In This Installment
Vermouth Vinegar from Spain
It’s rare to see vinegar made from vermouth. Why go through the trouble of making vermouth (fortified wine with a secret blend of botanicals) if you’re just gonna turn around and make it into vinegar? It’s cheaper and easier to just make wine vinegar and save yourself a few steps, but this one is diffrent in more ways than one. It’s made using the Shützenbach fermentation method. Some believe it produces a more delicately flavored venegar that’s very smooth on the tongue, never harsh.
This vermouth vinegar is made by Castell de Gardeny, a fifth generation family run company in Mollerussa, Spain that’s been around since 1908. The Shützenbach fermentation method they use to make this vinegar was developed in the early 1800s. The system consists of a large tank with three different stages inside. Wine (or in this case Vermouth) is still allowed to convert to vinegar naturally and it still ages in oak barrels for at least a year before being bottled, but unlike other vinegar making practices that have been around for millennia, the Shützenbach fermentation method utilizes a bit of machinery to make superior vinegar.
But first the family must make vermouth. While most ingredients and recipes are highly coveted secrets, making vermouth basically boils down to heating wine with herbs, spices and botanicals. Wormwood (also the main ingredient in absinthe) is a common ingredient as well as citrus zest, cinnamon, coriander, etc. Alcohol (grain alcohol with little flavor) is also added, making Vermouth a fortified wine with a higher alcohol level than what the vineyards normally produce.
Once the vermouth has been made (a timely process which takes a bit of maturing as well), they’re ready to convert it into vinegar. In the Shützenbach method, Vermouth fills a stainless steel vat till it’s about a quarter full. The wine is pumped to the top section of the tank where it’s dispersed by a turning paddle…essentially ‘raining’ the wine down into the middle section of the vat. This section is filled with balls (like large ball bearings) that don’t chemically react with the wine at all, but create a large amount of surface area for the wine to spread over. On the side of the vat, two stacks slowly seep oxygen into the middle section giving the bacteria the opportunity to grow and spread and encourage the conversion of vermouth into vinegar. The exposed vermouth flows down to the bottom section and then circulates to the top, where the process begins again.
It’s not a fast method (the process continues for at least ten days), but it captures the true flavors and aromas of the vermouth or wine differently (some say “better”) than any other method. Finally, a little bit of the wine and grape must is added back to the mix and it’s all aged in French oak barrels for twelve months. The extra aging softens its flavors resulting in a well-balanced sweet and sour experience.
It’s bright and lively, with a smooth sweetness in the finish. Great for marinades, drizzled over fish or roasted vegetables and of course, vinaigrettes. Try this one in place of balsamic. It’s not quite as sweet and musty as balsamic, but the end result is similar and really delicious.
Salsa Pepita from Wisconsin
Salsa has almost become America’s second favorite condiment (behind ketchup…seriously, it’s given mustard a run for it’s money!) but the more common it becomes, the harder it can be to find a great salsa you want to eat and share. Most producers seem to be going for lowest common denominator and “cheap” as their main characteristics. Not with this one.
We first tasted this salsa back in February when things were colder and we were all dreaming of warmer climates and flavors, and I was excited to include it in earlier installments of either this club or the Food Explorer’s Club (that goes monthly), but this salsa is so fresh that they make it to order and I was never able to give the owners—Shannon Berry from Wisconsin and Miros Muñoz originally from Mexico—enough time before I needed it! Thankfully I was finally able to get my act together and follow the leadtimes to bring you this salsa some four months after “discovering” it!
I’ve included their Salsa Pepita because it’s my favorite of their flavors and I think the fresh, bright, citrusy notes of the salsa pair very well with the flavors of the season and when it’s hot outside (even in Michigan it’s hot outside!). The salsa is made by blending fresh, green tomatillos, also known as the Mexican Husk Tomato, with green chiles and spices and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). They’ve managed to capture that zingy, herby flavor and texture that makes you think the salsa was made that day (and it practically was). Making a great tasting salsa is a lot like creating a full flavored gazepacho or any kind of soup, really. You have to find the balance between the individual flavors of the ingredients. You can’t let one characteristic dominate or else it all “just tastes spicy”…not with this. Give it a shot on tacos of course and seafood of all ilks. I’ve been enjoying it on my morning eggs or you can set it out as the dip for the following food in this installment!
Plantain Toasted Corn Crackers
One of my favorite aspects of the “cheeseboard” phenomenon sweeping kitchen counters and patios across the nation is the resurgence and focus on quality crackers. Gone are the days when a can of CheezWhiz and a pile of saltines was called an appetizer. We’ve reached a cracker renaissance and I’m here for it.
You see, a spread of meat and cheese simply isn’t complete without a delectable vehicle with which to deliver them and these toasted corn and plantain crackers are perfect for pairing. But please don’t think of them as a corn chip (though they are quite good with the tomatillo and pepita salsa also included in this installment). These are crackers of the highest regard with an origin in the famous arepa of (mostly) South America and made from the same, simple ingredients: corn and water (and in this case plantain).
