Txakoli White Wine Vinegar from Spain
Every now and again I include a product that we used to carry but then stopped carrying, but now we have it again for a very short limited run. That’s what we’re talking about with the Txakoli white wine vinegar…I love it, we used to carry it, we couldn’t get it for a while so we moved on, but then we were able to bring it back for a limited run! That’s the situation here: an old friend come back to visit.
Txakoli (pronounced tchuh-KOH-lee) wine is one of my favorites. It’s enjoyed young, has a bright, fresh flavor with small hints of apricot and a dry finish. It’s hard to find outside of Spain’s Basque region, probably because they drink most of it. It’s rarely made into vinegar, so this bottle is about as common as an albino rhinoceros.
The winemakers (and vinegar makers) at Talai Berri winery in Zarautz, nestled on the seaside of Spain’s northern coast, start with a fresh, young Txakoli wine made from hondarribi zuri grapes, the local white grape used for nearly all Txakoli winemaking. They use a traditional method called Shützenbach to slowly convert the wine into vinegar. The resulting vinegar, which they call Ttantta, has a flavor that is light, lovely, lingering. It has a delicately floral aroma. It’s not sweet, and there’s an airiness to it that makes it refreshing.
It’s very nice on simple salads of most any sort. Exceptional with seafood. Use it to deglaze a pan after you sauté fish in it. It’s also super on sardines—open a tin, sprinkle on a bit of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and then some of the Txakoli vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes and eat. Soak up any leftover liquid with bread.
Crunchy Cheese Bites from Bolivia
This snack from Bolivia—called cuñapés—has to be the first product we’ve carried from the not-culinarily-famous country. I’ll check my notes, but I’ve been picking foods for decades and I can’t recall tasting anything like these cheese bites.
Are these the next big food trend in America? Probably not, but we don’t chase trends anyway…just traditionally made products from around the world that are made the right way. So how do you make these cheese bites? With very few ingredients, as it turns out:
You mix tapioca starch with cheese and an egg (baking powder and a splash of milk go in there, too) and then you bake the bites in the oven until they’re crunch on the outside, soft on the inside. I find these bites to be crunchy outside and a bit crunchy on the inside, but no less delicious and one of those snacks you’ll keep popping in your mouth and munching away until they’re gone.
That’s how I would “use” them, too: as a snack. They’re a lot of fun to include on a charcuterie board/cheese tray or put out a small plate in the evening when you’re having a light bite of cheese and some fruit with a glass of wine. That always seems like a nice way to end the day if you ask me.