In This Installment:
Summer Corn Salsa Recipe
Sparkling Cherry Lime Jam
The seeds for RedCamper were planted in Denver back in 2004 when Maura Gramzinski inherited a treasure trove of 35mm travel slides from her grandparents. “They loved to travel and were a huge influence on me,” Maura said. “I loved their sense of adventure and the general way in which they lived their lives.”
“I wanted to do something with the extra slides, so I made a hand bag out of them.” She continued. “The bag got a lot of attention and I started selling the bags. I loved doing it, so I quit my marketing job and started a hand bag business.”
That evolved into laptop bags made out of reused materials (you can only find so many travel slides). “Then I started making greeting cards out of cool, old images I would find and I’d put jokes on them.”
How does one go from marketing to hand bags to greeting cards to jam? After talking with Maura, it was obvious that she’s an adventurous person. She’s up for new challenges and lets life take her where it will.
“RedCamper comes from the notion of travel and family and exploration.” Maura mused. “My parents were total hippies and I grew up traveling around in a pick up truck pulling a red camper. We traveled through Central America that way. We camped a lot around orchards when I was young so fresh fruit seemed to always be around. We’d stop at every roadside stand we came across and buy whatever they were selling. RedCamper Deliciousness is like those memories…it’s a flavor trip!”
Now, 22 years after Maura inherited those slides, she’s still at it. I got the chance to reconnect with her at the Fancy Food Show in San Diego this past January. She’s still making great jam and coming up with new flavors. That’s where I found this one. The sparkling cherry lime jam with a bit of Prosecco is one of the freshest, most enjoyable, complex jams I’ve tasted in a while. And I taste a lot of jam.
Maura starts with whole fresh cherries from Washington and Colorado, blanches them, and then chops them up. (“Lots of chopping,” she says.) They use fresh vanilla beans from Madagascar, and fresh squeezed lime juice which they juice themselves from fresh fruit. They cook everything as short a time as allowed because they believe it lets the more delicate, fresh flavors come through. Finally comes a big splash of Prosecco (also from Colorado) and then it’s into the jar. The whole endeavor takes about four hours from start to finish. And that’s making ten gallons at a time.
Mix Deliciousness into your morning yogurt or oatmeal or even over pancakes. It’s great poured over ice cream and even works as a glaze for chicken. Great with cheese, especially goat cheese. Get creative, follow where life takes you, discover a new adventure, and remember to thank Maura for the suggestion.
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.
Fruit & Flower Vinegar from Maine
West Maquoit Vinegar Works—not to be confused with those chowder heads over at East Maquoit Vinegar Works—has been turning the bounty of Maine into unique vinegars that are immensely fun to play with in the kitchen. Especially this time of year with all the salads and tomatoes and produce that will absolutely sing with this vinegar.
Brad Messier and Elizabeth Guilbault started West Maquoit Vinegar Works in 2018 and they’ve been honing the craft of patience (in a way) ever since. You have to be exceedingly patient if you want make great tasting vinegar, and Brad and Elizabeth seemed to have found their sweet spot. While large industrial vinegar makers can crank out a few thousand gallons of “vinegar” in a matter of hours or days, the fine folks at West Maquoit Vinegar Works take years to develop the bright, lively flavors their looking for.
When I first chatted with Brad (no relation), he was just about to bottle this vinegar after it’s been aging in an oak barrel for about a year. As a matter of fact, he moved his production schedule around in order to get us these bottles for you in time…so in a way this is the “freshest” this one-year old vinegar is going to be.
This vinegar is—as the name implies—all about fruits, berries, and flowers. They start by fermenting strawberries, rhubarb, peaches, raspberries, apples, pears, and blueberries. Yeast converts the sugars from the fruits into alcohol that bacteria converts into vinegar. Once the vinegar is made, they infuse it with a plethora of flowers and herbs: nasturtium, rose, calendula, basil, dill, sage, lemon marigold, yarrow, chive, and hyssop flowers. After a year in the barrel, it’s ready for us and all the bright summertime cuisine you’ve planned for the season.
For the full spectrum enjoyment, try this recipe:
Summer Corn Salsa Recipe
Ingredients:
2 ears fresh corn
1 white onion
3 scallions
3 hot peppers
1/4 c Fruit & Flower Vinegar
2 tbl tomato paste
1 tbl honey
1 tbl olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat a medium sized sauté pan to medium heat.
Shuck the corn, removing all husk and silk. Carefully cut the kernels from the cobb with a knife, set the corn kernels to the side.
Peel and clean the onion, cut into a fine dice and add to the corn.
Clean and dice the hot peppers, removing the seeds if you prefer a less spicy salsa.
Increase the heat on the sauté pan to medium high and add the olive oil, corn kernels, onions and peppers. Stir frequently to prevent sticking, and cook until the onions and corn just start to brown (5-10 minutes).
Deglaze the pan with 1 Tbs vinegar and remove from heat.
