About cherries, recipes, snack foods, and more - at chefshop.com/enews
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We can't wait for cherry season!!!
Not all Red Cherries are Bings. And not all Bing Cherries are Bings.
Because of cherries, I'm the happiest guy
And life is sweet as cherry cream pie
Well heaven and earth are now all mine
I've jumped to the moon from cloud number nine
Because, because, because, because of my love of cherries!
Do you know the riddle, "What color is George Washington's white horse?" The answer is obvious, yet not.
Well, as the first of the sweet cherries come to fruition, our riddle has a twist, and it's not so obvious. It goes, "What color are Washington's first sweet, luscious, juicy, (red) cherries?" The answer is, yellow.
The first of the Cherries are growing now!
When you pop the first Cherry of the season it's like an explosion of memories! You close your eyes with your arms outstretched as you reach to the sky and feel the sun bathe your face and, as you spin, you feel like the steadicam is circling you in the reverse direction as the opening scene of your own movie begins! It's that great explosion of life!
For some reason this fleshy drupe (a stone fruit), a derivative of Prunus avium, the sweet cherry, has this amazing ability to make you feel alive and farm fresh!
Well, perhaps not farm fresh, it certainly makes you feel like you're in touch with the land. Cherries, I would argue, are like no other fruit on the planet in their ability to bring a smile to one's face!
Cherries are one of nature's true pleasures! With a pop when you crunch, a sweetness like no other, these little orbs are packed with healthy goodness that are one of the best natural fighters of old age!
Did you know that if you eat a dozen cherries a day you have a 35% lower risk of a gout attack? If you eat 72 cherries over 2 days you lower your risk to 50%! And how about the benefits like better sleep (eat before bedtime), less joint pain (reduced inflammation), and maybe even reduced belly fat!
All from the eating pleasure of this little fruit, the cherry!
See all the Cherries Here!
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New cherry varieties like Bing, Rainier, and Early Robin
are developed through a mix of chance discoveries and deliberate breeding!
New cherry varieties like Bing, Rainier, and Early Robin are developed through a mix of chance discoveries and deliberate breeding. Some originate as natural mutations, or "sports," spotted by observant growers, such as the Early Robin cherry, which Robin Doty found in 1990 when a tree in his Washington orchard ripened earlier than others.
Others, like the Bing cherry, were chance seedlings selected for their desirable traits, while modern varieties like the Rainier cherry result from intentional cross-pollination&mash;the Rainier was developed in 1952 by Harold Fogle at Washington State University by crossing Bing and Van cherries.
Once a promising new variety is identified, it undergoes years of evaluation for traits like ripening time, flavor, firmness, disease resistance, and yield.
If it performs well, it may be named and patented, as Early Robin was in 2003, and then propagated through grafting rather than grown from seed. Nurseries distribute the grafted trees to growers, who plant them with careful management practices.
Commercial success depends not just on how the cherries grow, but also on how well they ship, how they look and taste, and when they ripen compared to other varieties. This process, blending nature, science, and market demand, continues to shape the evolution of cherry cultivation.
The Early Robin cherry is a noteworthy early-season variety that originated from a chance observation by grower Robin Doty in 1990. In his Rainier cherry orchard near Mattawa, Washington, Doty noticed a single tree ripening significantly earlier, 7 to 10 days, than the surrounding Rainier trees.
Recognizing the commercial potential of this trait, he named the variety "Early Robin," referencing both his first name and the robins that flocked to the tree, drawn by its early fruit.
This natural mutation, known as a "sport," would go on to become a valuable addition to the Pacific Northwest cherry industry. The variety was officially recognized and protected with U.S. Plant Patent No. 13,951 in 2003, and is now licensed through Columbia Basin Nursery and Willow Drive Nursery, who handle its propagation and distribution.
The Early Robin cherry shares many physical similarities with Rainier cherries, particularly its medium to large size, heart shape, and yellow skin with a red blush.
