Local cheese and a not-so-local-salad

I had to try some more local Swedish Bleu (Swedes call their Bleu's Ädel = noble) the single mass-factory-size maker in Sweden that makes these is from enormous Danish-Swedish Arla Foods, Europes largest dairy they use their the Kvibille brand for these. I read somewhere that they won gold in an international competition with their drunken Whiskey variety, (as Best Scandinavian Cheese) so that's why I decided to go for a taste.

Today I was given a task, to use some japanese Hijiki (that's dried seaweed, I learned) in "some kind of meal" sitting by itself in the cupboard. After some googling I found an interesting recipe: Golden Tofu Salad with Carrots and Hijiki. Not a local dish to me in any way. However, I had a task to fulfill. The reason I decided to post about it is twofold: there was no picture of it on recipe site where I found the salad, so I decided to pull out my camera for a shot, it's a beautiful and colorful dish. Second, it tastes wonderful, just as they say on the site.

Golden Tofu Salad with Carrots and Hijiki:

• 3 tablespoons dried hijiki seaweed
• 1 cup water 12 ounces (~300 gr)firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 3 scallions (green onion), sliced thinly,sprinkled with
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt, and pressed lightly

1. In a small saucepan, soak hijiki for 10 minutes.
2. Once rehydrated, simmer the seaweed uncovered for 20 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Meanwhile, drain the tofu and slice the cake horizontally.
5. Place between sheets of paper towels and put on a cutting board with a heavy weight atop the tofu to press away excess water. A cast iron skillet or heavy book is ideal. Drain the tofu for at least 15 minutes.
6. Cut into cubes and brown evenly on all sides using 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
7. Remove from pan and sprinkle with tamari. Set aside to cool.
8. In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, ginger, and salt.
9. Add seaweed, tofu, and veggies.
10. Toss well and allow flavors to 'marry' for at least 30 minutes

Homemade chocolate - fit for a King

I found a small chocolate-shop, Ejes choklad in Stockholm on the street Erik Dahlbergsgatan. A family-operated business that makes chocolate the old fashioned way, no preservatives, no additives and at least 60% cocoa. So I knew I had to have some. I got some truffles, creme, nougat and moca, fantastic to the very last bite. They are also approved as a Royal Purveyor to the Swedish King, so I'm not the only one who likes their treats.

l'll certainly be back for more.

Food faire in Stockholm - Androuet revisited

Androuet was the french cheese seller that caught my attention at the food faire. I just wanted to just jot down a few lines and publish a few more pictures after I got a change to figure out what cheeses I saw, that I haven't had a chance to try - yet. The problem with food faire was that there's perhaps too much available and not that much to opportunity to speak with the purveyors.

In the shot above, I saw cheeses that Androuet was showcasing but it was first when I got home that I got a chance to figure out what cheeses they were. OK, so they were showcasing "chèvres" - unpasteurized goats, for example these ones:

• Chabichou du Poitou - a well known goat cheese in the shape of small pyramid
• Crottin de Chavignol - a famous goat from Loire Valley

• Roves des Garrigues - a dense goat that eats lots of herbs, in particular Thyme. From Provence in southern France
• Sainte-Maure - a goat in a conic cylinder that's slightly taped. Has a straw through the center to hold it together. Greyish, since it's rolled in ash for protection. I don't know if it's the AOC proteced cheese or not.

I do hope I get a chance to go their shop soon, maybe even for a cheese tasting.

My Langres that I bought at the faire seems to have taken over my fridge, with it's smell. I decided to take a picture of before it dissapears. Mistakenly I placed it upside down on the plate, it supposed to be sunken in at the top, so it goes.

Food fair in Stockholm - "Good Cooking"

This weekend including today, a food fair, Det Goda Köket, (sort of "Good Cooking") is going on in Stockholm. Very enjoyable. I had not really planned on bringing home anything tasty, while I was there - who was I trying to kid...

From up north, in Jämtland is saw two small dairy's who cooperate, Oviken Ost and Skärvångens Bymejeri. They make about twenty handmade cheeses each, including quite a few Goats. At the fair they were also offering a taste of some home-made Confiture, a marmalade that very gelatinized, more like sliced than a spread.

