When is a plum not a plum? When it is a sugarplum or a plum pudding! Judging by the names of these traditional British Christmas treats, one would think that both include some quantity of plum. Not true! For centuries, the term ‘sugarplum’ has referred to any type of dried fruit, made into a small, vaguely plum-shaped sweet. During Victorian times, these sugary candies sometimes contained raisins or currants which were called plums.
Archive for the ‘Travelogues’ Category
Visions of Sugar Ameixas: When Is a Plum Not a Plum?
Posted in Candy & Confections, Christmas, Food History, Pairings, Portugal, Travelogues, tagged Alentejo, Ameixas d'Elvas, Elvas, food, Greengage, plum, plums, Portugal, sugar plum, sugarplum on November 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Traveling in India: Darjeeling Tea, Flatbreads and Spices
Posted in Beverages, India, Tea, Travelogues, tagged baking, bread, chapati, dairy, food, ghee, India, lassi, milk, naan, poppadoms, roti, spices, travel on August 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Staff members here at Formaggio Kitchen regularly travel the world to seek out the unique products that we carry. While our trips have tended to focus on Europe, my colleague Tim and I recently had the opportunity to travel to India (a first for both of us!). We were able to make the trip thanks largely to a small business grant from British Airways that gave us 10 round-trip tickets for use this year.
The primary motivation for our trip was to visit tea country. Initially, we looked into visiting the region of Assam – flat and plains-like, it is well-known for its tea. However, eventually we decided to explore the region of Darjeeling – mountainous, cool and verdant, it is nestled in the skinny part of India that sits between Nepal and Bangladesh. (more…)
Cheese, Beer + BBQ: A Memorable Day at the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival
Posted in About Us, BBQ, Cheese, Local, Special Events & Field Trips, Travelogues, United States, tagged BBQ, cheesemakers, Consider Bardwell Farm, food, Jasper Hill Farm, Shelburne Farms, Spring Brook Farm, Twig Farm, Vermont on July 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The call time was 6 a.m., but our first guests — just as excited as we were — were standing outside our door at 5:40.
Gradually, the rest of our sleepy customers arrived, picked up their coffee and croissants, and by 6:30, all 32 of us were on the road, headed for high adventure in the Green Mountain State. Our destination was the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, a gathering of about 50 local cheesemakers, 30 breweries and wineries, and a host of other food artisans making everything from mustard to nougat. The event, in its second year, was held last Sunday at the breathtakingly lovely Shelburne Farms estate outside of Burlington, and this year we organized a bus to bring our customers to the festival — a first-of-its-kind trip for Formaggio Kitchen.
The Shelburne Farms estate sits on Lake Champlain.
We personally knew many of the cheesemakers at the festival and were excited not only to see them, but also to introduce them to our customers. (more…)
Dios Mio, It’s Membrillo!
Posted in Candy & Confections, Pairings, Portugal, Travelogues, tagged cheese pairings, cotognata, food, Manchego, marmelada, membrillo, Portugal, quince, quince paste on July 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
If you love cheese, you’ve likely come across the sweet, tangy condiment called membrillo. Membrillo is the Spanish word for the quince fruit and is commonly used to refer to the sweet quince paste also known as cotognata in Italian and marmelada in Portuguese. Even though recipes vary, quince and sugar — cooked to a thick consistency, molded and cooled — are the primary ingredients. The resulting quince paste is a traditional accompaniment to many cheeses including the famous Manchego.
A-Whey We Go!
Posted in Cheese, Producer Profile, Travelogues, United States, tagged Jasper Hill Farm, Parmigiano Reggiano, pigs, prosciutto, whey on July 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
On a recent trip to Jasper Hill Farm, I had the distinct pleasure not only of tasting many delicious cheeses made and aged here in New England, but also of getting acquainted with some inhabitants of the farm who happen to be just as fond of dairy products — or by-products as the case may be — as I am.
The farm has acquired its group of piglets for the season, and man, do they love whey!
Farms producing milk and making cheese from it inherently find themselves with loads of whey, the liquid that separates out from the milk when cheese curds are formed. There are some great uses for this tangy liquid — in some cases, you can use it to make traditional ricotta and other cheeses. Or you can use it in the kitchen in place of water in breads, sauces and stews. Or you can just drink it straight, as it’s filled with protein, vitamins and minerals. You can really only consume so much whey though, and inevitably you can’t keep up with production. So the question becomes: what to do with the rest? (more…)
Part II: VinItaly ’10 – Memorable Tastings
Posted in Beverages, Italy, Travelogues, Wine, tagged growers, Italy, sommeliers, tasting, terroir, varietal, Vini Veri, VinItaly, VinNatur, vintage, viticulture, Wine, wine buyers, winemakers on June 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
To read Part I of Gemma’s post, please click here.
