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Honey from the World's Flowers!
Nature's Sweet Nectar!
Directly linked in history, honey has played an important role in religion, and is a key food source for health and nutrition.
Symbolically, honey has represented life itself. Where there has been oppression and conflict, with honey there can be prosperity and sweetness.
Honey is made of the supreme essence of life, bringing poets the gift of sweet speech. For Kama (Indian god of love) & Eros (Greek god of love) whose arrows of love are sweet (honey) and painful (stinger), the perfection of sweetness is used to send away the evil spirits and ensure a happy life.
Eating a sweet apple with honey symbolizes the biblical garden of Eden and the hope that the “perfection of sweetness” will bring a sweet year.
Honey has been used through time for health and well-being, and as a medicinal cure for hiccups, cough, thirst, phlegm, asthma, obesity, diabetes, and eye infections. And if you happen to get leprosy or worm infestations it is good for that, too.
More likely you might use honey as a salve for wounds. Julian of Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey told us that he often gets cuts and gashes when retrieving his hives from the steep slopes in the underbrush. And he says he just grabs some honey from the hives, slathers it on, and by the end of the day the wound has healed.
Beyond medicine, honey has been a key ingredient in cement, varnishes, and wood finishes.
In our little world, the world of really, really good food, we can't seem to get enough honey.
When I was growing up, honey was a liquid in a squeezable plastic bear. Quite frankly white sugar tasted better.
Today, good honey is available everywhere. Local honey, local beekeepers, it’s good stuff!
And not all honey tastes the same. Even honey from the same flower from different parts of the world will have its own signature.
Honey can be really really flavor rich. A flower honey compared to a tree honey, is a bold contrast. And most likely you will love one and have a distaste for the other.
Honey is pretty special once you dive into it, and every honey we have tastes unique. They have similarities, yet are so different! Remember, honey lasts a long...long...long time. Longer than you, in fact.
Shop Now for Honey from the World's Flowers
Click Here To See Everything Featured in This Newsletter!
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French Lavender Maritime
Honey
Ahh, the easy-to-find Lavender honey; it's everywhere. Just about every place you go, you can find a jar of Lavender Honey.
So why is French Lavender Honey so special?
Well, it starts with the habits of the bees. Much has been studied to understand how far bees will fly to get the desired pollen.
The answer is "far", for many miles if need be. Of course, if they can buzz right out of the hive to a plant rich in a “favorite” pollen they will do that. This is where the size of the field of lavender flowers comes into play. The more hectares of flowers, the more mono-floral the honey.
And, in France, there are places where the lavender fields stretch as far as your eyes can see.
In addition, the species of lavender, the terroir - and, I expect, the sun - has a great deal to do with why lavender honey from France is so unique and special, the best in the world.
And of all the lavender honeys, I love the Maritime Lavender from Les Ruchers de Bourgogne the most. It is so smooooth, with just a hint of crystallization, like mini grains of sugar.
In the mouth, it goes from a smooth breeze, like it is coming off the salty Mediterranean, to the coolness you might get from mint. And then a feeling of floral as it vaporizes away, with a hint of a good burning feel in the way back of the throat. This Maritime Lavender is like candy.
You will be pleased! Not only does Lavender, the plant, have a history of being used for medicinal purposes, the honey might help you live forever.
Shop now for Les Ruchers de Bourgogne Maritime Lavender Honey!
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The best honey
from the other side of the world!
For the honey-lover, this is one of the pinnacles in flavor and taste. It's a unique plant, and its location on the globe is truly a reminder to us about how important terroir is to making honey.
It's a honey that grows on you, even if you are surprised the first time you taste it. Leatherwood is full of sweet floral aroma, bright colors, with the perfect balance of sugars, and when combined with its natural healthy qualities it's a honey worth having.
Tasmanian Leatherwood honey has been recognized by food connoisseurs around the world for over 100 years. The special appreciation for Leatherwood honey is for several reasons.
First, its unusual flavor, a sweet floral aroma, and its complex aromatic palate that lingers; second, its quality factors, bright golden color, low moisture and balance of sugars; and third, its healthy vitality.
Tasmania is the smallest and most southern state of Australia, situated some 250 kilometers south of the continental mainland. The island contains a very diverse range of natural elements, rugged mountains, alpine moors, rich agricultural land, gentle valleys with historic towns and villages, hundreds of lakes and sweeping white beaches.