Also at the fair was Androuet, a french specialty cheese company that has a boutique in Stockholm. (I kind of stumbled by their store even, on the street Nybrogatan) They specialize in french artisanal cheeses, mostly from unpasteurized milk, french local farmstead cheese. When I saw their gorgeous french cheeses stacked in wooden crates, I could not help myself, I had to have one. One smelly and ripe french Langres AOC-protected cheese from northern France, the Champagne-Ardenne region. A funny looking (it's 'cupped' at the top) soft and creamy with an dark orange rind, quite smelly but with a careful not that strong tangyness, very, VERY enjoyable.

I saw alot of other goodies, quite a bit of Swedish foods too: reindeer salami, local marmalade/ preserves, fresh fish and smoked fish. I'll just round off with another specialty cheese shop in Stockholm, Vasastans Ost, on the street, St. Eriksgatan. They know their cheese. I picked up a small "tasting plate", to bring home. In the bag I got three cheeses and marmalade:

1. a hard Swiss Gruyère réserve, unpasterized cow
2. an Italian Pecorino Sardo which is a hard sheep cheese,
3. a cylindrical goat (a Caprino in Italian), a Bocconcino di Capra Pura from Caseificio dell'Alta Langa in Piemonte, Italy.

The package from Vasastans Ost is made complete with a wonderful Swedish Apple/Tomato marmelade (50% fruit) with a slight touch of Balsamic vinegar from Olof Victors a artisanal bakery that also makes a few other goodies: mustard, chocolates and ice cream. All in all a nice touch: one cow, one goat, one sheep and a high quality marmalade...for not that much money.

Vendace Roe from Northern Sweden (Kalix Löjrom)

Today I had a small feast with a genuine Swedish delicacy, Caviar from the fish Vendace, Coregonus Albula, from northern Sweden. This roe, Kalix Löjrom (fish name in Swedish: Siklöja), sells for an insane 900SEK/ kg. Good thing I didn't need so much. I took a nicely ripe Hass Avocado, (not very local I know..) and plopped some slightly sour Crème Fraiche as a base and topped off the roe with some Dill, a very popular herb in Swedish cuisine. I've figured out that the common swedish sour cream: Gräddfil just isn't soured as much as Crème Fraiche, its too wimpy for my taste. Some drops of lemon juice is also appropriate. This swedish caviar is really delightful, just slightly salty. Rumous says that this caviar is on its to become PDO protected. It's often served mixed together with Crème Fraiche, chopped red onion and served on toast.

Swedes do like caviars: here are some I saw in the store, the Swedish name of the fish in perenthases. These are all less expensive that the Vendace Roe / Löjrom.

• Lumpfish caviar (Stenbit) red or black artificially colorized roe
• Rainbow trout caviar (Regnbåge) - red pinkisk roe
• King salmon caviar (Kungslax) - huge red roe
• Capelin caviar (Lodda, sold as 'Ishavsrom') - white roe

I think I also should mention Swedish Kalles Kaviar, a cheap smoked and salted cod roe paste, commonly served as sandwich topping, very popular... for the kids.

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana

Nice- I found real Mozzarella, made with water buffalo milk, not cow. My 'ball' is from the Francia dairy, Italy's fourth largest Mozzarella maker. After a bit of googling I learned that 'my famous' salad, intermixed slices of cheese, tomato's and sprinkled with Basil is a Caprese Salad, how about that - I never knew that. Also an organic Mozzarella is available from Francia Dairy. Real Mozarella is a DOP cheese (or PDO: Protected Designated Origin), meaning it can only be made in certain regions.

There is also a smoked type of Mozarella available as well, I hope I get a chance to try that soon.

In other news - Berlin. An amateur historian gets credited for rewriting German culinary history.

Herman Erzmann, 75, has found the country's oldest known receipe for Bratwurst. The instructions was written down in Thüringen, some sixhundred years ago. In 1432 sausage makers only used the purest of ingredients, or else if found cheating, would have to pay a full days salary in penalty. See, they don't make them the way they used to, I suppose. (source: Reuters.)

A few cheeses from Sweden and France

A few days ago I did go out and buy a few cheeses, from Sweden and from France, here's just some quick mind notes.

