Our Favorite Foody Things
Every year, we pull together some of our favorite foodie things – the best victuals, spices, sauces, beverages – for your dining Pleasure. If you haven’t tasted or tried these exemplary products, you are in for a treat, with some flavor experiences that will keep you begging for more.
Lambda Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the finest olive oil to come out of Crete, the Greek island known for producing superior olive oil. Lambda is a limited-production unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, made solely from Koroneiki variety olives and known for its extremely low acidity and its intensely fruity flavor, balanced with medium peppery notes. An exclusive method of pressing is used for Lambda olive oil, so the olives are pressed the very same day as they are picked. The maximum allowed time between picking and pressing is ten hours, which helps the oil to retain its flavor better than conventional pressing. $50.
Fra’Mani Meats
These incredible Fra’Mani salami are handcrafted in Berkeley, CA, using pork sourced from family farmers who raise hogs without antibiotics, artificial growth
hormones, or other growth-producing agents, resulting in a high-quality product reminiscent of the best salumis from Italy. And nitrates are never added. Try the Salame Gentile, a coarsely ground traditional dry salame with hints of garlic and wine, or the heavenly Salametto Piccante, a brick-red spicy dry chorizo with a smoky flavor. Fra’Mani also makes cooked salumi like Mortadella and Salame Rosa, as well as fresh sausages; you may have tried these exemplary products on charcuterie platters at Bouchon, Ford’s Filling Station, or A.O.C.
$70-$150.
Available at Whole Foods or at www.framani.com.
Ciao Bella Sorbet and Gelato
There’s nothing like the burst of flavor that your first spoonful of Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet causes on your taste buds. It’s so good, it keeps winning big awards; and Oprah calls it one of her Favorite Things. Handmade from blood orange juice imported directly from Sicily, it is a fabulously flavorful, vibrantly reddish orange sorbet – and it has just 100
calories per half cup. All Ciao Bella’s sorbets are fat free, yet filled with incredible flavors; make sure to try the Banana Mango, the Raspberry, and the Blackberry Cabernet. Their Gelato is more decadent, but worth falling off the diet wagon for now and then. Put Chocolate Hazelnut, Fresh Mint with Chocolate Chip, Espresso, and Bourbon Pecan on your must-try list. $4.99 per pint.
Available at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, or at www.ciaobella.com.
