Gotten any fun stuff lately?

[Shel_B]

A friend who works at Peet's, knowing my propensity for African coffees, mentioned that this was a blend I'd enjoy. Well, it arrived a few hours ago, roasted the morning of Aug 5th. I'll have some as soon as the hopper on the grinder is empty ...

 

[Duvel]

Visiting the market of a nearby town. Plenty of tasty sausages …

 

 

Guess who got the biggest botifarra blanca ?!

 

[blue_dolphin]

Two new-to-me olive oils from Katz Farm.

 

For the Meyer lemon olive oil, they actually milled locally grown lemons along with the olives.  The flavor is lovely.

 

The other one was made from olives harvested in January, quite late. They say they’ve done this in the past for restaurant clients who wanted a milder olive oil for some recipes.  The idea of paying a premium for a less flavorful product seems counterintuitive.  If I want a milder olive oil flavor in an aioli or dressing, I use part EVOO and part neutral oil like avocado or sunflower.  But they had a special if you bought both and I’m always curious.  I’d say it tastes rich but without the bite of their regular oils. 

 

[Shel_B]

5 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

The other one was made from olives harvested in January, quite late. They say they’ve done this in the past for restaurant clients who wanted a milder olive oil for some recipes.  The idea of paying a premium for a less flavorful product seems counterintuitive.  If I want a milder olive oil flavor in an aioli or dressing, I use part EVOO and part neutral oil like avocado or sunflower.  But they had a special if you bought both and I’m always curious.  I’d say it tastes rich but without the bite of their regular oils. 

 

I'm going to take issue with the point that milder olive oil is less flavorful. My friends at California's Bariani ranch make an early and late harvest oil, from the same olives. And while the late harvest is "milder," i.e., less bitter, it's still very flavorful. IMHO, the reduced bitterness and bite allows more of the olive flavor to shine through.

 

At Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard, where some years ago he began growing olives, I encountered the same experience. Well grown olives from well tended trees still produce a very flavorful oil from late harvest, olives.  I've had the same experience with Rancho Milagro's oil.

 

I liken the experience to using late harvest grapes to make various wines. The old Mt. Veeder late harvest zin, for example, produced a symphony in the mouth while, by comparison, the earlier harvested zin came across like an orchestra tuning up: more intense (more noise) but the musicalty was missing.

 

By diluting a good quality, late harvest olive oil, you may be missing out on the subtleties brought to the table by the aging process. YMMV (and seemingly it does). I tend to go for more subtle flavors rather than strong, hit-you-in-the-face intensity. Different strokes, different folks ... but I urge you to experiment with different late harvest oils. I think some people confuse flavor with intensity.

 

 

Edited August 10 by Shel_B
Clarity of intent (log)

[Ddanno]

I don't like how late harvest loses the grassy and peppery notes personally. I also feel I'm being scammed a bit because the price barely changes despite it being of lower quality. 

 

I'll caveat all that by saying I only use EVOO for dressings and a finishing touch on things like fish and escabeche so I may need to open my mind a bit.

[weinoo]

I've had this Matfer Bourgeat mandoline for 20+ years (and I can't believe how expensive they are now)...

 

 

If I've used it more than twice a year in that time, I'd be overestimating.  It's semi-annoying to set up, and more annoying to clean.

 

So yesterday, this arrived...

 

 

And I plan on using it a lot more.

 

Host's note: an extended discussion about mandolines sprang from this fine post. That discussion begins here.

Edited August 17 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)

[Shel_B]

I love these tomatoes! About once a year or so, I order a few jars of these great Italian tomatoes. They were introduced to me in the mid - late 1980's by the manager of a small, local Italian specialty shop. They had, I think, three, maybe four stores, and carried some great products from Italy. These tomatoes just blew me away ...so every now and then I grab a few jars and use 'em for special dishes. I cook them very lightly, closer to just being warmed or heated than cooked down. Just thinking about 'em makes me smile.

 

Edited August 19 by Shel_B (log)

[Katie Meadow]

3 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I love these tomatoes! About once a year or so, I order a few jars of these great Italian tomatoes. They were introduced to me in the mid - late 1980's by the manager of a small, local Italian specialty shop. They had, I think, three, maybe four stores, and carried some great products from Italy. These tomatoes just blew me away ...so every now and then I grab a few jars and use 'em for special dishes. I cook them very lightly, closer to just being warmed or heated than cooked down. Just thinking about 'em makes me smile.