Sweden:

Herrgårdsost. (Manorhouse cheese) The one I recently bought is from the producer, Falbygden, named "Arn", one of the more aged, 18 months. Most typical Herrgård-cheese is mild and to me at least a boring cheese, since its not allowed to age, delivered to stores after 2 to 4 months. My cheese was 119SEK/ kg. But now, after the fact, I learned probably the FINEST ones out there is a 24-month-aged one from Sivan Johansson for 299SEK/ kg. Too bad I didn't know this earlier. I found out about it after this Swedish review of Herrgård cheese from the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter. Back to the Herrgård cheese: I'm told this type of cheese was developed in the nineteenth century, at the manor Marsvinsholm, in an attempt to imitate the successful Emmentaler/ Swiss-cheese. I don't really think it tastes like Emmentaler, well, OK barely. Mine is semi-hard/hard, tangy, sightly nutty and aromatic. It is however really wonderful on Swedish crispbread, but I don't think it's exciting enough for a cheese plate. Perhaps Sivan Johansson's Herrgård 24 month one is. I'll have to go to a cheese specialty store in Stockholm, Vasastans Ost, to buy it one day. She, Sivan Johansson, doesn't actually make the cheese, but rather knows how to pick them out and then let them age properly. She seems provide truly aged variants of many of the typical Swedish hard cheeses: Grevé, Herrgård, Svecia and Prästost and also a low fat cheese, Kadett. Only to mention a few of the more well knowns.

France:

Roquefort - Papillon

This 'King of Cheese' knocked my socks off. So THIS is what a Blue is supposed to taste like. Salty, tangy, creamy and delightful. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by eating it straight out from the fridge, let it reach room temp first, othwerwise the full flavor wont be there. Made with unpasteurized sheep milk and aged some 150 days in famous Cambalou caves. Mine cost 319SEK/ kg. Papillon is from what I can tell one of seven Roquefort producers. I should give a serious honorable meantion to two Swedish artisanal Blue's, one from Jürss and their Sörmlands Ädel (Swedes call their Blue cheeses Ädel, as the brits calls theirs Stilton), a REALLY creamy goodness. The other one is from Skärvångens Bymejeri and their Ädla, a bit harder and drier when compared to Jürss' product, but still good.

France:

Brie de Meux

I read in a review not so long ago about 'real' Brie cheese and Brie de Meux was meantioned. OK, so now I know that I never knew what real Brie tasted like. I thought all that other unflavored, supermild, no flavor factory Brie pie's was it. OK, so I was wrong. To summarize: real Brie is called Brie de Meux, and it's made with unpasteurized cowsmilk (the milk isn't killed by heating it to 72 C.) and has a wonderful nutty, creamy and delightful flavor with a yellowy look. (No bleached white look) Rememer to let it reach room temp before eating, or you'll be wasting your money. Quote: "-Wow! So this is what Brie is supposed to taste like.."

Italian salumi from Falorni

I was on the hunt for some high quality real Italian coldcuts, Salami and Prosciutto. I think I found some great ones from the Italian butcher shop (=Macelleria) Falorni. Absolutely wonderful and tasty. A quick look at the ingredients list seems to indicate it's "all natural". I'll be back for more. The Prosciutto,(dry cured ham) thinly sliced and individually wrapped two and two, so it doesn't get a chance to get spoiled through oxidation. This ham really melts in your mouth, with a delicate sweet flavor.

The store I was at also some of their salamis, I picked the Chianti wine doused salami and a white truffles salami. I liked the classic Chianti wine doused one more, the truffles salami had a complex slight spice that is unusual to my palate. The third salami on offer was with boar. I'll try that next time. Falorni food stuffs seem to be imported by a lady at Italian Food Selections, I think she has a nice career.

Swedish pricing:

• Boar salami 329SEK/ kg
• Chianti salami 329SEK/ kg
• White Truffles salami 399SEK/ kg

Nobody wants Cabbage every day

There's a problem. Sweden is so darn far north that living on local eco-friendly veggies and fruit just won't work for me. Here's a short list of common options for local fresh greens: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion and perhaps some cauliflower. The problem is also that organic choices often look terrible compare to its conventional counterpart in the veggy section. The big well-known organic certified label in Sweden is KRAV (transl: demand or requirement), every so slowly there's more choices available, but still there's a long ways to go.

(I think don't think that people in California get it, how fantastic they have it, really....)

I found a local unhomogenized whole milk, really terrific stuff, from Järna Mejerier with a creamy milky flavor. I'll guess the flavor is still there due to careful, lowish temp pasteurization, 72 C (161.6F) says their web site. It only has six days shelflife. The one liter "Kontiki" package is funky for sure, but alas, it does the job. Empty, it takes virtually no space in the trashbin.