In the mixing bowl combine the remaining vinegar, tomato paste and honey. Let the corn mixture cool for a few minutes while you chop the scallions. Add the cooled corn mixture to the mixing bowl and stir, taste and adjust for seasoning. When the salsa has cooled completely add the chopped scallions, stir and give a final taste. Serve fresh, or refrigerate for 3-4 days in a covered container.
This recipe is a great base to add your own signature touches. Chipotle peppers, handfuls of fresh cilantro, half an avocado, you get the idea. Don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust things to your own taste. Quick fix to easy dinners, at home on burgers, fish, or tacos.
Green Shatta with Za’atar Leaves
You might notice the illustration above is a very accurate representation of the real product. Now, these illustrations aren’t free, so you can bet your bottom dollar that if we spent money to make an illustration, we’re going to be selling this product in the future. So consider yourselves lucky because you get to be the first ones to appreciate and experience green shatta with za’atar leaves!
I got to meet the folks behind Kama, the woman-owned food company from Jordan, at the last fancy food show back in January in San Diego. Come to think of it, I got to meet and see a lot of people at that food show…and it was in San Diego in January, which was not too bad either.
I was introduced to the folks at Kama by our good friends at Rogers Collection in Maine. We’ve been finding and importing products together for decades, so we really trust each other’s opinion and are always sharing the new flavors we find. This shatta is definitely one of those flavors and we couldn’t wait to share it with you. That’s why I jumped the gun and put it into this club!
Shatta is a hot sauce/paste from the Middle East that has a thousand different recipes depending on where you’re from but the base is usually the same, just local: chiles, garlic, herbs and spices. And yes…this one is a bit spicy, but what I really loved about it is it’s still approachable. It is my firm belief that hot things like sauce and paste can really elevate the flavor of all cuisine, so mixing in a bit of this green chata into your eggs or sauce or on top of burgers off the grill is a great idea.
Kama give this shatta their own little twist and I think it helps it be a little brighter in flavor and more approachable for those that don’t love hot stuff, and that twist is the addition of Za’atar leaves with the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Za’atar is a wild herb that grows throught the Middle East. It’s related to marjoram and oregano, so it has a sort of herby/savory and even a thyme-y character. Mixed with the chiles it creates a more herbaceous yet still spicy experience that gives most dishes a boost.
So how are you going to use it? Most folks turn it into a dip by mixing it with yogurt and serving with pita. We Midwesterners might mix it with mayo for a spicy kick to sandwiches, burgers, BLTs…that seems like something we’ll do here in the fly over states. Eggs, of course. (Personally, I love how eggs can be a vehicle for a myriad of sauces like this.) You could mix in a couple spoonfuls with oil and vinegar to make a marinade for meats or a spicy vinaigrette. You can do a lot. You look like the creative type.
Pistachio Starlet Cookies from Indiana
The St. Benedict Monastery of Ferdinand, Indiana was founded in 1867, but the lineage of the monastery goes back a bit farther. There was a monastery in Covington, Kentucky that housed German-speaking sisters that weren’t fitting in so well (the Covington sisters were French). A priest decided to move them to a new convent in Indiana where there was a large German community and thus began the St. Benedict.
For those folks not familiar with the rules and names of the different religious systems (like myself), a ‘monastery’ is a term that grew up around St. Benedict and one of the rules of monastic life is living in a community. “You get young and, let’s say ‘experienced,’ sisters living together.” Sister Jean-Marie explained. “Some of our sisters work in the area and live in a convent in town, but some live here. The leadership live at the monastery as well as the new sisters. A convent is an extension of the monastery, like an outpost.”
Springerle cookies originate from Germany. They’re ‘old world’ cookies built to last a long time. The German sisters knew how to make them, but it wasn’t until the 20thcentury before the sisters started making and selling them to others.
Originally there wasn’t a dedicated space for the bakery. “We just made them in the kitchen when it was free.” Sister Jean-Marie said. “But we weren’t trying to sell and make as much as we do now.” Originally it was just a group of sisters that would get together and bake cookies for the local Kringle-fest, but now they bake a wide array of cookies, in a wide array of flavors and styles all year long. Heck, there’s even a pretty cool looking brewpub on the property (and I’ll be visiting in July so I’ll let you know how it goes).
We first started with the sisters Springerle cookies, but since they’ve expanded and experimented, we’ve gone right along with them! These pistachio cookies are one of our new favorites (and not just because my fellow food finder, Alex, loves pistachios). The flavor is pleasant and light, but the texture is what I really love. They practically melt in your mouth when you bite and the flavor lingers long. Not bad for a cookie. Set these out when you’re looking for a slightly sweet treat or want something to share with a neighbor that just swung by.
Mild African Jerk Marinade from North Carolina
This is a bittersweet inclusion for me because the last production from one of my favorite people in the food world: Jainaba Jeng and her company Kitchens of Africa. We’ve been working together for thirteen years, but I’m afraid it’s coming to an end, soon. Jainaba has made the hard decision to stop her one-woman show and follow new passions in life. But for me, this is kinda personal.