Tasmania lies on the latitude 42 degrees south. The only other landmasses that share this latitude are the south island of New Zealand and southern Chile. All else is the vast expanse of the Great Southern Ocean with its prevailing westerly winds, known in this latitude as the "Roaring Forties".
It is in the valleys of the remarkable and inhospitable western mountain region with over 100 inches of rainfall that the Leatherwood tree grows as a rainforest under-story tree. The Leatherwood tree typically grows to 10 to 15 meters, occasionally to 30 meters in height, attaining maturity at around 250 years of age.
The trees begin to flower in mid-January and continue until early March. The tree bears an abundance of extremely delicate white flowers with a fresh piquant scent. Leatherwood is so named because of the leathery texture of its leaves.
The Red Wine of Honey!
"This honey is to other honeys like red wine is to grape juice. It has a complex and rich flavor lacking in traditional honeys. Excellent with cheeses and teas."
-- kevin
Shop now for the Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey!
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Citrus Blossom Honey
from Napa, California
This honey is just like you want honey to be. Super smooth, delicate, and sweet with a flavor uniqueness that is fully recognizable. This honey is a honey with a delicate citrus flower nuance, and at room temperature it pours and spoons like a smooth honey.
An aroma of orange and lemon blossoms jumps out of the jar the second you open it. The next thing you'll notice is that the honey is golden and pourable like acacia honey. The flavor opens with a divine sweetness and a nice citrus acidity that quickly moves to a heavenly lightness.
The bees that produce this sweet and delicate orange and lemon blossom honey also hold the very important job of pollinating the myriad citrus trees that make Tulare County in central California one of the premier citrus growing regions.
Gathered especially for Katz Farms from hives placed in lemon, orange, and a few grapefruit groves, these citrus blossom honeys are absolutely pure - gathered from the hive and filled directly into the jars with no additives.
Many commercially-produced honeys are heated and diluted with water to increase their yield, and oftentimes this may create problems with crystallization.
This golden orange honey is silky smooth, and we must confess it's our favorite way to sweeten freshly-brewed tea - and much, much more! It's perfect for morning toast, drizzled over pancakes, waffles or French toast, on your granola or swirled into yogurt. And it is excellent for marinades. This is a truly outstanding honey!
Shop now for Katz Citrus Blossom Honey!
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There’s a new mold in town
And it’s called Penicillium salamii
Penicillium nalgiovense is an edible white mold, used in the making of salami; a second mold is Penicillium olsonii (which can grow naturally on cured meats). A third mold, which scientists thought was Penicillium olsonii, was found upon closer inspection (at the molecular level) to have different metabolites. They named it Penicillium salamii. Scientists don’t know how old the new fungi is, but they think it’s very, very old.
Making salami is a moldy process. One mold is a guard mold from other molds to make healthy mold, which allows the meat to cure into salami inside the natural animal casing.
Salami is English for the Italian word salame. Salami is one of the many fermented sausages that include chorizo (Spain), saucisson (France) and Kielbasa (Poland). Salami, the Italian style, is the one that is most well-known here in the US.
The typical salami in the local grocer (and on your pizza) is made using an accelerated process, utilizing rapid acidic production which with a higher mechanized temperature infuses a different culture, creating a higher acidic taste and a generic monotone flavor.
At Fra’mani, they make their salami the old-fashioned (Italian) way, giving the spores time (4 to 6 weeks or more) to do their thing, naturally developing an intricate and luscious piquancy. Paul, owner and founder, once told me all you need is one bad spore and you could lose a whole cycle, a whole room full of hanging salami! Which is why large-scale production of fermented meat is like a lab of “clean” rooms. And a dangerous business.
Paul Bertolli is best known for being the Executive Chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and at Oliveto in Oakland. He has been named a “Who’s Who of Cooking in America”. His cookbooks, Chez Panisse Cooking and Cooking by Hand, are well known for their detailed content. In 2005 he founded Fra’mani Handcrafted Foods and has been cultivating and fermenting Salami since then.
Today we are featuring our two most popular Fra’mani salami.
To enjoy, cut one end off, remove the string, slice the casing to where you think you will consume, peel the casing back like a banana, and then slice. Store the salami in its original paper in the refrigerator. Consume within 2 to 3 weeks. (Your salami mold will vary.)
