The Savvy Gourmet

Welcome to The Savvy Gourmet blog!

There are thousands of food blogs. Why add another?

To find recipes and comment on them, to pinpoint the best restaurants in your neighbourhood and publish your opinion, to discover and comment on chef’s shows and many other related subjects – there is a wide selection of blogs, magazines and websites for all this and more.

On the other hand, discovering and making use of the characteristics of a category of foodstuffs, finding guides and indicators to help you choose the best product or seeing that the fine foods you choose come with quality assurance is quite something else. In fact, it can be a difficult and frustrating task.

The purpose of our blog is to partly fill the information gap on fine food products, simply and honestly. It is produced by OGourmet, an online food store for gourmets.

Continue reading "Welcome to The Savvy Gourmet blog!"

Veggie Fare from Caramoomel (British Columbia)

The veggie fare of Caramoomel (Hot Garlic Pepper Wine Jelly, Veggie Caviar, All Vegetable Antipasto and Garlic & Eggplant Spread) begins with vegetables grown on the Caramoomel farm ensuring their freshness and tastiness.

These delicious veggie combinations can be a side dish, topping, appetizer, condiment or snack. Vegetables brought at the top level!

Producers in the Spotlight - Caramoomel

Caramoomel Products was established in 1990 by Antonia and Alex Dudka. Since then, daughters Catalina and Anne have jumped on board to make up the rest of the team.

Their family heritage and love of natural foods have been the inspiration behind their mouth-watering artisan spreads and sauces. Most of the fruits and vegetables used to make Caramoomel spreads are grown on their own farm in Kelowna, British Colombia.

Caramoomel is certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE). Antonia and Catalina Dudka, shareholders of the company, were selected as honourees by the Global EXEC Women magazine for the 2009 Canadian International Women of Influence Award.

Raspberry Vinegar from Gölles (Austria)

Fermented from the juice of freshly picked, fully ripe raspberries, which gives it particularly impressive aromas.

Combines wonderfully with a few drops of walnut oil and is a splendid ingredient for preparing fresh salads.

Gölles Raspberry Vinegar also lends an attractive zest to dishes with an exotic character and goes well with shellfish. Last but not least, genuine raspberry vinegar is also a fine seasoning for summery desserts.

Producers in the Spotlight - Gölles

The Gölles family has been cultivating orchards in the sunny hill country around Austria’s Riegersburg Castle for four generations. Since the early 1980s, they have specialized in manufacturing fine vinegars and premium spirits by hand.

This quest for prime fruit for the distillery and vinegar production is at the heart of the commitment at Gölles to cultivating old fruit varieties that are now exceedingly rare.

Fruit-based vinegars are not to be confused with fruit-flavoured vinegars. The latter rarely have the fine taste and aroma of the former. Fruit vinegars cost more than flavoured vinegars, but if you’re looking for extraordinary tastes and aromas, try a fruit vinegar from Gölles.

Olave Sweet Basil Olive Oil from Agricola Valle Grande (Chile)

The Olave sweet basil infused oil is created by crushing olives and fresh basil leaves together, resulting in a delicious combination of aromas and flavours.

Given its aromatic and flavourful qualities, basil is an ideal herb with which to season tomatoes and green salads such as lettuce, arugula, watercress or spinach.

Producers in the Spotlight - Agricola Valle Grande

Founded in 1978 by an agribusiness professional, Agricola Valle Grande produces exceptional olive oils that are internationally renowned.

Selected in 2006 and 2007 as the world best producer of organic olive oil by the prestigious L'Extravergine Italian guide on extra virgin oil.

A bite of biscuit and cookie history

The word biscuit applies to two distinctly different products in American and British English.

In British English it relates to a small and hard, often sweetened, flour-based product, most akin in American English to a cookie. It comes from the Latin word “biscotus”, which means "twice baked". Not surprising that it is referred to by a variety of names as “biscuit” in French, “biscotto” in Italian and “beschuit” in Dutch.

The second cooking of the biscuit, at 90-100ºC, is intended to remove the remaining moisture. The resulting dried and hard biscuit was the perfect easy-to-carry and long-lasting food for sailors. It would stay intact for years as long as it was kept dry.

In American English a biscuit relates to a softer bread product baked only once, somewhat similar to a scone. In Canada, the terms biscuit and cookie are used interchangeably, depending on the region, with biscuits usually referring to 'hard' sweet biscuits (like digestives) and cookies for 'soft' baked goods (like chocolate chip cookies).

Read more in:

A bite of cookie history by Food.ca.

Biscuit in Wikipedia.

Sherrry Vinegar, 50 years, from Bodegas José Páez Lobato

This 50-year old Sherry vinegar is produced entirely in Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalusia, Spain.

The ageing process is the “criaderas y soleras” method, which involves a system of casks (initially used to store wine) placed in a pyramid. The vinegar passes slowly from the top barrel (criadera) to the barrel at the bottom of the pyramid (solera), where it is periodically decanted and passed through the middle-layer barrels.

This lengthy process gives to this type of vinegar its amber colour, aroma and distinctive taste. A truly exceptional vinegar!

Producers in the Spotlight - Bodegas José Páez Lobato

Bodegas José Páez Lobato is a Spanish family enterprise that has a cellar containing more than 4,000 American oak barrels (500 litres each) and all the requisite equipment for maintaining their vineyard and processing their wines, sherries and vinegars.

The distinctive qualities of Jerez vinegars are a result of intensive care and slow maturation in American oak barrels: amber colour, delicate and fine aroma, and excellent taste. Not surprising their Jerez vinegars are exceptional.

Paprika? What’s that?

Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum (e.g., bell peppers or chili peppers).

Most commercial paprika comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary. The highest quality paprika and most expensive paprika comes from Spain. It is known as “pimentón” and comes in three versions, mild, moderately spicy and very spicy. In Hungary there are six classes or types of paprika ranging from delicate to hot.

The colour of paprika, measured in ASTA´s, is the main factor used to determine the quality and price of the spice. The ASTA (American Spice Trade Association) system, the international measurement of the extractable colour, is the technical way for both buyers and suppliers to be assured that they’re speaking the same language. Paprika prices are generally given per ASTA unit per kilogram.

OGourmet offers more than a dozen paprika products, including the famous Pimentón de la Vera.

Read more in:

Paprika from RecipeZaar.

Spanish Paprika - What you need to know before you buy from MarketUno.com.