I also had to try one of the local swedish cheeses, Prästost. Translates to Priest's Cheese, in the old days it was the farmers payment/tithe to the priest. This one is known back in history as far as the 16th century apparently, also known as Smålandsost. Sweden is from what I read, one of the worlds largest per-capita consumers of hard cheese, preferrably sliced thin, with a special cheese slicer contraption, available in every single swedish home. (Also common in other Nordic countries). Most typical Swedish factory cheese, including Prästost, doesn't get to age much, so the flavor isn't there. I'm told that Sweden has a good reputation for making hard-ish cheese. The best one of this particular type I've found so far, is called Prästost 1878, aged 18 months, from the maker Falbygden Ost, founded in 1878, hence the branding. Made with pasteurized cows milk, quite grainy, somewhat pungy, small holes, really nice tang, unique flavor. The key is that it's aged. Elsewhere, the standard variety Prästost basically has very, very mild (useless I think) flavor, instead, you have to know what to look for.

Aside from snaps, the traditional Swedish herring table includes a well-aged hard cheese, often eaten on crispbread or perhaps a dark rye bread.

In all honestly, I will be spending more time commenting on the fabulous imported foods from south of me in Europe. Cabbage gets to be only so interesting...

I'm going to list a few of the really well known typical Swedish cheeses that Falbygden promotes as their top of the line versions, in quotes below is their trademarked most-aged variant. That way I'll have something to go on. One more cheese, Västerbotten cheese isn't listed below because it's only made by one single factory in the way-up-north-town of Burträsk.

Herrgård (Falbygden calls theirs "Arn", Emmentaler-like, rich/strong aged 18 months)

Prästost ("1878" aged 18 months, already mentioned, Svecia-like)

Grevé ("Birger Jarl" aged +12 months. Jarlsberg/Emmentaler-ish. Sweden's newest cheese, invented in 1960's)

Brännvinsost a vodka doused Prästost ("Morfars Brännvinsost" aged +12 months)

Svecia ("Viking" aged 18 months. The only European Union "PDO" protected cheese from Sweden. )

Findling local foods in Sweden

In a casual sort of way I mentioned earlier that I'm for now located in Stockholm Sweden. So now I'm slowly trying to get a taste of local artisan/ small-scale foods made here. Sweden being so far up north, with a short season, can't compete with places like California, but still there is a thriving agricultural industry.

I think I've found a Swedish organization that promotes and speaks for local artisan food makers: Eldrimner. Amongst many of their services they also offer a book, an Atlas of sorts, that lists all known producers and where they're located in the country. I'll be sure to order it. It seems to be similar in what Sonoma County Farm Trails aims to do, create public awareness.

The top picture shows the store front of "Källan" (eng: "the source"), a small and discrete retail store in a western suburb of Stockholm, specializing in organic and natural products. The scruffy looking place is very small so unfortunately there's not much space.

I'll simply mention a few noteworthy local products that I found in the shop.

Swedish fresh Goatmilk SEK 39/ liter from Dalsspira Dairy, Dalsland County. Suprisingly similar to cows milk, just a teeny hint of goat. It's actually really good. The dairy also offer some eleven or so goat based cheeses that I haven't tried yet. I'm not sure the shop carried theirs.- A goat yogurt is also planned for 2008. On the goat milk package I can see read: 2.9% fat, low temperature pasteurized, not homogenized. Can be frozen.

The store offered a nice assortement of natural breads, I always have my mind set on hearty pure sourdough rye bread, and I found one that was fantastic, Nibbles rågbröd from Nibbles Bakery, in the town of Järna. That town I think, is basically the Swedish center for all Anthroposophy activities. With regards to agriculture they take it a steps beyond "commerical organic", with biodynamic farming, creating a self-nourishing system and so on. "Being one with planet earth", something like that. But to get back to the bread, it's fantastic, I'm surprised that it's not dry and not the typical solid brick which is often the the case with this type of bread, the short ingredience list: rye flower, starter and sea salt, that's it.

Sweden, being so far north is naturally a huge importer of fresh foods. If I want still want any local fruits this close to winter, then I'll have to stick to simply apples and pears. (Which I'll admit I won't doing) Interesting note is a variety of apples I had never heard of, Ingrid Marie, which I'll guess is a variety created in Denmark.