They’re a little sweet, a little salty, they have a satisfying but not impossible crunch, and they’re different from the dry, white, chalky alternatives that usually spring to mind. My favorite is to use them with fresh goat cheese. My kids just like to snack on them. They think banana (plantain) crackers are cool and they’re right. This time of year—with the other items in this installment like the landjaeger and the salsa—you should be able to put together a nice snack for when the evening turns cool and you’d like a crisp glass of wine with which to enjoy it.
Spicy Mango Chutney from Seattle, Washington
Sneak preview for Culinary Adventure Club recipients! This chutney will be available from our catalog and website this fall, so if you fall in love with it, you’ll know where to find more!
Kausar Ahmed was born in Pakistan and has made a name for herself in culinary circles (especially in Seattle) as a chef, stylist and cookbook author (check out The Karachi Kitchen—that’s her most lauded book).
For more than thirty five years Kausar has been cooking and teaching and developing flavors all along the way. It was finally time for her to bring the flavors of Pakistan that she loved to home cooks and kitchens here in the States. Kausar partnered with her daughter, Sadaf and went to work. Sadaf is the lead designer and business developer while her mother keeps working on the recipes and new chutneys, sauces and dips. If you find their Spicy Raosted Garlic Chutney while you’re out shopping, I highly recommend it.
But it’s this spicy chutney that we’re excited about using today! They make it with fresh mangoes that they blend with vinegar and a bevy of spices like cumin and chile powder and fennel and fenugreek just to name a few. It’s certainly sweet, but a little brash with a kick through the fruity sweetness. Great on grilled vegetables, grilled meats, even atop salads or spooned into vinaigrettes.
Landjaeger Salami from Ohio
Na*Kyrsie Meats started up in Geneva in the northwest portion of Ohio nearly a decade ago. The owners, Nate and Kristen (they combined their names to create the company name), are part of the new breed of American charcuterie makers that I’ve had the pleasure to observe over the last twenty years or so. They are young, passionate about making great products and even more passionate about highlighting the incredible quality and work of the farmers and ranchers in their area.
Landjaeger is a classic German salami that’s allowed to ferment before being cold smoked (low temperatures, not over ice or anything) and then dried. It’s a hearty, chewy stick you can take with you on a hike through the woods (or the mall) or as a protein power boost to help you get through your day. When I was in my twenties and more apt to go camping at a moment’s notice, we’d always bring a handful of landjaeger for the car ride and beyond. But they never tasted this good!
This recipe is a blend of beef and pork with caraway seeds and—in Na*Kyrsie’s version—a touch of rum from Ohio distillers 7 Brothers Distilling Co. It adds a bit of earthy depth that seems to hold all the other flavors together without being too boozy.
You can slice into medallions and set out with the salsa and chips as a snack before dinner or with a glass of wine. Or take a stick with you on your morning trek through the neighborhood before the commuters zoom away.
Scamps Toffee Sauce from Pennsylvania
In the village of Ligonier, Pennsylvania sits the Scamps Toffee & Sweets shop. Located in southwestern Pennsylvania and just up the road from Latrobe (where Rolling Rock beer is brewed), the charming shop is colorful, lively, fun, and delicious. That sort of describes Zingerman’s, too, so I felt a kinship to this jar of toffee sauce the moment we tasted it!
Scamps Toffee & Sweets is a bit of a second career for Amy Helper, one of the founders. She’d worked for years in corporate America, helping businesses come up with their look and feel and style while working as a designer in New York City. She was looking for a change of pace and passion, so she used her talents to help get Scamps off the ground and into people’s kitchens. They started out in 2012. The expanded their production in 2019, and now they’re ready to share their confections, chocolates, and sauces with all of us who don’t live in quaint Pennsylvania towns.
Toffee is the kissing cousin of caramel (at least to me) which makes it one of my top go to sweets (I was raised by a caramel lover). Amy and her crew take their normally fabulous toffee recipe and simply add a bit more cream to keep it as a sauce. Butter, sugar, and cream are cooked down till they become a sweet, dark, luscious sauce and then the rest is up to us! Drizzle, spoon, dollop, pour…do all the things you’d do with a caramel or chocolate sauce, except use this butter rich sweet topping instead. I’m partial to “straight from the jar with a spoon” myself.
Ziti Rigate Pasta
Both the marinara sauce and this pasta come from Chef Michael Murray and his small crew working at West Michigan Pasta & Provisions outside Kalamazoo, Michigan. He’s originally from Ann Arbor, though, and grew up with Zingerman’s as a major part of his food education and inspiration. There’s a good chance my early-20s-self might have given a sample of olive oil or a taste of cheese to Michael’s teenage self in the mid-90s, but no specific memories flooded back when we got the chance to sit down and chat a few weeks ago.
