In this installment
Zingerman’s Sea Salt Potato Chips
Virginia Diner Peanuts
Holy Cow Beef Sticks
Zingerman’s Sea Salt Potato Chips
We’ve partnered with Great Lakes Potato Chip company in Traverse City, Michigan to make these chips. We also got a lot of help sourcing the perfect spices for the chips from Montreal’s Epices de Cru. Take it from me: superior spices paired with small batch potato chips are really, really good.
We created a line of flavors (some of which are featured in other installments), but for the purists we created this French Grey Sea Salt Potato Chip. It’s your classic chip topped with mineral rich, complex sea salt. Say no more.
Virginia Diner Peanuts
Big, fat, perfectly roasted Virginia peanuts. I’ll go out on a limb and say they’re my favorite nut ever. I’m not usually so black and white in what I love, but these peanuts inspire passion. The flavor is unmatched for two reasons.
One, the folks who make them at Virginia Diner in Wakefield, VA, start with great peanuts: super large extra whole Virginia peanuts, the top 2% of the crop. They’re different than America’s most common nut, the runner, which is smaller, rounder, shaped more like a pea than the long, lozenge-shaped Virginia nut. (Planters uses runners, as does Snickers and most peanut butter manufacturers.) Their size and density contribute to the terrific crunch.
And two, they fry them. The diner originally made them in small batches in their french fryers right on the kitchen line. They still fry today. But you won’t be able to see any evidence of frying in your nut. The shelled peanuts look clean and blond in the tin. What’s the difference between a fried peanut and a roasted peanut? To me, the main difference is texture. To some extent you can think of the difference between potatoes French fried and roasted. French fries are crispier, with a textural pop. Fried peanuts have that same crispy, satisfying crunch. And unlike French fries, fried peanuts keep their texture in the tin.
Holy Cow Beef Sticks
Artisan salami makers are growing in number and notoriety as our love for great food continues to grow. Standing out in the crowd is harder than ever, but Red Bear Provisions in Chicago has done just that. While many charcuterie makers take their cues from styles made famous in France, Spain and Italy, Red Bear’s recipes are inspired by the flavors of Eastern Europe and Russia. In these parts of the world, beef is more accessible and bolder flavors garner the accolades. Beefy, rich, and often times smoky, Red Bear is a rising eastern star in the salami making sky.
This is Red Bear Provisions’ version of Evreyskaya, an Eastern European salami usually reserved for special occasions, here made in a slim format for maximum snackability. Made from premium cuts of Angus beef and mixed with black pepper and garlic, these sticks are smoked over oak to impart a hint of smoky sweetness to go with the rich beef flavor.