I did see two local artisan cheeses from two dairies before I left the store, Strömmens Gårdsmejeri, (Strömmens Dairy) , they use sheep milk and the other was, Jämtspira Goat Dairy, Jämtspira also seem to produce, surprise- cheese from moose milk. Definately something I have try, (at least once.) Unfortunately I was not in a buying mood just yet, there's still too many cheeses in the fridge.

Smoked Baltic Herring - yummy?

One of the fabulous old local foods here in Sweden, that I had not eaten in a long time; Alderwood Smoked and carefully brined Baltic Herring. (Clupea Harengus) Oh man, what a wonderful treat this was. The Baltic Herring is not as fat nor as big as the Atlantic version.

I ended up reading some disturbing news about fish from the Baltic Sea: the Baltic is dioxin polluted. So this fish can't be sold into most countries around the Baltic. Sweden and Finland have currently a temporary exemption on this EU-rule. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) So unfortunately I won't be buying Böckling (eng. Buckling) fished from the Baltic Sea from now on.

Finland and Sweden have been given exemption to sell these fish locally, however, the fish must not be exported.

Swedish handmade cheese: Stafva Gårdsmejeri

Well, I finally made it to Sweden, to the capital Stockholm to be more precise. I seem to be off to a good start in finding some new local foods. In a fairly well-stuffed grocery store, Sabis at the mall, Fältöversten I found cheese from a family cow dairy: Stafva Gårdsmejeri, located on Sweden's largest island Gotland. This fifth-generation family farm, the von Corswant's, with their eighty cows, is one of about one hundred small scale dairies in Sweden. They produce three soft-ripened farmstead pasteurized cow milk cheeses: Stafva Vit, white cream, Stafva Blå, blue veined and Stafva Ockra (washed rind). From what I read, they produce about one hundred kilo's worth of cheese per week. Silly of me I only bought a piece of the washed rind Stafva Ockra, price 590 SEK/kg, (that's $41/lb ouch!) a really wonderful creamy, pungenty thing with an orange rind. They themselves refer to this as a Taleggio-type of cheese. Much like a northern California cheese-favorite of mine, Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery. During a few sommer months they also offered a black hard truffel cheese, aged 5-6 months. A batch will be released for christmas they said.

Washed rind cheese is called 'kitt-ost' in Swedish. When I grew up, a ridiculously mild washed rind (barely any flavor) swedish Port Salut was often on the breakfast table, not something I'd buy again.

By the way, by "local" I'm going to mean the whole country, nine million strong, somewhat the size and shape of California. As a reminder to myself: in the near future I'm going to look for a few Swedish cheeses producers: Skärvångens Bymejeri and Oviken Ost, both from the county Jämtland way up north. Stenviks gårdsmejeri from Ljusterö, Jürss mejeri from Flen and maybe Grythyttans Ysteri. A Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter posted a list of quality cheese outlets that I'll try and go to, since I'm (especially) on the hunt for local artisan cheese makers.

A visit to Sebastapol Farmers Market

A wonderful Sunday with a visit to a real farmers market in Sebastapol. If I guessed, perhaps fifteen or so farmers were present. I wished I could had stayed a bit longer and chatted with the farmers, but time flew. Just a few stands that I registered: Clark Summit Farm near Tomales offered organic pastured eggs and took orders of grass fed beef and pigs. Bloomfield Bee Honey offered samples of a variety of honey, I picked up a small jar of raw Blackberry honey, not available in stores, they can't ship in volume, they said.

Redwood empire farms showed off gorgeous, huge heirloom tomatoes, and I had to buy a few. They said the largest they every grew ended up at 3 lb, pretty huge. They offered samples of a sweet yellow watermelon variety, I don't think I ever tasted that before.

Lastly I knew that Golden Nectar Farms would be here, showing of a few of their grapes, and I picked up a bit of Black Muscat. A wonderful change from the run-of-the-mill Thompson Seedless. They grow twenty varieties of grapes, two miles away from our house.

One of the stands (can't remember which one) offered sweet round lemon cucumber that ended up in my salad.