Sometimes you meet a producer and you just click. Maybe they make something you’ve been searching high and low for or maybe they make something you’ve never heard of and want to learn more or maybe you just like them, full stop. Meeting Jainaba and eventually carrying many of her products made me proud. I was still in the early stages of selecting food for us here at Zingerman’s Mail Order and when I tasted the wares of Jainaba’s company, I was hooked. More than that, I felt like I found something special—a real secret, if you will—and I wanted to share it with everyone I met.
And that’s what we did for more than a decade until it got harder and harder to receive the sauces. Jainaba hit production snags with co-packers here in the states, and of course Covid changed things for her as well, and after all sorts of hiccups and setbacks and even a few disappointments (not of her making), Jainaba made the hard choice to settle up and cash out. So in honor of her, our friendship, and the amazing flavors she shared with us, I give you these words I wrote nearly 15 years ago. They still hold true, and her Jerk Marinade is still one of my favorites.
“West Africa is not known as a culinary hot spot, but I long ago considered the sauces from Jainaba Jeng to be “the next big thing.” Though the area is known for rather starchy, typically spicy dishes, Jainaba created sauces that showcased the complexity and flavor of the area’s culinary traditions. Best of all, they’re approachable easy to turn into delicious meals without too much hassle.
Jainaba was born in The Gambia, one of the sixteen countries that encompass West Africa. Her options for higher education were limited, so she moved to Nova Scotia for school and then eventually to Raleigh, North Carolina. Since the political climate was rough in The Gambia, she stayed in the States and pursued her career in International Relations.
But her passion was cooking and especially cooking the flavors and dishes she left behind in Africa. Eventually she took her love of cooking and culture to the next level and started her own business on the side, Kitchens of Africa.
It’s the simplicity of preparation that makes her sauces and marinades so compelling. Though West Africa loves spicy food (they say spicy dishes make you sweat, which helps the body cool down in hot temperatures), many of her sauces are balanced with sweet, sometimes with nutty notes. It’s an exotic combination of flavors I rarely encounter in my food exploration and unlike anything on our shelves.”
It was a helluva run.
Espinaler Scallops in Galician Sauce from Spain
Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the illustration above is actually an oyster, so save your emails and corrections! But as you may know, we’ve been crazy about tinned fish for 20+ years so we get excited when we find a new fish to focus on, and this year it’s scallops.
Unlike the large, meaty scallops you find in restaurants, these scallops are small—about the size of a quarter—but still sweet and succulent and smooth. The Galician sauce is a Spanish type of tomato and onion sauce with garlic and sunflower oil and a touch of vinegar—but it doesn’t overwhelm the scallops. On the contrary, the brightness of the sauce balances the natural sweetness of the scallops for a combination that’s more than the sum of its parts.
Plus it’s really easy to turn this tin into a light meal for two. Simply mix the whole tin (oil, sauce, all) with a bowl of warm pasta. Spread some bread crumbs on top and you’re good to go!
I enjoy mine with crusty bread like a baguette OR you can mix the whole tin with a bowl of warm pasta for an easy dinner.
Potter’s Rosemary Crackers from Wisconsin
If you grew up on Ritz crackers and saltines (like me) you might think the cracker has been conquered. You bake something thinly and serve it with cheese or salami or your Aunt Helen’s salmon dip. What other cracker mountains are there to climb?
A lot, actually.
The fact that crackers don’t resonate as typical artisan fare isn’t the crackers fault…we just haven’t seen a good one come out of the gate in a long time. Until 2008. That’s when Potter’s Crackers started rolling out their whole wheat crackers around Madison, Wisconsin. They’ve been baking ever since, expanding their line, making great oyster cheddar crackers (we sell them), and generally finding a home on most cheeseboards in the Midwest. They’ve come a long way in 18 years.
In a “previous” life, Nancy Potter owned and operated an all-purpose bakery for decades. After she sold the bakery, she longed for something new that kept her creative juices flowing.
“Initially I wanted to be a candy maker,” Nancy explained, “but I wanted to make something healthy for a change, so I started wondering about crackers.”
Thanksgiving 2006, Nancy mentioned the cracker idea to her son, Peter. He jumped on the idea and started hounding his mom about getting serious about crackers.
“Peter would call me from a restaurant,” Nancy Potter said, “and say: ‘there’s all these great cheeses on this tray, but then they’ve got the worst crackers right next to them.’” In the land of cheese there was a real need for quality crackers.
For the rest of the winter, Nancy worked on the recipes while Peter kept playing around with flavor combinations. Now they supply the restaurants across the region with full flavored crackers developed to pair well with cheese, not mar them with off flavors.
They’re certified organic, they taste neutral enough to serve with other foods, but substantial enough to be nice to crunch as a snack. And spoiler alert: they’re going to become a big part of our gift box and basket ingredients, so yet another product you get to sample and enjoy before we release them to the masses.