Olive oil, way back when for us, was the slap on your forehead moment, the "Oh, that's what it's supposed to taste like" moment.

We tasted what was identified as real olive oil over 25 years ago. I'm sure prior to that I had had real olive oil; I just wasn't conscious enough to choose such at the grocer at the time. From subtle nuances to the pronounced exclamations that olives can make, the sun, the land, and the water of the terroir in combination with the taste buds of the grower blending the olives and creating the distinct flavors we all know. We choose the ones we love.

Like olive oil, shoyu has amazing character and nuances. Unlike olive oil, aging, like a balsamic vinegar, is a benefit! With a long history of creation, shoyu is one of those foods that has a deep, almost religious presence.

With meticulous attention to detail and "the water is what makes it great", each shoyu has an individual process that has been passed down from generation to generation.

This miracle of a Tamari is very dark in color. A surprise to most when they see it.

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 Tamari is made with Japanese-grown soybeans, spring water and sea salt aged together in cedarwood casks for three years.

The result is heavenly rich in color and flavor, with 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 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 rarely 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!

Treat this like a cherished balsamic - drop-by-drop!

Shop Here For the Amazing Ito Shoten Tamari Shoyu!

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Steam your eggs! With a steamer pan or insert, put your eggs in after the water is robustly boiling. In about 8 minutes, you get a soft yolk, and in 12 minutes, you get a perfectly hard-boiled egg. And like all hard-boiling methods, you need an ice bath to cool them immediately to stop the cooking and make peeling the shell possible.

There are a multitude of ways to make eggs. The best thing is that none of the ways are incorrect, some are wrong of course, and some are best...it can make for a whole night of conversation! Similar to what is a sandwich? Or, perhaps more to the point, is a hot dog in a bun a sandwich?

I digress, which is normal for me, and I am wanting hard boiled eggs because I want to drop a drop of tamari on a nicely split egg.

See How to make perfect Hard Boiled Eggs Recipes here!

I often gravitate to making tuna fish salad when I am tired of what I have been eating. Not that I have been eating boring foods, tuna fish salad is more like food security, refreshing, without too much of anything.

And I can make it just as is or I can try new ideas just because I can.

And this week I added some "spice-it-up" via the mayonnaise and it was good! So good I am making more!

Add harissa to your tuna fish salad via the mayonnaise and it is super smoooooth! I eat it with a spoon, skip the bread.

See the easy Tuna Fish Salad - Sandwich Recipe here!

It's really not that spicy. It leans more to the flavorful than the spicy. Start with our ratio and go from there to make it your own.

See the Spicy Harissa Mayo Recipe here!

This is one of the ingredients I always have opened in my fridge/pantry.

Harissa is not one of those condiments that has only one authentic recipe. In fact, from town to town, region to region, it can vary from a little to a lot - from texture to ingredients and from hot to not so hot. Of all the harissa we have tried, this is the very best!

Here, in this jar, is Mehdi's mom's recipe. Authentic to his family, Mehdi strives to recreate Moroccan harissa as it was made at home in his kitchen growing up.

Villa Jerada uses the finest ingredients from around the world, freshly ground and combined to make one of the freshest products we carry. All their attention to detail and the feeling of smooth heat make this Moroccan condiment a treat!

Shop now for Villa Jerada Moroccan Harissa!

People who love France and French food jump for anything from Amora. And this mayonnaise in a squeeze bottle is one of the French ingredients they love the most! This and the Amora mustard.

While classic mayonnaise like Hellmann's is like a cloud of soft egg and oil, Amora is smooth, like the mist from a tall waterfall or a cool mountain stream.

Amora mayonnaises, flavored or classic, are distinctly different and could be used in the same way. And one could build an opinion, where each flavor profile makes the perfect contribution to the whole.

When adding chutney or a sweet relish, the Amora is perfect, as its lighter approach melds well and allows the partner to shine, as all good partnerships should.

Amora mayonnaise comes out of its very cool dispenser smooth as can be, with a wonderful sheen. To the tongue it is just as it looks, silky salty smooth, with the right amount of edginess, not too much of anything, and then it disappears. No leftover oily remains. Quite enjoyable!

Shop now for Amora Fine Mayonnaise!

"This was hands-down one of the best canned tunas I've ever had!...

"...and it's not even oil-packed! I was expecting dry and dense, as water-packed tuna often is. This was so flavorful, moist and delicious on its own that I had it straight from the can, with just a small blast of lemon juice. It easily rivals any of the fancy Italian and Spanish olive oil-packed tuna brands. It's the perfect tuna to build a Salade Nicoise around!!!"
-- Tina Ujlaki - James Beard Foundation's Editor of the Year award - Food & Wine Magazine

Shop now for Lummi Island Wild Albacore Canned Tuna!

