumption of white, bleached sugar. I will in addition, add a cube (or pinch) of one of these sugars, really pure cane plant, every other day to see if it makes me healthier... check them out here, if you haven’t already. At night I plan to snack on Gomasio. It seems to satisfy my cravings and urges for salt and something crunchy. You can click here to test it out. I generally don’t talk about gifts I get … let’s face it, getting another car is no big deal (kidding); cookbooks are a toss up if you already have thousands; food, well our pantry is pretty good with thousands of items (the shop), except this year. Two things I have been wishing for (too cheap to get them myself) one is a pair of specialty scissors (wicked cool for the kitchen), and a blow torch! This torch is perfect for starting binchotan at the campground and turns out it works like a miracle to make s’mores! It gets so hot the chocolate melts inside and the outside crisps up! From a fun perspective the marshmallow catches fire before you can see it! Maybe the food won’t be better, but the fun getting there is going to be great! New New New! We have new foods coming down the pike! Great stuff, interesting stuff, unusual stuff, and a few strange things, too. Check out the Tamari (100% soy) sauce below. Stay tuned! Lastly, a couple of days ago one of the food people we know brought us a bucket of 50 quail eggs. Now that sounds like a lot, but these little eggs are cute little things and 5 eggs might equal one large egg.  We made a simple sliced potato, garnet yam, onion base with a bell pepper fence and topped with (almost) easy over quail eggs. What fun! We are looking forward to a great new year of food. Share us with your friends, the more the merrier! |
Aged three years Wheat free Tamari This tamari soy sauce is quite remarkable. First, it is wheat free, as you know not all tamari is wheat-less. Tamari is often regaled as the wheat free soy sauce, but one should be very cautious and read the label as wheat is often reduced but not eliminated. This very special aged Tamari is made with Japanese grown soybeans and sea salt and aged in wood casks made of cedar for three years. The result is heavenly rich in color, flavor, and has a viscosity that has a higher resistance to deformation compared to other soy sauces. To the nose it is milky with a heavy feel. To the eye, it is beyond dark, and more solid in color leaning toward red. Tilt the spoon and the deep auburn red color is evident, and the viscous liquid trails like a ten year old balsamic might. To the mouth it has a complex, multiplexed flavor profile. Salt (less salt than a soy sauce) may be the first and last flavor hits you get, but in between it is a combination of wow, a richness which comes across as a hint of smokiness, and a sweetness or roundness that surrounds the other flavors. The tingle you get might be from the saltiness or is it that your taste buds are overwhelmed with so much information!? It is wonderfully complex, bold yet delicate, and should be used to finish, and never to be cooked with. Brush on fish and vegetables, use it as a dipping sauce, or finish a lentil or rice dish. Maybe it would marry well with a Parmigiano-Reggiano risotto. And wouldn't it be great with a little melted butter on rice. Simple and elegant! Shop now for a Ito Shoten Denemon Tamari! |
ProfessionalAlmond Paste This professional, premium Mandelin almond paste is made with 66% almonds - most almond paste is made with 50% or less - and contains bitter almond oil for an extra boost of almond flavor, something the Europeans are known for. Did you know that most of the almond paste used in countries like Switzerland and France is made from almonds grown in California, including some that is exported back here to the USA! Shop now for Mandelin Almond Paste! |
Cleopatra's favorite treat Crispy Dark Chocolate Pearls – Back-in-Stock A longtime ago (maybe thousands of years), well before written history, or at least typewriters, a discovery of evidence shows that man had discovered pearls. And as history is written since the invention of typewriters, the white, hard, lustrous pearls have been found on the shores of many beaches. With their wonderful inner glow, these rare, hard-to-find gems have become some of the most valuable natural gems in the world. The Egyptians, who had excellent preservation techniques, buried these gems with their Pharaohs. Known also for their food “stores” for the long travel to the “afterworld” great knowledge has been gained by deciphering these “found” food objects. What you might not know is that the great secret warehouses of the modern world hide some very important treasures. Some of these secrets of course would be best not to know. Such as that aliens from outer space are amongst us in the shapes of house cats and poodles. To those of us where foods are so important to our happy place, there are some secrets that are held within those walls that shouldn’t be kept. One secret is about those pearls. While history says it was all