The day continued to Petaluma with a delightful lunch at Water Street Bistro (open for breakfast and lunch) who offered great choices in coffee and organic menu choices, in a casual atmosphere. The day finished at Wholefoods Market where I saw Redwood hill Farms real Goat Feta, unfortunatly it wasn't the best Feta I've had, it had too little salt, too sweet/creamy, and not crumbly enough for my taste.

A great 'italian' in Santa Rosa: LoCoCo's

I had been on a small quest to try and find really terrific Cannoli's, a Italian pastry with creamy ricotta, that I got curious about after watching The Soprano's. After a bit of googling, a place in Santa Rosa, LoCoCo's Cucina Rustica popped up. They seemed to get rave reviews, so I had to check it out. Indeed I think they were right, the best darn Cannoli's I've had. I'll be back. Admittedly I had only had them in three other places before and they were all fairly terrible in comparison. I'm wondering if if the problem is that they had been refrigerated too long, I don't really know. It could be that this pastry has to be REALLY fresh to be good, and no other place actually made them in house, but these guys do though.

I had simple and great Calamari Fritti (fried calamari) as a starter, Pollo Milanese (chicken breast in a wine sauce) as a main course, and the Cannoli with an Espresso as a wonderful finale.

Before I forget to mention it: as we got seated, we were served sourdough bread with a homemade wonderful tapenade-type spread with chopped olives, olive oil and I think it had some walnuts. Too bad I couldn't buy it, it was terrific.

You can find this restaurant by the old railroad square in Santa Rosa. It's a fine Italian establishment for sure. Be sure to try the Cannoli.

A salumi tasting session

I decided to pick up some salumi (cold cuts) before I leave California to see which I preferred. On the picture above are four salumi's lined up, that I just picked up at Whole Foods in Sonoma. From left to right, 5 points to the highest, 1 point the lowest score. They were honestly all really great, I almost hate to compare.

• Fra'Mani - Salametto approx $10.99/lb (2" diam) 4 points
• Fra'Mani - Salame Nostrano $19.99/lb (3" diam) 5 points
• Columbus Artisan - Finocchiona $11.49/lb (4" diam) 3.5 points
• Fra'Mani - Mortadella $10.99/lb 3.5 points

I already had the nicely flavored Salametto in the fridge, but now I had the Salame Nostrano to compare. The Nostrano is more full flavored and sweeter I think. I stumbled on the huge diameter Columbus Finocchiona, and it has an interesting taste with fennel seeds, and perhaps a bit richer with its coarse ground pork. Finally the classic Mortadella without pistachio, is absolutely delightful and mild, nothing wrong here, except I got paper thin, too thin, slices cut by the store.

Afterwards I discover that the most expensive-per-pound salumi wins, I guess sometimes the expression, "you get what you pay for" works..

El Dorado Kitchen revisited

I had a sneaky suspicion that El Dorado Kitchen was something really special, so today I was back for a proper dinner...oh man, was it worth it.

Cocktail: Raspberry cosmo charbay raspberry vodka, fresh lime juice, muddled fresh rasberries $9

Starter: Oak hill farm mixed greens mission figs, candied walnuts, la bodega sherry vinaigrette $9

Entree: Sturgeon from the Colombia river on a bed of creamy polenta, fennel and a hog-broth I think. $26 This was a special item not on the menu.

Come to find out- the executive chef, Ryan Fancher was sous chef (second in command) at Napa's French Laundry, the only three star Guide Michelin restaurant on the west coast, now running his own show here. On the way out I saw that "EDK" also had their own Michelin recommendation on the wall. So it wasn't just me who really liked this place.

This was a very enjoyable evening.

Olives, got EVOO?

Olives and olive oil is big business. The three biggest producers being Spain, Italy and Greece. The fierce competition can bring about the worst of human behavior, according to this New Yorker article.

I didn't know that EVOO is now in the Oxford American College Dictionary: Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I got curious when the acronym showed up on the grocery receipt.

Since I have a partial Greek background, and having wholeheartedly enjoyed Greek olives, I decided to be on the lookout for Greek olive varieties in California. I'll admit to being biased. Come to find out it's not easy to find in a place where ancestors from Spain and Italy sets the olive standard.

The cultivation of olive trees in the United States is centered mainly in California, the monk Junipero Serra introduced it in the middle of the 18th century during the founding of the Franciscan missions. The Manzanilla table olive and the Mission variety are some that seem popular for California olive oil. There are some three hundred small artisan olive oil growers and producers in California. The biggest packer of olives in the United States (and second largest in the world) is also based here, Lindsay Olive Co.