Tuna and Black Nicoise Olives, and green beans will make this salad spring into summer! Be sure to use the very best olive oil you can!

See the Salade Nicoise Recipe here!

The process of candying fruit is time consuming and nerve-racking; what with making sure the sugar concentration, times, and temperatures are all correct—not to mention the quality of the fruit.

Candying cherries for baking is even more complicated since that beautiful red color is very fragile, and can be quickly damaged by heat.

Florian candied red cherries for baking are made from premium quality fruit and no coating is used after the candying process so that optimum moist texture and natural fruit crunch are achieved.

These gorgeous candied red cherries are packaged immediately to retain their full flavor. They are of the Bigarreaux variety, and these baking cherries are perfect for a whole host of applications.

Use these candied cherries whole, or cut them in half for cookies and cakes. Can you imagine a fruitcake without some bright red candied cherries?

Shop here for Florian Candied Cherries!

When I asked Brooke why she created this new gomasio (I thought her original blend did everything already), she said, "Za'atar is one of my favorite seasoning blends. It originates from the Middle-East. I've tried so many versions, and I find that the flavor profile varies greatly depending on specifically where it is made. There seem to be infinite versions, and I wanted to experiment and offer my own take on this classic spice blend.

"I felt that the nutty umami of my original gomasio would be happily enhanced with the flavors common in Za'atar: the bright tanginess of sumac, the herby floral notes of marjoram and thyme and the punchy spice of Aleppo pepper. One of my favorite treats is dipping fresh flatbread into a bowl of olive oil with Za'atar."

Shop now for Landsea Gomasio Zaatar Blend!

To the eye, it pours nicely, revealing a very, very, very deep, black color. If you move it around on the spoon, you can see the deep red color. It is quite mesmerizing.

To the taste, a sip; the initial flavor is sweet, then you have a cherry moment as a deep, rich cherry flavor comes through, finishing with a tart, strong announcement. If you use your tongue and dip the tip and bring it in, the cherry flavor spreads across the upper roof of your mouth, followed by tartness, and then you realize there's a sweetness.

Now that you know what to expect, going all into a bigger taste brings all the flavors together at once. Sweetness, cherry, and sourness, and then finish with a tart punch.

It is super, super enjoyable. It is absolutely, positively interesting that, depending on what technique or method you use to taste, the results all share commonality and, at the same time, can be totally, totally, totally different.

Perhaps it is the sweetness that makes you want to take it over and over and over again, or perhaps it is the familiarity of the cherry that makes you want to enjoy it again and again and again.

Not only is it quite fun via the spoon, but it is also inspiring to the mind for what you can do with it. So many ideas will blossom.

Simply add it to your daily routine, whether it be yogurt, oatmeal, or to dip your croissant in. Or consider adding it to marinades for both meat and vegetables. Pork might be the perfect match. Possibly eggplant.

And now that baking season is in full swing, adding it to cookies or cakes and pies adds not just flavor, but also serves as an enhancer, a vehicle to excite the other ingredients to shine.

Easy ways to use Belazu Sour Cherry Molasses.

Add to dressings, drizzle on your carrot cake or add to cheesecake, add to a marinade, add to your yogurt, top a scoop of ice cream, drizzle your yam puff for Thanksgiving, add to your one pot meals, and your next cocktail.

Shop now for Belazu Sour Cherry Molasses!

Fruit Pie filling is pretty easy, variations can be more sugar or less depending on the fruit itself. If the fruit has more moisture / juice you can add 2 teaspoons of quick-cooking tapioca to firm up the pie.

See the Basic Blueberry Pie Recipe here!

Also known as "caster sugar", this superfine cane sugar has granules that are very fine and dry. A superior quality sugar, it is the workhorse of professional Pastry Chefs because it dissolves so easily in batters and doughs, leaving them very smooth. Especially appreciated for genoise, other sponge cakes, and meringue. It also dissolves very quickly in liquids, so it's great for iced tea.

Shop now for India Tree Superfine Caster Cane Sugar!

How do you serve l'escargots without the shell? Well, you certainly can use mushroom caps, and they can be delicious that way. But, if you want to stick to tradition, it's snail shells and herbed garlic butter all the way. We've got 12 reusable snail shells for cooking here, and that's the perfect number for 2.

Photos are a representation of what you may get. Actual shells will vary in color and composition.

Shop now for Escargot Shells!

We call them truffles, but to the Italians, it's Tartufi, and these are some of the darkest, most sinfully rich truffles we've ever tasted.

Andrea has simply outdone himself here, using his signature bittersweet chocolate and a splash of cognac to create a ganache that is hand-formed into little lumps and then dusted with his own cocoa. They may look like a little something you take from the earth, but they taste like a big piece of heaven.

Shop now for Slitti Tartufi Truffles with Cognac here!