The Summer Romance of Camping Foods from ChefShop

Winter romance has this wonderful warm feeling of hot chocolate and 3 marshmallows… 2 is not enough, 4 is too many.

A spring romance is all about breakfast, bacon and eggs with a pile of pancakes and the best maple syrup.

Summer? Well, it is different for sure. Summer romance has so many options as long as it involves camping, corn on the cob cooked in the coals, smoking proteins in the smoker, or simple chicken marinades on the grill. Trouble is, good meat is exciting but not the best way to keep and win a heart. And, realistically, camping is not for everyone.

Summer is special, though — the days are hot, the nights are cool, and romance is swinging! On the porch, that is, in a two-person swing.

Even if you are camping at home or know someone who is, making simple comfort foods sure do fill a void and help keep the brain happy! Hot dogs, really sausages of any kind, are a great reprieve from making dinner! Boil, fry or cook over the fire, they are super easy and can be cooked with zero to full attention. (Sometimes the act of turning a dog on the grill is a blissful event.)

And the counterpart to a dog is the hamburger. It takes a little more planning when camping and, unless you freeze the patties — then you need to be more aware of food safety — they are still easy to cook and bring a unique feeling of freshness. Though it is not the dog or the burger that brings the memories as far as I am concerned, it is the condiments!

Nothing like a good bun to contain the ketchup and mustard, pickled sweet relish, pickles, mayonnaise, oatmeal, onions, black garlic, hard-boiled eggs, yuzu kosho, harissa, orange marmalade, apricot cranberry spicy chutney, pesto and more miso!

Camping is all about the food you make over an open fire! Every dish you meat is a memory-maker!

Avgolemono is a traditional Greek sauce and soup made by whisking egg yolks and fresh lemon juice with hot broth, then heating the mixture until it thickens into a rich, velvety emulsion. It is most commonly used as the base for a comforting chicken and rice soup.

These are perfection. RV camping or tent camping or fireplace camping at home. Easy to make from microwave to stove top to boiling in the pouch it takes just a few minutes.

And the result is way better than you expect. Always! This is why it is so perfect for Glamping!

It takes almost no time at all to make, so finding time wasn't necessary. You can microwave for 2 minutes or boil for 4 minutes, open into a bowl and eat. That's it. I chose boiling, not only because I wanted to see how the pouch whithstands the process, but also because my very tiny microwave is too short to allow the pouch to stand up.

This is one of the very best treats that is delicious and it filled with flavor that is perfect!

This is Mehdi's family recipe from Casablanca. Smooth with texture, just right! Use on everything!

Harissa is not one of those condiments that has only one authentic recipe. In fact, from town to town, region to region, it can vary from a little to a lot. From texture to ingredients, and from how hot or not so much. Of all the ones we have tried this is the very best!

Here, in this jar, is Mehdi's mom's recipe. Authentic to his family, Mehdi strived to recreate Moroccan Harissa as if it was made at home in his kitchen growing up.

After three years of development and many trials and tribulations it has now arrived. Made in small batches every week or so for the local chefs, we benefit with small shipments as well, bring you freshly ground ingredients

The finest ingredients from around the world, freshly ground and combined make one of the freshest products we carry. It has the feeling of smooth heat and all the attention to detail that makes this Moroccan condiment a treat!

These are good! I tested a whole package in one sitting just to be sure.

The trick to making any almond great after it has been covered in chocolate (or other sweetness) is to first start with a great almond! Next cover the almond in a sugar shell (caramelizing) so that the almond doesn't get soft and retains its naturally crunchy bite.

Handful ready, Valencia almonds from Spain are some of the sweetest almonds in the world, and when you top them with a sweet sugary coating you have one of the best treats to eat, one by one or by the handful!

As you know, wild almonds are bitter, even toxic, and when consumed in even small quantities can be fatal! Domesticated almonds however are not. Even before grafting, domesticated almonds could be as old as the Early Bronze Age (3000-2000 BC). Even King Tut had a few in his tomb.