For Greek table olives, the standard is the big and black Kalamata olive, and for the very best in greek style olive oil it's the smaller but high oil-yielding Koroneiki olive that is king. It seems to be slowly growing in popularity in California.

The people behind the Olive Press in Sonoma, (Sonoma county's first olive mill) seem to offer a California Koroneiki oil, I would really like to visit them.

Not a local olive oil, but still interesting- I found a Greek dermatologist, Dr. Panagotacos, here in San Francisco, decided not to grow Koroneiki here but rather in his ancestral land on the island of Crete, and sell his Lykovouno brand here in the Bay area. Perhaps I've driven past his olive groves on my visits to Crete...

Here are some links on the subject:

• My current olive oil: McEvoy Ranch -popular flavored oils
• A definitive guide on U.S. olive oil, Oliveoilsource
• "How to taste olive oil" (on 101 cookbooks) -a fun read
  

Roaming around town

Today I just felt like "spying" around the town, the western side to be more precise, an area with fewer roads. No sprawling suburbia. This is where there's lots of farms and ranches. Driving only a few minutes away from our house I saw cattle, goats, chickens and lots of grapevines, how about that. Admittedly I kind of knew that, but I had never given it much thought. Above is a snapshot I took earlier today right beside the road, pretty much right next door to a regular subdivision.

Next to some unused railroad tracks, with a small creek going by, is a long wonderful stretch of wild Blackberry bushes that were until recently big, sweet and ripe. But now they have really shriveled up. (The season is now over, according to my "What's In Season-listing) The berries have been very enjoyable with plain whole milk yogurt. Wikipedia seems to hint that they could perhaps be black Raspberry's? I can't be sure.

The eating local challenge

For the heck of it I took a picture of our lonely Cherry tomato plant that's growing in the back of the house. It keeps loosing its red, ripe fruits finding its way to the salad. We also have a Satsuma Mandarin plant, but it won't be in ripe until later in the winter, I'll just have to be patient.

Today in the local paper was a listing of What's in Season, a hint on what's available when heading down to one of the local Farmers Markets. There's one in just about every town around here. Come to find out, there has been a total explosion of farmers markets:

In 1977, California had four farmers' markets. Today, experts estimate there are nearly 500 (numbers vary depending on the definition of farmers' market), with close to 100 in the Bay Area.

What's in Season -

First in season: Apples, Asian pears, winter squash.

Peak of season: Arugula, basil, carrots, chard, cherry tomato, cilantro, collards, cucumbers, fennel, green onions, green and yellow beans, kale, leaf lettuce, parsley, peppers, radishes, red onions, spinach, summer squash and heirloom tomatoes.

End of season: Blackberries, blueberries, celery, garlic, lemons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, corn.

Year-round: Almonds, bacon, butter, cheese, dried fruit, eggs, fish, goat cheese, honey, mustard, olive oil, oysters, perennials, sausage, walnuts and cut flowers.

With a little luck, I'll head to Sebastapol Farmers Market, I hope to find Golden Nectar Farm there, they are really close to our home. I stumbled on a nice article about them the other day. I suppose its part of my eating local challenge. I found a funny blog, Food on Food, someone trying hard to take that food challenge, somewhere in New England.

Lastly, I'll just mention that the east coast's Natural Products Expo just started, a big trade show about quality foods, in Baltimore, Maryland. I think some friends of ours in the foods business are there, it would have been interesting to check out.

A trip along Tomales Bay on Highway 1

Today was a fabulous and warm fall day. I got a chance to check out a part of the nearby Pacific coast I had never been to before, just an hour north of San Francisco. Driving south on 101 we exited the freeway by Petaluma and started driving southwest towards the coast, aiming for the town Pt Reyes Station. Really gorgeous scenery on the way, passing McEvoy olive ranch. I'd soon get a nice break at Marin French Cheese Factory. It's a perfect spot for a picnic and they offer a barbecuing area, including a small scenic duck pond as a backdrop. In the back of the shop you can even see them making and package the cheese. Naturally I had to pick up some of their soft-ripened goodies: a Schloss, a garlic version of the Quark-spread, Marin French Blue and Camembert, I excluded the Brie, the girls in the shop said the Cam has more flavor, fine then, into the cooler they go.