However, it stands out in several important ways. Early Robins are prized for their firm texture and exceptionally sweet flavor, with sugar levels typically between 17% and 19%, making them even sweeter than Rainiers.
Unlike Rainiers, which have a mild tart balance, Early Robins offer a more intense sweetness and feature a semi-freestone pit, enhancing their consumer appeal and ease of eating.
From a grower's perspective, Early Robins offer an attractive early harvest option, but it comes with challenges. The trees are not self-fertile and require compatible pollinizers, often Bing cherries, to set fruit.
The variety is best grown in warmer regions, as its early bloom is susceptible to spring frost damage. On the positive side, Early Robin cherries show moderate resistance to rain cracking, an advantage over Rainiers in wet conditions.
Robin Doty's discovery has been a wonderful addition to the variety of cherries available, especially in Asian export markets, where early availability and visual appeal are major selling points. Early Robins have earned a place in commercial orchards for their unique timing, exceptional sweetness, and premium positioning.
See all the Early Robin options here!
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Fresh Cherry Dessert Compote
recipe
Here's a brilliant way to turn frozen or fresh (but maybe not perfect for eating) cherries into an irresistible dessert. Serve them over vanilla ice cream, and you're all set. Look for cherry "seconds" at your local farmers market—they're still delicious but less aesthetically perfect than the "firsts."
See the Fresh Cherry Dessert Compote Recipe here!
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Did you know that:
The first cherry tree in the Northwest was planted in 1847 in Oregon.
Cherries have been grown and eaten by man long before we kept written notes on such things.
Turkey produces the most cherries in the world.
The first cherry tree in the Northwest was planted in 1847 in Oregon.
The man who brought the trees to Oregon, Henderson Lewelling's, younger brother Seth, worked with an orchard foreman from Manchuria, Ah Bing. As the story goes, Seth and Bing each had their rows of trees for which they grew their own sweet red cherries.
These two friends created many cherries, including the Black Republican and Lincoln varieties. And the most famous sweet cherry of all, the Bing, which first grew on Bing's "rows".
To honor his friend, Seth Lewelling named the cherry Bing.
Bing Cherries are a red cherry, but not all red cherries are Bings. In the grocer and the farmers market red cherries are often all called, incorrectly, Bings. A real Bing, is a good Bing and why we love them so much. They are juicy and taste like you expect a cherry to taste. A good Bing can have the most classic cherry flavor of all!
Washington grows more sweet cherries than any other state in the union.
Every year people ask us which is our favorite and we answer every year is different.
We find though that when each variety arrives to be packed, we love it the most.
Cherries are good for keeping the doctor away. Known to relieve the pain of Gout and Arthritis, prevent Premature Aging, cure migraines, and help you sleep!
Fresh cherries are incredibly good for you, fighting inflammation, oxidative stress, heart functionality, and keeping your brain healthy, and the fact is if you eat one single cherry you will feel emotionally happy!
These children of Prunus avium (wild cherries) are only available when picked-at-their peak for a momentary blip every year.
That blip is soon!
See the Bing Cherries here!
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Marcona Almonds from Spain
These are good!
Like hazelnuts from Piedmont and Pistachios from Sicily, Marcona almonds from Spain are prized the world over. Some even say Marcona almonds are the finest in the world.
Almost round and very flat, Marcona almonds look different from California garden-variety almonds, and they have a richer, more intensely nutty flavor.
Our Spanish Marcona almonds are toasted in sunflower oil and lightly salted, and the result is a crisp, tender, and super-flavorful almond. If you haven't had them, try them at least once...and you might be hooked for life!
You might think that almonds in olive oil would be better, and they might be when freshly roasted and oiled and eaten soon after. But we discovered that by the time they arrive from Spain, they taste, well oily, and we find we prefer the almonds in heart-healthy sunflower oil.
Ingredients: Almonds, Sunflower oil, sea salt.