What do pickles, sauerkraut, and vinegar have in common with salami? It’s not mold, it’s fermentation.
Shop Here for Fra'mani Salami!!
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This is Salametto
Picnic Perfection
Think of the iconic Sunday Afternoon (Seurat) or Luncheon of the Boating Party (Renoir), and make your own picnic memories.
This salametto is a small, coarsely ground, fully-scented salami. It is rich in color, full-flavored and robust - ideal for snacks, picnics and outdoor excursions. And don't forget the cheese! The salametto pairs perfectly with our Beaufort D'Alpage.
Slice easily to a 1/8 inch thickness - thin is in! Each salametto weighs approximately 3/4 pound.
Shop now for Fra'mani Salametto Salami!
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Fra'mani Salame Calabrese
Salami with Calabrian Pepper
Naturally dried salami made with pork (raised with no antibiotics, no added hormones, and 100% vegan feed), wild fennel and Calabrian pepper. Inspired by the region of Calabria in southern Italy, where the locals like their sweet and spicy Calabrian peppers.
Fra’ Mani Salame Calabrese is a small, spicy dry salame. This version combines Italian wild fennel seed, sweet and hot Calabrian pepperoncini and chili flakes. About 11 ounces. Slice 1/8 inch thick pieces on a bias.
This Calabrian Salami is a 2014 and 2021 Good Food Award Winner.
This dry salame has been hand-tied and mold-ripened in a natural hog casing. The beneficial mold may be visible on the surface of the salame upon opening. But not to worry! Just slice, remove natural casing and it is ready to slice and eat!
This is Eliza's favorite salami of all!
Shop now for Fra'mani Salame Calabrese!
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Orange and Whisky Marmalade
Open the Jar to a Satisfying Pop!!
Initially the nose smells orange and then the trace of whiskey comes through.
With just four ingredients, sugar, Seville orange, water and whiskey, you know you’re in for a good treat.
To the eye you see a jelly-like top with bits of peel just below the surface.
It’s hard to just get the jelly substance without peel, in fact, it might be impossible. When you pull out a small spoonful there are little itsy-bitsy pieces of peel everywhere.
And this is a good thing, no this is a great thing! With each spoonful - I know you’re not supposed to eat it with a spoon, - it’s more delicious.
The whiskey isn’t just whiskey, it’s there everywhere yet doesn’t loudly say I’m here.
It does give you this wonderful, overall sense of something very special. If you like peel and you want marmalade, then this might be one of the best you’ll ever find. A spoonful is like candy to the mouth.
The jelly and the peel come together to make harmony. I can’t wait to try it on an English muffin or maybe I’ll add it to my morning oatmeal. Cheers!
Shop now for Hawkshead Orange and Whisky Marmalade!
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Medjool Dates
the King of Dates
On an acre of land, up to fifty females and one male can grow in harmony. A 15 to 20 year old tree will yield about 200 pounds of Medjool dates a year.
Fossils have shown dates thrived 50 million years ago. Humans have been cultivating them for 6,000 years. Hundreds of varieties are grown worldwide, twelve in the States. Of those, over 90% of the total US crop are grown in the Coachella Valley.
Although they have been in the US since the 18th century when the Spaniards planted them around their missionaries, it wasn't until the early 1900s that the Medjool variety was brought here to the US, specifically in 1927, when a fungal disease threatened to decimate the Moroccan industry and 11 offshoots were brought to the US by a horticulturalist.
After a seven-year quarantine in Nevada, the nine surviving plants were sent to Southern California. Those original nine plants are the ancestors of the millions of Medjool date palms that grow in California today.
The nickname for Medjool dates is the "King of Dates", and boy do they live up to it! Medjool dates are a deep amber-brown with crinkly skin and a glow of their own. The sticky flesh melts in your mouth, and their perfect mix of sweetness reminds you of carame...honey...cinnamon!
Based on taste and melt-in-your-mouth texture, the Medjool date is definitely the "King of Dates" - and it is easy to understand why these dates were actually reserved for Moroccan royalty.
To store Medjools, leave them covered on the counter for up to a week or place them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to six months.
Shop Now For Medjool Dates!
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Hawkshead Black Garlic Ketchup
Healthy longevity comes from eating Black Garlic!