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Alessandro of Valli Unite
One of the most memorable tastings I had at VinItaly was with Valli Unite, a cooperative I visited in 2006, located in the hills outside of Tortona (essentially in the DOC Gavi growing area). Dreadlocked Alessandro, who now greets me on a first name basis, excitedly mentioned that in 2009 he made all of his wines without added sulfur. He recalled all of the questions and concerns that I have had over the years about sulfur usage. After some successful initial trials with Barbera and Dolcetto, he is confident enough to move forward with a more natural, minimalist approach in the cellar. This courage impressed me a great deal as did his desire to express as much terroir as possible in his wines. One of the questions that I like to ask growers is with regard to the future of their wines and their farming practices. Some producers express an ambition to sell more wine, expand into additional markets and find new exporters. Others talk about trying natural yeast fermentations, yield-reducing practices and no-sulfur cuvées. The latter type of grower is the one with whom I definitely want to establish a relationship. One can ascertain very quickly and easily who is thinking, trying, experimenting and who is merely responding to the market. (more…)
Part I: VinItaly ’10 – Checking In with Our Growers
Posted in Beverages, Italy, Travelogues, Wine, tagged growers, Italy, sommeliers, tasting, terroir, varietal, Vini Veri, VinItaly, VinNatur, vintage, viticulture, Wine, wine buyers, winemakers on June 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Le bellissime colline di Verona
During the second week of April, I had the opportunity to attend VinItaly – one of the largest and most well-attended trade shows for wine professionals – and two smaller, organic off-shoot shows: VinNatur and Vini Veri. These tastings brought growers, suppliers, sommeliers, and wine buyers together near picturesque Verona. It was a very special opportunity to taste wines alongside the growers, a process that is important in gaining a true understanding of the wines on our shelves and the farming behind them. Attending a show like VinItaly is the next best thing to actually visiting a producer. (more…)
A Continuing Education in Coffee
Posted in Beverages, Coffee, Producer Profile, Travelogues, United States, tagged Barismo, Barrington, coffee, Ethiopia, George Howell, roaster, Stumptown, Yirgacheffe on June 2, 2010 | 2 Comments »
A newly-flowering coffee plant
My journey into coffee began in high school, with a styrofoam cup and copious amounts of milk and sugar.
I would snag some each morning during my first-period study hall, usually from one of those brown-rimmed glass pots. The addiction became full-blown in college, and when I entered the world of work, like many, I continued to depend on my morning cup as a necessary comfort. (more…)
New Traditions in Swiss Cheese: A Visit with Thomas Stadelmann
Posted in Cheese, Producer Profile, Switzerland, Travelogues, tagged Bergkäse, Cheese, fondue, Heublumen, Selun, Switzerland, Thomas Stadelmann, Unterwasser on May 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »
As a cheesemonger at Formaggio Kitchen, I have seen a lot of change in the Swiss cheese industry over the years. Cheese is not only a way of life in Switzerland, but also a large industry for the nation. To ensure steady production, subsidies were created for their main five cheeses: Emmentaler, Raclette, Gruyère, Tilsiter, and Appenzeller. A “fruitière” or cheesemaker would receive milk from the surrounding farms in their co-op and use all of the milk for the production of one of those five cheeses, depending on where in Switzerland they were located.
Over the past few years, policy and subsidies have changed, creating new opportunities for Swiss cheese makers. Many cheese makers will now produce the staple cheese of their region, but also create new recipes. One of the best examples of this is Käserei Stoefel, which produces over 30 different varieties of cheese and 30 different types of fresh milk products. (more…)
Will Travel for Beer
Posted in Beer, Beverages, Producer Profile, Travelogues, United States, tagged Allagash, Beer, Brooklyn Brewery, Dogfish Head, Ommegang, Sixpoint, travel on May 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We love cheese at Formaggio Kitchen, but we also love our beer.
You’ll catch a lot of us on the staff stopping by local beer tastings, seeking out new and hard-to-find bottles, and regularly checking out (and sampling) the rotating taps at our favorite Boston-area bars. A few of us also brew our own beer – recent undertakings have included a clone of Stone Ruination IPA, and a beer brewed with fresh cranberries that somehow ended up measuring a whopping 2% ABV (we lovingly call this one “Granny Cran”).
Whenever we can, we also visit breweries to see beer-making in action. It’s fascinating to see beer brewed on a large scale (though many of the craft breweries we like are still considered small players in a giant market), and it’s enlightening to talk to brewers about what goes in to making certain beers and why they taste the way they do. We’ve previously field-tripped it to Sixpoint, Ommegang and Brooklyn Brewery (see related post), all located in New York. Last month, I stopped by Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware, and last week, a group of us headed to Portland, Maine, to visit Allagash Brewing Company. (more…)
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- Bid on a tour of our cheese caves for a good cause! @MassMentoring is working to improve youth mentoring across MA: tinyurl.com/qbfh9hy 5 hours ago
- A quick heads-up that we will be closed next Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day. 5 hours ago
- Also in the case right now for your grilling pleasure - fresh chorizo, lamb w/ rosemary + garlic, or sweet Italian sausages! #MemorialDayBBQ 6 hours ago
- Grilling this holiday weekend? Our charcutière, Julie, has made delicious sausages - like these Turkish BBQ spice! twitpic.com/csp4da 6 hours ago
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