You can now book a seat to most

Zingermans events at
www.zingermanscommunity.com
422 Detroit Street 734.663.3400
www.zingermansdeli.com
Pencils and Parsnips: A Farm-to-School Fundraiser
with Zingermans and Tantr Farm
Wed. Nov. 5th 7pm Zingermans Deli
$100 ($80 tax-deductible)
The movement to get fresh food from the
farm into our local schools is alive and well,
and you can help support it while enjoying
the best of the fall harvest at this family-style
dinner. Join Zingermans Delicatessen and Tan- tr Farm as we gather for
our annual Taste of Tantr feast where we will eat great food and raise awareness, goodwill, and money to further the mission of the Agrarian Adventure,
the leader in our community farm-to-school movement.
The Agrarian Adventure has created many programs that serve to connect
students with food, health, community, and agriculture. They created and sustain a bountiful and diverse school garden at Tappan Middle School in Ann
Arbor and work to foster ongoing relationships among farmers, teachers, administrators and students along with many other activities.

This dinner seats 100 and always sells out so reserve now!
Call 734-663-3400 or go to zingermansdeli.com
Ten Top Secrets of Buying and Cooking Great Pastas with
Special Guests: Rolando Beremendi & Gianluigi Peduzzi
Thu. Nov. 13th, 6:30-8:30pm Zingermans Events on Fourth $40
While millions of Americans love pasta, only a tiny percentage have learned
the simple but critical tips that can take your pasta dishes from OK to world
class. For this special event were fortunate to have two of the powerhouses
of the traditional pasta world. Gianluigi Peduzzi is a third generation pasta
maker from the Abruzzo, whose Rustichella pasta line has long been one of
THE best in Italy and the US. At his side well have chef, importer and pastalogist extraordinaire Rolando Beremendi whose excellent palate and passion
for traditional Italian food have significantly altered the food scene here in
the US. They will talk history, pasta making and share recipes and cooking tips
of all sorts. If you like pasta do not miss this chance to take the quality your
pasta cooking up to the level of Italys best chefs.

Aris Best of 2014 Tasting

Two Dates! Wed. Dec. 3rd & Tue. Dec. 16th 6:30-8pm $45
Zingermans Events on Fourth 415 N. Fifth Street

Winter Beer Tasting with Arbor Brewing

Fri. Dec. 5th 6-8pm $45
3723 Plaza Drive 734 929 0500
www.zingermanscreamery.com
A Classic Pairing: Red Wine & Cheese
Fri. Nov. 7th 6-8pm $45
Red wine has always been a complement to the hearty,
flavorful cheeses of winter. Guests attending this tasting session will learn to pair red wines with artisan
domestic cheeses that lend themselves to the robust
flavors of vin rouge. This classic combination is perfect
for your small gatherings or a lovely way to begin a
Thanksgiving feast.

Cheese to Make You Melt

Fri. Nov. 21st 6-8pm $35
A frosty winter night is much improved with a warm
pot of melted cheese fondue and some friends. Join
us as we taste a variety of mountain-style cheeses
perfectly suited for melting. Well share our favorite
cheese-melting techniques, as well as a selection of
our favorite fondue cheeses at this belly-warming tasting. A creamy, rich fondue is sure to add a classic touch
to any holiday gathering.

Cheese Mastery Class: Semi Lactic Cheese

Sat. Nov. 22, 2-4pm $50
Creamery Managing Partner Aubrey Thomason breaks
down the most complex and challenging forms of
cheesemaking. Technically known as semi-lactic,
this cheese is also called soft-ripened or sweet curd
cheese. Semi-lactic is a hybrid of the lactic- and rennet-styles of cheesemaking, and the results are delicious and fragrant. Learn about the technical details of
the style that gives us our gooey favorites such as Brie,
Camembert, and many other mouthwatering varieties
of this cheese family.

This time of year we pull out the foods that simply amaze us and taste them
together. We reflect on the past year and celebrate. Join Ari Weinzweig and
the Deli crew for the most anticipated tasting for the year: an evening of story
telling, historical narrative, and ridiculously tasty bites from Aris Best of
2014! To read more about Aris favorite foods this year turn the page!

What better way to kick off the holiday season than

with a malty cup of Arbor Brewings Wenceslas Winter Fuel? Inspired by the traditional English Old Alestyle, this is a full-bodied, darker beer that will put
some steam in you on a cold evening. Since opening in
downtown Ann Arbor in 1995, Arbor Brewing Company
has become a force to be reckoned with in the craft
beer community. Join us to taste and learn more about
Arbors great selection of handcrafted beer along with
selected pairings of Creamery cheese.

The Many Faces of Manchester

Fri. Dec. 19th 6-8pm $35
The Manchester is based on a Camembert-style cheese
from Wales but has slowly evolved or devolved back
towards its roots from Normandy, the birthplace of
Camembert. Made with extremely rich, Jersey milk, the
Manchester has become one of the shining stars of the
U.S. Were pleased to showcase its versatility with a
unique tasting that highlights the many ways to experience this amazing American cheese. From a standard
cheese board to Bruleed Manchester to Manchester
in Puff Pastry, join us for a sampling of many creative
ways to experience this American jewel.

1st Sunday Creamery Tour

Sun. Nov. 2nd and Sun. Dec. 7th 2pm $10
Join our us for an hour-long adventure as we transform local milk into delicious cheese and gelato. Youll
watch our fresh mozzarella stretched into shape,
taste our cows and goats milk cheeses while our staff
explain the cheesemaking process, and sample our
delicious, fresh gelato. After the tour, make time for
tasting our cheeses and provisions, as well as gelatos
and sorbets in our cheese shop.

