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!