about the hard white pearls, there is proof that in fact, what Cleopatra loved more than anything was indeed a very special pearl. And these pearls were made out of cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, and wheat. Reportedly she would eat them by the handful, on top of frosted cupcakes, or in a rich mousse! Her French Chef, because of the possibility of war over the crispy chocolate pearls, served them secretly in oyster shells. Kept chilled on a bed of ice cold Rialto beach rocks, white pearls (the gems) were added for a visual cloak. We believe this is where the confusion lies. The chocolate of course did not survive time and the gems did. The anthropologists have assumed that the gems were the treasure. And we now know these Dark Chocolate Crunchy Pearls are an amazing gem! A single one is tiny, but an explosive bite of chocolate flavor. The center of crunchy is just right! A handful is like a mouthful of small balls, all moving around crunching delightfully all packed with flavor. Just like Cleopatra ordered, these Valrhona crunchy dark chocolate pearls are a treat-to-eat, perfect and just-in-time for baking season! Shop now for Cleopatra's Dark Chocolate Pearls! |
Eliza and Sharon's Favorite Exclusive Tuscan Olive Oil Just a few kilometers from Siena, nestled in the Chianti hillsides in the heart of the beautiful Tuscan countryside, lies Fattoria di Petroio. Located on the ancient road between Siena and Florence, Villa Petroio was an important landmark for travelers. Palazzo Petroio became the property of Luigi Pallini in the 19th century. Now many generations later, Gian Luigi Lenzi, grandson of Luigi Pallini II, inherited the property and, with his wife Pamela and his daughter Diana, has transformed the ancient orchards into a wine producing Estate. Still small by many standards, its size allows an attention to quality that can be applied to every bottle of Italian extra virgin olive oil they produce. With 15 hectares of vineyards, and 822 olive trees, the Estate produces about 40,000 bottles of Chianti Classico, 4,000 bottles of Chianti Classico Riserva, 5,000 bottles of IGT Rosso Toscano, and just a small number of tins of classic Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Sharon, whom many of you know from the shop, grew up with Pamela here in Seattle, just a stones throw from our warehouse and is the one who brought us this wonderful Tuscan olive oil. In this world where suspicion of the origins of olive oil abound, it is nice to know the family who makes it. Shop now for Fattoria di Petroio Olive Oil! |
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New Items are hidden on the shelves. |
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Replenish! Baking and the holidays eat up the cocoa powder! The winter is just now upon us so it is time for hot chocolate and brownies (they say brownies are the new cookie) or add to your morning oatmeal. Shop now for Cocoa Powder! 
Cooking Classes for 2020
Classes for 2020 are now available! Give the best Gift of food! Cooking Class Gift Certificates are available. The start of the cooking class season is next week! Some classes still have limited room...check them out! ChefShop Cooking Class
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Store Hours - Monday Thru Saturday! Monday thru Saturday 10AM to 5PM. ChefShop.com 1425 Elliott Ave W Seattle, Wa 98119 206-286-9988 Our parking lot is north of the shop and next door (south of) Champions Party Supply. Easy to reach and wide open parking lot. Click here to see the map. |
| This Week's Recipes |
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Three Cheese Mac and Cheese Recipe Three types of cheese, sour cream and egg yolks make it ridiculously rich and delicious. Mac n' Cheese Recipe The ultimate comfort food. This is the real deal - rich, creamy deliciousness. Some people put bread crumbs on top before baking, and some even put potato chip crumbs on top. I guess you can do whatever you like - after all, it's your mac n' cheese. Sometimes you just want whatever your mom used to do...I guess that is the definition of comfort food. This recipe is adapted from Marian Burro's cookbook, Cooking For Comfort (Simon & Schuster, 2003). Portuguese Bean Soup Recipe This recipe is adapted from Joan Namkoong's cookbook, "Go Home, Cook Rice." Portuguese bean soup is an Island favorite, unique to the Portuguese community which adapted their recipe to the local ingredients of Hawaii. Although the recipe has amounts listed - there are no exact amounts - Joan recommends using whatever you have in your fridge or around the house, in whatever quantities you like. Kale, chard, watercress, macaroni, chili flakes...whatever. The only well defined ingredient is the Portuguese sausage. |
| See what you missed in previous Newsletters |
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Some of Our Favorite Things from 2019 The Gift of Food, Love, Balsamic Shipping Cutoff Now, Stocking Stuffers |
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