Culinary News
Category: New Discoveries
Recently Foraged Ingredients: Vol. 5
Even though the weather may be saying summer, the current produce is screaming autumn/fall. Some summer ingredients are still hanging on, such as an abundance of tomatoes and lots of peppers, but summer squashes and stone fruit are fading. Here the items we have found recently from local markets and purveyors: Fresh Beans Fresh Lima Beans …
Recently Foraged Ingredients: Vol. 4
We have a long list of ingredients that we have been collecting over the past weeks. We are transitioning out of summer and quickly moving into autumn as far as produce is concerned. Here are some recent finds: Greens Anise Green Chau Lai/ Wild Amaranth/ Pigweed Red Amaranth Green Italian Agretti Upland Cress Fresh …
Recently Foraged Ingredients: Vol. 3
This edition of recently foraged Ingredients takes us to the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market. This is one of the best markets in the country and a favorite with local Southern California chefs. Chefs scour the market for hard to find ingredients and secure their relationships with the local farmers. Here is what we found …
Recently Foraged Ingredients: Vol. 2
Amongst the bounty of popular summer produce available such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes, and stone fruit, farmers are growing lots of unique heirloom varieties of produce for chefs to experiment with. Here are some of the interesting less common ingredients we have recently found around the San Francisco Bay Area: Herbs and Aromatics: Variegated Sage Purple …
Recently Foraged Ingredients: Vol. 1
It’s always fun to find new, rare, and hard to find ingredients. Always talk with your local farmers, farmers markets, or specialty distributors to see what they have to offer. Here is a round-up of some of the interesting and hard to find ingredients we have found recently: Fresh Guindilla Peppers- Hard to find fresh, …
Artisanal Chocolate
Artisanal chocolatiers are all the rage right now and are worth seeking out. Small batch chocolate producers are sourcing premium cacao beans from exclusive designations all around the world. This chocolate tends to be more expensive and harder to procure then commercially produced chocolate, but the excellent quality makes it worth it. The flavor is …
Sriracha Alternatives
With the politics of the popular condiment Sriracha, it’s time to search for something new. These sauces are great on their own but an example of what they can enhance are marinades, vinaigrettes/ dressings, aïoli, or Crème Fraîche. If you want to explore similar sriracha sauces, here are some alternatives: Sambal- Medium spicy with a great balance …
The Trend Of Sprouting
Sprouting is the traditional practice of drying or dehydrating a legume/grain just until it starts to sprout and before it is fully sprouted. Sprouting softens the grain so you can cut down on the cooking time and increase the nutrient value. If you want to really maximize the nutrients, you can bypass the cooking process …
Get A Taste Of This Flavored Oil
Macadamia Nut Oil is a fairly new flavored oil to hit the shelves. It has been around for a little while but I have noticed it showing up in more places lately. The flavor profile of macadamia nut oil, sometimes called Mac Nut Oil, is intense, nutty and sweet. The oil is cold pressed from …
Introducing…… Preppings
What excites a chef is the freedom of discovering new and unique ingredients. Recipes are much too structured, restricting and stagnant for the creative process, and the chef just wants to invent, resurrect, innovate, create and deconstruct….. not follow. Preppings was designed to help inspire with an extensive database of information that helps the chef …