Try a small handful of these flat almonds with a spoonful of Lehua Honey. A quick snack and a great combination.
See the Marcona Almonds here!
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Fra' Mani Salame Salametto Piccante
from Berkeley!
This is a delicious, Spanish-influenced, spicy dry chorizo-like salame. Each is about 10 inches long, and tied in a loop. They are brick-red in color, with a touch of heat and smokiness from Spanish smoked pimenton.
Fra' Mani pork comes from family farmers committed to the well-being of their animals and their land. The hogs are never given antibiotics, artificial growth hormones, growth-promoting agents or meat by-products. They eat only the finest grains and natural feed. This old-fashioned way to raise hogs produces pork of outstanding quality, which is the essential ingredient in all Fra' Mani salumi.
Fra' Mani dry salami are made from the finest-quality fresh pork and natural hog casings. Hand-tied with natural twine and slowly mold ripened. Extended aging in the Fra' Mani cantina di stagionatura for highly-developed flavor and aroma.
Shop now for Fra' Mani Salame Salametto Piccante!
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Rice Bran Oil
Delicate without adding a flavor
Delicate without adding a flavor, rice bran oil just may be the world's healthiest edible oil. Rice bran oil comes from the most nutritious part of the rice grain, loaded with monounsaturated fats & polyunsaturated fats, as well as vitamin E. These are the good fats that help your body lose weight.
Which means that Non-GMO rice bran oil is not only nutritious, but a superior salad, cooking, baking and frying oil that leaves no lingering aftertaste.
Extremely versatile, rice bran oil is an excellent choice for baking as well as just about any cooking method, from deep-frying to pan-frying, sauteing to stir-frying, baking to grilling.
Shop now for Rice Bran Oil!
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Dark Ancho Chili Powder
from Mexico
The most commonly used chile in Mexico, the ancho is a dried poblano chile. With a mild to medium heat, dark ancho chile powder has a mahogany color, with an orange-red cordovan tint when held up to the light. The ancho is one of the sweetest of the dried chiles.
This excellent dark ancho powder has a mild fruit flavor with tones of coffee, licorice, tobacco, dried plum, and raisin, with a little woodiness.
Shop now for Dark Ancho Chili Powder!
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Bacon Jam
recipe
Easy, Easy, Easy! Gather the ingredients, cook'em and you are done. Top just about everything! Make sandwiches sing and make baked potatoes taste like you want them to be! Or, best yet, add it to the Beans and Corn recipe.
See the Bacon Jam Recipe here!
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Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP Winter Cheese
Preorder now before we cut the cheese!!
These happy cows feed on seasonal treats of spring flowers, early grasses and wild garlic shoots. In the summer they forage the mountains natural flora. And in the winter they ruminate on the hay from the fall harvest.
Unlike many of their brethren who live down mountain, this changing diet, creates seasonal milk that has distinct flavor characteristics.
The resulting seasonal Parmigiano-Reggiano creates amazing cheese that is like no other!
Winter cheese can often have hints of summer or spring depending on when the milk is harvested. Its predominate flavor comes from the hay which makes this season have a wonderful smooth flavor.
When Parmigiano-Reggiano is aged beyond 24 months the cheese changes for the better! The little bits or tiny pockets are the crunchy bits in are tyrosine crystals, which are amino acid clusters that form as the cheese ages.
The tyrosine in simple terms makes your brain happy! And the little crunch reminds you you have a wonderfully aged Parmigiano-Reggiano like no other.
Preorder Parmigiano-Reggiano Dop Winter Cheese NOW!
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Shichimi Togarashi Red Pepper Mix
The seven spices of prosperity!
Nanami Togarashi - a blend of flavors that may have been created in the 17th century as a way to encourage healthy eating.
Also referred to as Seven Spice (the number of ingredients in this pepper mix), the number seven is considered to be lucky and refers to the Shichifukujin, the Lucky Seven Deities.