 

Can you find this product locally in the East Bay? If not, where do you order them?

[weinoo]

17 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Can you find this product locally in the East Bay? If not, where do you order them?

 

Most likely Gustiamo is the importer; they're not cheap, but shipping does max out at around $20, no matter how much of whatever you buy, so it works out nicely if you put together a big order.

 

I like many of their tomato products, and Faella pasta is one of the best.  This is another one of my favorites:

 

 

https://www.gustiamo.com/

Edited August 20 by weinoo
To add: https://www.gustiamo.com/ (log)

[Shel_B]

16 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Can you find this product locally in the East Bay? If not, where do you order them?

I've found it, or another similar brand, at Giovanni's in El Cerrito. However, it's hit and miss, and Giovanni's doesn't have a regular web site. I'm very close to the store, so I sometimes just pop over to see what's in stock, but it might be easier for you to just buy online. 

 

Here's a source that I use frequently for quality Italian ingrediemts:

https://www.gustiamo.com/tomatoes-piennolo/?utm_source=mailchimp

 

Zia Pia carries a similar product:

https://ziapia.com/products/vesuviello-piennolo-520g?

 

 

[Smithy]

We've talked before about can openers. They aren't needed as often as they used to be due to easy-open cans, but there are still times when they're critical equipment.

 

Imagine my surprise when I realized that my favorite battery-powered electric can opener was nowhere to be found in the house! I was sure I had one in the house and one in the Princessmobile, which is away at the shop. But I couldn't find one in the house, and had to resort to the old-fashioned EZ-DUZ-IT hand-held opener. After I found it. (It was hiding and sulking in a drawer. Almost, I thought I'd gotten rid of it!)

 

I wanted a hit of Fun Stuff, so I ordered a new opener for the house. It came yesterday. I get absurd satisfaction from using this thing! Kitchen Mama Side-Cutting can opener with Auto Shutoff (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). It does a nice of job of leaving smooth edges, and it does shut itself off after the lid is free. Note that not all come with the auto-shutoff feature.

 

 

A minor quibble: the red isn't as vivid as the original can opener's red. I wish I'd gotten the teal color. But that's small potatoes. Amazon says I've ordered this thing before. I wonder where and when it will turn up?

 

If you're interested in seeing one of these things in action, see this post. They're pretty nifty.

[rotuts]

@Smithy

 

how did I miss the details !

 

It's not only in Red

 

but i'ts a ' side bitter ' can opener .

 

It's on my list .

[Smithy]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Smithy

 

how did I miss the details !

 

It's not only in Red

 

but i'ts a ' side bitter ' can opener .

 

It's on my list .

 

@rotuts, be sure to check out this post before you pull the trigger. Right now a red-and-black version is on sale for half price; it's $25 rather than the $35 I paid! Same company, still auto-shutoff and safety cut. I don't know how long the sale will be good.

 

Oh heck, here's the link to the red-and-black version that's on sale (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

[Maison Rustique]

I have basically the same one, but not that brand. And it was no where near that expensive!! I think way under $20.

[ElsieD]

I have this one and I love it.  It is rechargeable.

[TdeV]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

Oh heck, here's the link to the red-and-black version that's on sale (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

 

Got one. 

[Smithy]

55 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

I have basically the same one, but not that brand. And it was no where near that expensive!! I think way under $20.

 

I think the first one I bought, which is still going strong, was something along the lines of a prototype or loss-leader. It's the one shown in the video I linked above. It may have been only $15 but when I went to order another it was no longer available! The cheapest I've seen since then is $25. Of course, it's possible I haven't looked hard enough. I do know however that I want the auto-shutoff. That adds a few bucks although my initial inexpensive one came with it.

[rotuts]

Mine is now on the way.  

[weinoo]

Resupply...

 

[KennethT]

18 hours ago, weinoo said:

Resupply...

 

Vietnamese jasmine rice?!?  I need to resupply my jasmine rice - last time, I bought a 25 pound bag from Weee (new crop from Thailand). It was basically the same price as I can get in Chinatown, but it gets delivered so I don't have to schlep the 25# sack.

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, KennethT said:

Vietnamese jasmine rice?!? 

 

[Katie Meadow]

On 9/19/2025 at 9:35 AM, weinoo said:

Resupply...

 

Question about the Rice Factory. It appears they have two locations, one in NY and the other in LA I assume you order from the NY location, but the jasmine rice you ordered says it comes from CA. Any idea how their operation works? Are both locations distribution houses for all products?