The shop had a lot of other goodies and I didn't stop there: the nearby O'Neill Family makes local 100% pure raw honey, I wanted some for my Straus Whole Milk Yogurt. I also saw P.G. Molinari's Salametti Secchi and Dry Salame I hadn't tried it yet. The dry and sweet Secchi is my clear favorite of the two. This is turning out to be a crazy trip, I haven't gotten anywhere and the cooler in the back of the Highlander is already getting crowded...

My next stop was Tomales Bay Foods, a Cowgirl Creamery barn-like shop in the tiny town Pt Reyes Station, at the base of the Tomales Bay. Cowgirl makes all cheeses from organic milk shipped from the Straus Family Creamery in Marshall 10 miles to the north. It was lunch-time so in the deli I picked up a ready-to-go sandwich, "Ham & Tam" containing Niman Ranch Ham, Cowgirl Mt Tam, Frisée and Dijon mustard: $7.75. For a dessert I had an organic Straus Vanilla Ice Cream, nice. It was a given I'd pick up some of their cheeses on the way out: Pierce Pt, Mt Tam (about $22/lb) and a brand new tiny cheese, Inverness, $3.50 not available in any stores. Made with lactic curd, aged 3 weeks, dense and tangy. A cute knowledgeable girl behind the counter was happy to offer samples. The shop was full of other artisan cheeses from close and far away, no factory-made cheeses anywhere. If you want salami, they offer Berkeley's Fra'Mani's, not bad. They also had locally hand-made bread by a danish woman, Anna's Daughter's Rye Bread, from Marshall, the next waterhole north on highway 1, it's was perhaps too juicy and doughy for my taste, but the rest of the family loved it.

The trip went back slightly to catch up again with highway 1 towards Marshall, since I knew that Tomales Bay is the center for northern California oyster farms, the next stop was Tomales Bay Oyster Company. It was quite easy to spot, a long white picket fence and large sign. Since we showed up in the middle of the week, there were few tourists around so the manager on site, Paco, (on the picture), gave us a private view behind the gated area. The Pacific Oysters live in the bay, and these guys sell them by the pound. I sure wanted to try some, but rather in a restaurant of some sort.

The one store that was open along the route and being just superb for a sampling of fresh local Oysters was the Marshall Store. I think most restaurants are only open during the weekends, except for this one. Scruffy looking, but there was nothing wrong with the super fresh oysters. I took a mixed plate with Barbecue and Rockefeller, $10, skipping the raw ones. Great stuff. Right next door they offered kayaking inside the calm Tomales Bay, but that's not for me.

The next and last stop was Dillon Beach, the place where you can look west across the Tomales Bay and see Tomales Point the last northern tip of the triangular Point Reyes National Seashore area. (The top picture)

Now I was done, it was time to head north east, pass the small town of Valley Ford, (unfortunately no time for the interesting restaurant Rocker Oysterfellers) and connect with the 101 freeway and get back home. I can wholeheartedly recommend all of these places for a visit.

A quick and cheesy trip

I just wanted to jot down a few lines about my earlier trip to Sonoma, a visit to Vella Cheese Company. The family-favorite is the really sharp, two year aged and intense, Raw Milk Cheddar. I know we have brought several pounds to friends in Sweden through the years and it's always a "hit". I had visited Vella Cheese factory in the past, but I think I payed alot more attention this time around. I also picked up his soft, mild and creamy Toma.

I knew he carried Laura Chenel's Chevre, (Chevre means goat cheese to us normal people) I knew I had to try it after reading about her. It had a slight goat tangyness and carefully salty. I love it.

Ms Laura Chenel is a cheese maker who has popularized goat cheese in America. In 1979, she developed the American Chevre goat cheese. Hands-down the most commercially successful gourmet goat-cheese venture in the country.

In the Vella fridge display case, it was easy to spot Vellas famous Sonoma Dry Jack Cheese. We got to sample it, it was mild and dry, but I had my mind set on other cheeses at the moment. An 18 month aged, imported Grana Padano, (parmesan-like), for grating, had to be eaten first.

An honorable mention (picture was taken a few days later at Tomales Bay Foods) goes to a smelly, salty and tangy Blue cheese, from Point Reyes Cheese Company. This what I gather their specialty and they got this right. A so called farmstead cheese maker, with their own cows, sitting next door in Marin County.

Buon Gusto!