The S&B Shichimi Nanami Togarashi seasoning adds a little heat when added to dry dishes, it really comes alive when added to liquid like soup or oil from fresh fish, and it is often added to Japanese noodle dishes such as Soba and Udon.
Unlike so many "spice rubs", this one is not sweetened with sugar; instead it has a wonderful hint of citrus along with sesame seeds, ginger and seaweed which adds the umami that completes the seven flavors. With a little circular hole in the top of the jar, it shakes out perfectly to make your Udon Noodles sing.
A perfect complement to fish or fowl...imagine a painted line of ketjap manis, diced ginger and a gentle sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi down the center of a salmon fillet to kick up the flavor. And it is perfect for pasta!
This is a traditional Japanese Seven Spice blend powder—a mixture of red pepper, sansho pepper, roasted orange peel, black and white sesame seeds, seaweed and ginger. The seaweed brings out flavor, and the pepper adds a little kick to whatever you add it to.
Nanami Togarashi is easy to have on hand and there are just under a million ways to use it!
Shop now for Shichimi Togarashi Red Pepper Mix!
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Sweet Washington Cherries Picked-At-Their-Peak!
A litle update!
Don't forget to check out the cherries and if you are a local customer we have rejects to sample on packing day so stop on by to say hello!
Update on the website. The good stuff.
1) POS checkout is going to be way, way better. So much easier I might even be able to use it!
2) Your name, address and last used email has been moved over. Your password/log info has not been moved for security reasons.
3) The online checkout process is streamlined! Easier, faster and smooooth!
What we are still working on:
1) Turns out a website can grow and grow with no restrictions. And we have found we have 27 years of clutter to clean up! Most of this clutter you will never see as it is like the stuff in closets and the attic. Items like words and pictures of products we will never need again. It's like moving!
2) Cleaning up our processes so your order passes smoothly through and on to the shipper.
3) And so many small things! A million at last count.
Shop now for Sweet Washington Cherries Picked-At-Their-Peak!
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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.
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ChefShop Cocoa Powder
NEW
We have spent the last 2 years looking and testing for a new ChefShop cocoa powder to replace our original recipe and venerable favorite which is no longer available.
This Deep Dark Dutch-processed dark unsweetened cocoa powder is in a class unto itself. We have removed less fat from our cocoa (22-24% fat content), which results in a more intense and immediate chocolate flavor.
This "service pack" of ChefShop cocoa powder is designed for commercial users like baristas, bakers, and gelato makers. It is sealed in a thick zip-lock style bag for production baking with a Plain Jane label. Like many of the foods and ingredients that go to the back of the house, the contents are more important than being pretty.
And price relative to quantity is also a crucial part of the commercial kitchen. So that is why we have chosen this cocoa, for the quality and consistency of product relative to the cost.
And that's what we have here in this bag of exceptional cocoa powder. The resealable bag keeps the cocoa powder fresh and it can last a good long time.
Update on packaging. There appears to be some apprehension on bags and tubes production and thus what availability there is going to be going forward. We are still optimistic that we will find a solution!
Shop now for ChefShop Cocoa Powder here!
Give the Gift of Love through Food
Gift Certificates available for any amount you choose.
Choose the amount in $25 increments by changing the quantity number and we will take care of the rest.
Share ChefShop with a Gift Certificates
Store Hours - Monday thru Saturday 10 to 5
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 |
Tomato, Potato and Carrots Recipe
Spicy Caponata Panini Recipe
This recipe highlights yet another great way to use Mama Lil's hot peppers. This is a Sicilian appetizer of sauteed eggplant in a sweet and sour (agrodolce) sauce. If you have a panini grill, it is a quick and easy way to make lunch for friends, or cube the panini to make a quick and delicious appetizer for everyday.
Butter Chicken Recipe
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DESIGN: JODI LUBY & COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CITY, NY; EMAIL STRATEGY: CRM Group USA, SEATTLE, WA
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