The natural process of selection of almond trees by the human species unintentionally and then intentionally in almond orchards brings us the sweet almond of today.

Valencia almonds, with its flatter, more pointy tip, make it one of the distinct shapes in the almond world. And when specifically from Spain, these are some of the sweetest grown. Out of the top ten largest producers of almonds in the world, second behind California, Spain produces about 9% of the world’s total.

In most pestos, although olive oil is the main ingredient, the flavor is derived mostly from the nuts. In this case, hazelnuts. For more hazelnut flavor, you can add a few drops of hazelnut oil. Nut pestos are common in the parts of Italy where nuts are grown, mainly in the north, and in Sicily.

This pesto is great on pasta—especially Trofie. (Use about 3/4 cup for 1 pound of pasta—thin the pesto with some of the pasta cooking water if you like.) It is also good on grilled fish and meats, vegetables, and especially vegetable-based soups.

There isn't a marmalade I haven't liked, and there have been so many I have loved in my life.

One of the best things about marmalade, beyond the flavor, is the rind. The sharp bitterness contrasts with the sweetness of the jelly, which is what I like best. You get a chew that is solid and toothsome.

Sometimes, in a marmalade, a robust chunk has an appeal, like when a marmalade is paired with a succulent pork chop and mashed potatoes.

And sometimes, those big chunks just don't match the delicate pinky finger that is required when chowing down on an English muffin.

And this is where this YUZU marmalade excels. These mandolin-thin, delicate pieces are easy to chew, all the while imparting the bite of flavor one craves in anticipation you get from a citrus like this. If citrus candy came in a jar, this would be at every end-aisle display and register.

You get this wonderful citrus flavor that doesn't overwhelm and yet has enough gumption to stand up to an excellent slab of butter. The jelly, enrobing the peels nicely, carries the Yuzu nuances with just the right amount of contrasting sweetness.

And don't get wrapped up or embroiled with toast or muffins; this little jar and each careful slice are garnishes to consider for your next tray of bonbons or finger pastries.

Or you can eat it all with a tiny spoon in no time...

What's Happening in the Store Next

Did you know the store often has more?

Come, taste and check it out! Pick your favorite and meet friends new and old who all love food. We love it when you hang out!

See the Event list HERE for 2026
Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm
ChefShop Retail Shop, 1425 Elliott Ave West, Seattle

If you know Drolo then you love Volo. The same cookie, just different. Almond instead of Hazelnut.

These cookies can be almost chewy and crunchy if you leave them out. Either way they are awesome! I eat these as often as I can! Get your daily requirement of nuts and cocoa in one bite.

There is not way to explain how amazing these are in the morning with a good cup of breakfast tea. Delicate enough for tea, robust enough to eat all the time!

Worcester - Wuster or Wooster Shire is sure, like New Hampshire (new hamp sure, in case you didn't know)

Col Pabst All Malt Amber-Lager Worcestershire made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is better. Way better!

Starting with fresh Milwaukee Amber Lager and then blending in 21 all-natural ingredients along with Tamarind and Anchovies, Col Pabst adds Grenadine, Ginger and Madras Curry. Aged in small batches this Worcestershire sauce is more like a fine balsamic than an ingredient.

To the nose it has a sweet hint of anchovy fish sauce, with twists and turns that are hard to identify. It twinkles in the nostrils and is very enticing.

To the mouth the sauce has a saltiness, a sweetness and this wonderful complex flavor that rolls around, begging you to taste a little more. You can sip this and sip some more. It is pretty gosh darn good!

Edmond Fallot is a family-owned mustard house in Beaune, in the heart of Burgundy, with roots stretching back to 1840.

Today the company is run by Marc Désarménien, grandson of Edmond Fallot, and remains one of the last independent, family-owned mustard mills in Burgundy. With around twenty employees, it's a rarity in an industry now dominated by large-scale production.

