La Tourangelle Roasted Hazelnut Oil - 8.5 oz (250 ml) tin
La Tourangelle is the first oil mill in California to produce roasted hazelnut oil using traditional French methods and locally harvested hazelnuts. After harvesting, the nuts are washed, sorted, sun-dried for several days and stored for further drying. The nuts are then ground and roasted in cast-iron kettles. The resulting warm paste is pressed in a hydraulic press. Following mechanical extraction, the oil is lightly filtered and bottled. The oil has intense hazelnut flavors and a luxurious, dark rich color.
This oil adds a rich roasted nut flavor to salads, grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, and acorn soup. A perfect topper to hazelnut tart a-la-mode.
About the Producer - La Tourangelle
Abraham Lincoln had yet to be elected president when Mr. Morillon and Mr. Bechet founded a small animal-powered oil mill in the idyllic French town of Saumur. Over the next century and a half, La Tourangelle refined their production processes and adopted appropriate technologies without ever compromising the artisan tradition.
The production of gourmet oils is a time-honored tradition in France. Originally, each village had a mill which roasted and extracted the oil from nuts gathered by local farmers. These flavorful oils were used in hearty rustic fare but could also be found in the finest Parisian restaurants. La Tourangelle is one of just a handful of these remaining mills that keep this tradition alive.
Demand for gourmet oils in France has remained fairly constant but pressures to modernize distribution channels and a growing demand for quality nut oils in the US sent 24 years old Matthieu Kohlmeyer to California's Bay Area to recreate his family's French artisan oil mill. He now mills locally gorwn nuts and seeds closer to both the source and the customers. The process involved custom fabricating century-old equipment and bringing an oil roasting artisan from France to train the American staff.
The new oil mill, located in Woodland, California, is currently producing oil from nuts picked on the orchard next door. The oil artisans painstakingly selects nuts of the highest quality and lets them sun dry to preserve their natural flavors. They then hand roast the nuts in cast iron pots, followed by a decantation process, cold-pressing and finally a light filtering. The result is an oil with elegant natural flavors, and a clearly discernible difference in quality from what is generally found in America.