Most Unusual Food Items Purchase Online?

[Gina Edwards]

Hello,

I'm looking for interesting stories about what are some of the most unusual food items that you've purchased via the internet. It seems no matter where you live, the possibilities are endless as to what great food items you can have shipped right to your door and we're no longer limited to what we can only find locally (except I'm a food snob about local produce.)

If you can, include why you needed this item - was it for a special meal, a family specialty, something you longed for from a trip abroad.

Thanks!

Gina Edwards

http://www.andshecookstoo.com

[annecros]

Westphalia Ham from Konneman's Sausage.

http://www.koenemannsausage.com/

Both for my MIL and DH. Because they wanted some. Now, I have entirely selfish reasons for ordering.

Had them throw in a little Snicken Speck and some cold cuts last year. Lovely.

Edited November 30, 2006 by annecros (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

the one and only vinegar for me!

A small company in Canada (Minus 8) is making hand-crafted wine vinegar from this style of harvesting. The Minus 8 vinegar is made from the juice of frozen grapes, hand picked at -8C or colder. While a bit pricey, the taste is amazing, and reminds us of ice wine. Finally, this item is available in a retail-sized bottle at a more consumer-friendly price. This item is very rare and worth the indulgence.

and I am not likely to find this treasure here in Atlanta ...

[Carolyn Tillie]

the one and only vinegar for me!

A small company in Canada (Minus 8) is making hand-crafted wine vinegar from this style of harvesting. The Minus 8 vinegar is made from the juice of frozen grapes, hand picked at -8C or colder. While a bit pricey, the taste is amazing, and reminds us of ice wine. Finally, this item is available in a retail-sized bottle at a more consumer-friendly price. This item is very rare and worth the indulgence.

and I am not likely to find this treasure here in Atlanta ...

←

Actually quite similar is is this Late Harvest Riesling vinegar which is remarkably similar to the Minus 8. There is a product here in California made by Katz & Company which is a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc vinegarwhich will also fit the bill.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Personally, once or twice a year I have a boxes of goodies sent from all over the world; specially flavored chips and obscure cookies from England, dende oil from South Africa, recodo paste from Belize, piri piri sauce from Brazil, and guandu from Panama.

[divina]

Last year I did a presentation at IACP on Pork with Fergus Henderson and Kate Hill.

Saints preserve us...

I smuggled in Lard from chianti.. had some head cheese made with trotters... but the piece de resistance.. was the Bacon Brittle from Grateful Palate!

LOVED IT

[srhcb]

Back in 2000-01 I used to order butter over the internet from Egg Farm Dairy in Peekskill, New York, and have it shipped to Northern Minnesota.

The butter was the highest fat content available. They also offered cheeses, ice cream, and other products, including very good wine sorbets that I gave for Christmas one year.

The original owners, Nina and Jonathan White, were forced out by their financial backers, and the business went under shortly thereafter. (Somewhat of a Pyrrhic victory for the White's, to say nothing of what it meant to a guy in Minnesota who had nowhere within 200 miles to buy quality dairy products!)

The White's are back in business as Bobolink Dairy, but, alas, don't offer butter.

SB (always uses the best available butter as homage to Julia Child )

[fiftydollars]

innards

[adegiulio]

There are a few things I cant find anywhere else but the internet.

Mozzarella curd

Nueske's Bacon

Ventresca (canned belly tuna)

[Bill/SFNM]

Whole pieces of beef marrow - used for tacos de tuétano, bordelaise sauce, ravioli, etc.

Bill/SFNM

[purplewiz]

A bottle of 23 year old Bourbon. I'd tried and adored the 20 year old, and wanted to try the 23. Surprisingly, NONE of the liquor stores around here would order it for me - we're not talking a cheap bottle of rotgut here. So I went to the net, and found a place that had it at a remarkable price. Ordered it and a bottle of the 20 year old (also not to be found locally) right away.

Of course, the price was mismarked, but the store honored it anyway (and put the correct price on the bottle right away!), which is one of several reasons why I'll shop with them again. And yes, it was wonderful, well worth every penny.

I routinely order my coffee from the New Mexico Coffee Roasting Company. What makes that unusual is that in the Albuquerque area, you can buy their coffees in the grocery stores - and I am SO jealous. I've simply not found any coffee I like better, even from our local places. One of the many things I brought back from our Thanksgiving trip was about 4 lbs of their coffee, bought at the local Raley's.

Marcia.

[Carrot Top]

Lawyers Breath Hot Sauce

[MichaelB]

I also was a loyal Egg Farm Dairy customer. I recall an order for either 24 or 36 pounds of butter that had the customer service rep freaked out because I couldn't give her a restaurant name for the order. I finally told her I was a caterer

Back in 2000-01 I used to order butter over the internet from Egg Farm Dairy in Peekskill, New York, and have it shipped to Northern Minnesota. 

The butter was the highest fat content available.  They also offered cheeses, ice cream, and other products, including very good wine sorbets that I gave for Christmas one year. 

The original owners, Nina and Jonathan White, were forced out by their financial backers, and the business went under shortly thereafter.  (Somewhat of a Pyrrhic victory for the White's, to say nothing of what it meant to a guy in Minnesota who had nowhere within 200 miles to buy quality dairy products!)

The White's are back in business as Bobolink Dairy, but, alas, don't offer butter.

SB (always uses the best available butter as homage to Julia Child )

←

[srhcb]

There are a few things I cant find anywhere else but the internet.

Mozzarella curd

←

I'd ordered Mozzarella curd from the previously mentioned, now defunct, Egg Farm Dairy.

It took a while to get the hang of using it. Water hot enough to soften the curd to its stretching stage was too hot for my hands. But once I finally got everything adjusted, and practiced for a while, it was actually fun.

And, the cheese was .... (the term "to die for" would not be hyperbolic)

Does anyone have a good internet source for the curd?

SB (almost wishes he hadn't been reminded )