Fallot has also helped revive mustard seed cultivation in Burgundy, working closely with French growers to rebuild a regional crop that had largely disappeared.

What sets Fallot apart technically is its continued use of stone-ground milling.

The mustard seeds are crushed between flint millstones rather than modern steel grinders, a slower process that keeps the seeds from overheating during grinding.

That matters because heat degrades the volatile compounds responsible for mustard's sharp, pungent character — so the stone-ground method preserves more of the seed's natural bite and complexity than the modernization of industrial commercial production.

The Moutarde à la Provençale itself reflects a sunnier, more southern take on the classic Dijon base.

It's built around red peppers, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, along with paprika and a touch of turmeric, giving it a warm, orange hue rather than the pale beige-yellow of standard Dijon.

The flavor leans more towards a roasted bell pepper and garlic, with a faint tomato-like sweetness underneath the mustard's characteristic heat — more savory and rounded than sharp.

It's particularly happy to be paired with grilled meats, fish, and dishes cooked en papillote, where its flavors can bloom into the dish as it steams.

Black pepper is bold, complex, and aromatic. The outer skin contains piperine plus earthy, piney, floral compounds (like the terpene sabinene). It has a sharp, lingering heat with a slightly fruity, woody character. What you smell when you crack fresh black pepper is largely those volatile oils in the skin.

The term "Tellicherry" originated when these large, black peppercorns were exported from the Indian port city of the same name.

These Tellicherry peppercorns are pungent, with the deepest, hottest flavor you'll ever find! Once traded, ounce for ounce, for pure gold, these Indian black peppercorns are still a superlative spice that can add a depth of flavor - first heat, then a tinge of sweetness - to your everyday meals.

Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding up the work of browning enzymes during drying.

The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn.

In general, the later the pepper is picked, the better its flavor maximizing the taste of the Tellicherry peppercorns. However, waiting too long to pick is a gamble too; ripe pepper fruits will rot if left too long, and there is also an increased risk of loss to hungry birds or unfavorable weather.

Picking black Tellicherry pepper at just the right moment involves keen judgment and results in Indian black peppercorns with truly excellent flavor.

Linguini, which means "little tongues" in Italian, is a type of pasta that originates from the Liguria region in northern Italy, particularly associated with the coastal city of Genoa.

The shape itself is a variation of traditional pasta shapes, resembling flattened spaghetti, but wider and often thicker. The word "linguini" comes from the Latin lingua, meaning "tongue," likely referring to the shape's long, narrow, and flat appearance.

Some other pastas and their meanings include spaghetti ("little strings"), fettuccine ("little ribbons"), penne ("little quills"), orzo ("barley"), farfalle ("butterflies"), vermicelli ("little worms"), capellini ("little hairs"), fusilli ("little spindles"), and radiatori ("little radiators”).

Pasta is believed to have been introduced to Italy through trade routes from the Arab world in the Middle Ages.

Light and Flavorful!

Professional pastry chefs are using ChefShop Grande Brut because it does several things well at once: deep flavor, smooth texture, rich color, easy blending, low acidity, and real versatility across applications. It is a many-trick cocoa powder.

We stock it now because after working with it ourselves, we found it spectacular! It makes a giant difference!

ChefShop Grande Brut contains 22% to 24% cocoa butter. That is significantly higher than most cocoa powders on the market, and it is one of the main reasons we chose it. That extra cocoa butter is not a minor detail. It changes how the cocoa tastes, how it blends, and what your finished desserts actually feel like.

Most people focus on cocoa percentage (and with cocoa powder it is always 100% as it has no sugar) and overlook fat content entirely. It is the balance between cocoa mass and cocoa butter that matters. Cocoa butter is the natural fat in the cacao bean, and it shapes everything about how cocoa performs in a recipe.
Shop now for ChefShop Grande Brut Cocoa Powder here!