La Vecchia Dispensa 100-YR Balsamic
In our store, people often ask if we have ever tasted this amazing 100-year-old balsamic vinegar.
Well, I have, thanks to the wonderful generosity of a customer who bought our very first bottle. He cracked it open right then and there at the counter and shared a drop! It was unlike anything else.
A 100-year-aged balsamic vinegar is a rare find these days. It becomes as dense as molasses, with a fragrance and flavor that are deep and heady think of a 40-year-old Tawny Port, and you're just scratching the surface. Imagine richness as intense as dark caramel, raisins, and a whole host of complex secondary notes.
This special 100-year aged balsamic vinegar is bottled for us in very small quantities, and is limited to quantities on hand.
Shipping included
Panettone makes the most fabulous, exponentially delicious bread pudding!
Taking any good panettone and breaking it up is all you need to make a fabulous Bread pudding. This is so delicious when it is fresh out of the oven! And warm it up a day later and it still fabulous!
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Lakrids by Johan Bülow
On 07.07.07 (an auspicious day!) the first Lakrids by Johan Bülow shop...
Trappist Abbey Monks Fruitcake
Fruitcake
The Brethren (Monks) of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon make an outstanding brandy-soaked fruitcake dark, dense, and loaded with fruit and nuts.
The monks replace the typical maraschino cherries and green citron with raisins, candied pineapple, and candied cherries.
Baked for almost three hours, the Trappist Monk fruitcakes are then soaked in fine brandy. Most of the alcohol evaporates and the rich brandy flavor is absorbed.
The monastery fruitcakes are then aged for three months to develop the flavor, a unique balance of the sweet fruits and moist walnuts and pecans with a pleasant finish of spices and brandy.
Trappist Abbey fruitcake will make believers out of even the most ardent fruitcake skeptics.
Italian Pasta
We love our pasta choices
The history of noodles and pasta is fascinating and intertwined with the development of various cultures across the world. Noodles, in their earliest form, date back over 4,000 years and are believed to have originated in China.
Meanwhile, in Italy, pasta has a more complex and somewhat debated history. It's often said that pasta was introduced to Italy by the Arabs during their conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, where they brought with them dried pasta in the form of itrya, a type of noodle.
However, there are references to pasta-like dishes in ancient Roman times, with lagane, a flat, wide dough, mentioned in texts. This suggests that the concept of pasta may have already existed in the Roman Empire, but it wasn’t until much later, in the Middle Ages, that it began to resemble modern pasta.
By the 12th century, pasta as we know it—made from durum wheat and water, then dried to preserve it—started gaining popularity in southern Italy, particularly in Sicily and Naples.
Incredible flavors
Chocolat Moderne
Behind the door is Chocolat Moderne, it is not what I expected, though I am not sure what that was.
When you first walk in, you see an L-shaped partition set up, and are greeted by the smell of chocolate!
There are trays upon trays of of freshly made chocolate as far as your eye can see. You are in the place that the chocolate is made!
This is the fun part of being in food!
Meeting Joan was wonderful. Seeing and hearing Joan talk about her flavors and her chocolate brings excitement and enthusiasm in yourself. It compels you to want to try the things for what she speaks. You expect great flavors, interesting taste, and when you do pop a bonbon in you get all of this and more.
She radiates the passion for the chocolate for which she makes!
Joan described the flavors and how they come together, what she looks for and how she experiments and comes up with flavors that share the essence of her vision. It is way, way cool!
Back-in Stock ChefShop Cocoa Powder
And NEW!
New! We have spent the last 2 years looking and testing for a new ChefShop cocoa powder to replace our original recipe and venerable favorite which is no longer available.
This Deep Dark Dutch-processed dark unsweetened cocoa powder is in a class unto itself. We have removed less fat from our cocoa (22-24% fat content), which results in a more intense and immediate chocolate flavor.
This "service pack" of ChefShop cocoa powder is designed for commercial users like baristas, bakers, and gelato makers. It is sealed in a thick zip-lock style bag for production baking with a Plain Jane label. Like many of the foods and ingredients that go to the back of the house, the contents are more important than being pretty.
And price relative to quantity is also a crucial
It's baking season!
Chocolate for Baking
Chocolate for baking! From desserts to a handful, organic baking chocolate is an essential pantry item to always have on hand. It's also a great place to hide your favorite chocolate in plain sight. "Disks" are perfect for melting (and eating by the handful)
Recipes we use
See our recipe box here
We have been collecting recipes for over 25 years from Chefs' and cookbooks to share with you.
Find the baking ingredients you need here
Baking Ingredients
From high cocoa butter content couverture chocolates (like Valhrona and Felchlin) and Cocoa Powders, to extracts Ginger, Lime, Orange, Lemon and Chocolate, organically-grown vanilla products extracts, paste and powder, specialty sugars, hard-to-find flours, and baking ingredients from professional kitchens.
Chef Brady Williams
Chef Brady Ishiwata Williams is a James Beard Award–winning chef whose culinary style blends Japanese-American heritage with hyper-local, seasonal Northwest ingredients... at TOMO in Seattle - click here to read more about the Chef.