Sometimes great things just appear and when they do it’s a WOW kinda thing!
This dark, very dark, gourmet ketchup is nothing like the red stuff we have used our whole lives. In fact, it does not resemble anything we have had before. Though I am thinking that the next burger I make will have this as the condiment of excellence.
Like most ketchups it has vinegar - the basic acid and tomato combination. And the similarity stops there.
To the nose, Hawkshead Black Garlic Ketchup has a big twing-y tickle from the acetic acid - balsamic vinegar. To the tip of the tongue, it is sweet. And to the mouth it is a squeeze in the cheeks pleasure. It took a couple of “tastes” to notice the little bits of garlic. At the end, some of the time, there is a tickle in the back of the throat.
The flavor of this gourmet ketchup is not “garlic”, at least not to the taste buds. It takes some cheek smacking to get the garlic… the flavor is much more about the complete experience. You get a sweet twinge of goodness with hints of Balsamic and caramel. This is like an enhancement of black garlic in a ready to pour form!
To make black garlic you heat a full head of white garlic at 150 degrees for several weeks. The browning action is created by the Maillard reaction, not caramelization. The sharpness in fresh garlic is transformed as it breaks down over time, minimizing the strong flavor.
Black Garlic has been around for a long time, and is long associated with longevity and even immortality, it is rich in color and rich in flavor, with roundness, fullness and lots of fun.
Secret sauce!
"This was given to me as a gift, I might not have risked it but I’m so glad I have tried it now. The other night I made a pecan crusted chicken breast and smashed fried potatoes and salad. Everything was good but needed some oomph so I tried this and it went from good to great. We tried mixing with some mayonnaise and smoked chipotle Tabasco and voila, a perfect sauce for pretty much anything. The flavor is just the right level, not overbearing, but different than anything I’ve had before."
-- jodi
Shop now for Hawkshead Black Garlic Ketchup!
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Got questions? Call or email and we will do our best to answer your questions! We love sharing our taste opinions about all our products.
STORE HOURS: Monday thru Saturday, 10 to 5. Please let us know if you would like a private shopping time and we will do our best to accommodate you. We now have multiple HEPA medical grade air filters running 24 hours a day in the shop.
Please keep in mind we are limiting the number of people in the shop at one time and masks are required. If you are feeling sick for any reason please choose a different time to visit. We may perform random temperature checks.
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ChefShop Cocoa Powder
Bake a cake!
Cocoa powder is a pantry essential.
Decide you want to make brownies, a cake, a torte, or you crave hot chocolate? Having cocoa powder on hand is just good practice. Store in a dark cool place and it will last until you need it!
Shop now for ChefShop Cocoa Powder!
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Store Hours - Monday thru Saturday 10 to 5
If your order has been confirmed as "ORDER READY FOR PICKUP" in email (or you were called) and want it brought to you in the parking lot, call us when you arrive and we will run it out to you. 206-286-9988 - FOR Pick-up orders placed online you need to get to the select shipping method page in the shopping cart.
ChefShop.com
1425 Elliott Ave W
Seattle, Wa 98119
206-286-9988
Our bigger 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.
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This Week's Recipes |
Toasted Sumac Pita Chips Recipe
Perfect for the appetizer that just needs something a little more substantial (and with a bigger surface area) than a carrot or a piece of celery. We serve with with Muhammara Dip, or Ottoleghi's very chunky but soothing Charred Cherry Tomatoes with Yogurt and Urfa Pepper.
Charred Cherry Tomatoes with Yogurt and Urfa Pepper Recipe
Adapted from Yoten Ottolenghi's SIMPLE cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2018).
We have used this recipe as an appetizer dip. Just need to use a sturdy chip for dipping -- like a Sumac Pita Chip.
Muhammara - Walnut, Red Pepper & Pomegranate Dip Recipe
Adapted from Paula Wolfert’s Cooking from the Eastern Mediterranean: "This is a Muhammara dip recipe I first learned from a Syrian woman named Nora, who loved to tell the most off-color jokes as we’d delicately prepare the day’s food.
I’ve adapted it to use either prepared roasted bell peppers or piquillo peppers - or do it yourself: Oil and roast the same number of red bell peppers. Roast the peppers at 450 F or broil them until they’re blistery and turning black, then place them in a paper bag and let them cool. Remove and seed, core and skin them."
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