Michael was doing a weekly delivery to Detroit of his dried and fresh pastas so it was no problem to hop off I-94 at Ann Arbor as he ping-ponged along the interstate between Kalamazoo and the Motor City. He and his wife moved back to Michigan to be closer to family as they raise their kids. We chatted about our kids in school and coordinating schedules for sports and lessons and all the other things kids get up to nowadays. We reminisced about Zingerman’s Deli “back in the earlier days” and what that was like for a kid like him growing up in a town like Ann Arbor with access to a place like the deli.
It struck me that Michael was a part of the next next generation of producers I’ve had the pleasure to meet in food. Through sheer fortune, I’ve managed to work (basically) the same job for decades now: finding food, meeting the people that make it, sharing their story with our you and our staff. It’s a great job. As you collect these stories, you notice patterns depending on the age of the producer or the type of food they make. In the early 2000s, for instance, a common origin story might be: “I was working a high stress, six figure salary job in (enter high powered job here) and hating it. I learned how to make (type of food here) from old family recipes and my friends couldn’t get enough. I started selling it at farmer’s markets on the weekends, then I started renting space and selling it to local groceries and now I’m ready for the world! Or at least outside Brooklyn.”
The origin stories have been updated in 2024. Instead of old family recipes being resurrected and introduced to a new audience, I’m meeting more and more passionate producers who were raised on good food (thanks to places like Zingerman’s or DiBruno Bros. or Dean & Deluca or Zabar’s or Bi-Rite or—you get the idea) and have longed dreamed of making a specific food for a very specific reason. Happenstance doesn’t seem to play a role these days. Case in point, Michael has been thinking about making pasta ever since he studied abroad in Italy. It was on his mind when he trained to be a chef at the Culinary Institute of America, too, and that was back in 2000.
Michael and his small crew (“mostly parents with kids in school during the day,” he told me) have been producing fresh and dried pasta for nearly seven years now. The growth has been steady, but not gangbusters. “There’s not a big focus on pasta in the west side of the state,” Michael explained, “so I’m building up the demand by educating the chefs and mongers that I meet.” He continued, “if I can get them to try it, they love it, but I wouldn’t say they’re clamoring for high quality pasta exactly.”
Still, as word spreads west to Chicago and east to Detroit, I’m confident folks will get onboard. Like Michael, I’ve had the privilage of traveling to Italy and even visiting pasta makers from around the country. The best ones use bronze dies to extrude their pasta because it gives the noodles a coarser texture than plastic dies, and coarser noodles grab sauce better. Michael uses bronse dies.
The best pasta makers in Italy use the best durum wheat they can find which—funny enough—comes from the plains of Canada and America. Michael uses the same, except he’s even closer to the source and can employ greats grains from the great state of Michigan, too.
And when it comes to drying the pasta, the best makers in Italy take their time, often employing the natural environment and spending days to properly dry, instead of the hours it takes in more industrial productions. Michael utilizes three different drying rooms to dry his different shapes and sizes of noodles. He controls the humidity and keeps the heat low, often taking multiple days to dry them. This ‘low and slow’ process lets the more bready and nutty flavors of the pasta develop and—this might sound funny—but it better captures the terroir of the area. This pasta tastes like the clean, fresh, ingredients its made from as well as the skill that went into making it. That’s its terroir. And it goes great with the sauce, obviously.
San Marzano Tomato Marinara Sauce
When it comes to pasta sauce, there are American versions and Italian versions. I like American versions better (for nostalgic reasons) and I’d venture you might as well. It’s not that one is better than the other, really, it’s just that in Italy they don’t have thick, luscious, rich sauces to cover their noodles. Instead they toss their pasta with thin sauces that lightly cling to the noodles and provide a complex, balanced, lovely experience.
Here in America, we like our pasta sauce (i.e. tomato sauce) thick. When my wife—who grew up learning “the family recipe” from her mother who learned it from her father who ran restaurants and learned it from his Italian mother—makes pasta sauce it takes hours and hours of slow, low cooking and lots of stirring and lots of patience and when we sit down to eat that night it is worth every minute we spent in anticipation.
But that’s not an Italian version, even though the origins are Italian in pedigree. We simply like thick sauce here in America. We like it slightly sweet (but just slightly) and we like it to taste like fresh tomatoes, not bitter like paste. With that in mind, I fell for this sauce hard. First off, I love that it’s a big jar so you can get a few meals out of it without having to be too judicious with your serving size. Second, I love the ingredients. They’re clean, pronouneable, and even Italian! Michael uses real San Marzano DOP tomatoes that he brings in from Italy to make the sauce as well as Italian extra virgin olive oil. It’s wonderfully rich, tomato sweet, and ready for spooning over piles of noodles. Just how we Americans like it.