Call 734.929.0500
or go to:
events.zingermanscommunity.com
to reserve your spot!

Brewing Methods
Three Sessions! 1-3pm Nov. 23rd, Nov. 9th and Dec. 14th $30
Learn the keys to successful coffee brewing using a wide variety of brewing methods from filter drip to syphon pot. We will take a single coffee and brew it 6 to
8 different ways, each producing a unique taste. Well learn the proper proportions and technique for each and discuss the merits and differences of each style.

8540 Island Lake Road, Dexter 734.619.8100

Reserve a seat:
events.zingermanscommunity.com

3723 Plaza Drive 734.761.7255

www.bakewithzing.com
Baking Pies a Plenty

Bourbon Basics Cocktail Class

Mon. Nov. 10th 7-9:30pm $60
The story of bourbon is the story of America itself. Smoky, sweet, spicy and
complex, this corn-based spirit has been a part of our culture for centuries. Join us as we celebrate our native spirit this November at Cornman
Farms. We will learn to mix three unique classic cocktails to highlight
the varieties in bourbon: the Mint Julep, the Old Fashioned, and the
Boulevardier. Well also delve into the colorful lore of our own American whiskey and learn what it is about bourbon that makes it different
from all other whiskies.

A-Maize-ing Cornman Farm to Fork Barn Dinner

Sun. Nov. 16th 5pm $120 (includes beverage pairings)
Zingermans Cornman Farms is getting back to basics with our
third farm-to-table dinner! In our heated, historic barn, well have
a crackling fireplace and an autumnal menu inspired by the name of
our Farmcorn itself! Selections will include cream of celery root soup,
cornbread, chestnut roulade, smoked turkey, a sweet dessert tamale, and
of course, plenty of heirloom corn. Well also throw in beverage pairings with several courses,
including our signature Cornmanhattan cocktail.

Fried Walleye & Cherry Pie Special Dinner

Fri. Dec. 5th 6:30-10pm $75
There are few things in life that make us as happy as good book - but a delicious meal might be
one of them. Zingermans Cornman Farms announces its Inaugural Book Club Dinner, to be held
on Friday, December 5th. Honoring author Peggy Wolff and her outstanding book, Fried Walleye
and Cherry Pie, the menu will feature quintessentially Midwestern cuisine, and the ticket will also
include a festive welcome beverage. This is a Cornman Farms occasion not to be missed!

Well teach you how to mix the dough by hand, successfully roll it out, show you what par-baking a crust
is, and how to crimp the edges to make your pies look
beautiful. Youll make a double crust fruit pie and a
single crust baked custard pie (pie flavors for this
class vary by season). Roll up your sleeves and join in
the fun so you too can bake pies a plenty.

Sat., Nov. 22
8am-12pm
1:30-5:30pm
Mon., Nov. 24 5:15-9:15pm
5:30-9:30pm
Tue., Nov. 25 5:15-9:15pm
5:30-9:30pm
Wed., Jan. 21 5:30-9:30pm

$125
Just in time for Thanksgiving. Six November dates still available when we went to press!

We Dig Doughnuts
Sat. Nov 29th 8am-12pm $125
Its not that we want to take the fun out
of your weekend doughnut run, but when
you taste how good homemade doughnuts can be, you might just decide to do
it yourself after taking this class. Youll
leave BAKE! with our recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, one dozen
cake doughnuts, one dozen yeast-raised
doughnuts, dough to fry later and great
coupons.

Buche de Noel
Sat. Dec. 20th, 8:15am-12:15pm OR
Tue. Dec 23rd, 1:15-5:15pm $125
We break down the Bakehouse version of
this holiday classic for you and make all
its components: fluffy vanilla chiffon cake,
walnut rum butter cream, and chocolate
butter cream. Then youll assemble and
decorate your log with fondant mushrooms and holly we provide. Wow your
family and friends after class with your
creation and for seasons to come.

See the full schedule & register for classes at

www.bakewithzing.com or call 734.761.7255

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

Every year around this time I have the enviable but nevertheless challenging task of putting together my list of the 30
(or so) food finds Im most excited about in the ever-wider
culinary cosmos that is Zingermans. To state the obvious,
there are hundredsactually thousandsof great foods
that arent on this list. These are just the ones that have
made a big impression on me over the last few months.
Some are new, some have been around for a while, a few
were even on my list last year (clearly I really like them!).
Of course, everyone who works here has their own list as
wellby all means, ask anyone what theyve been loving
of late. Theyll be glad to share, and, better still, offer you
a taste!
And while Ive got you, lets take another two minutes to
pass on an enormous THANK YOU! Every single day I feel
extremely fortunate to be a part of such a great community
and a great organization, to go to work every day with so
many caring and creative guests and coworkers, to prepare
and sell products that I believe in so strongly. Im honored
to be able to contribute to all that high quality work in
some small way. Thank you for the chance to participate
and to serve and to share so many wonderful flavors and
meaningful experiences.
Heres to many more good tastes and great experiences
to come!
Happy everything!

Crudo Olive Oil from Puglia

Available at Zingermans Deli
The new love of my olive oil life,
this is a really big, super spicy, bad
(in a good way), bold, super-compelling oil from the Southeastern
corner of Italy. I love it. If you like
to live on the culinary edge, where
big flavors are a good thing and middle of the road is a place
you want to avoid, this oil is perfect for you, too. From outside the tiny town of Bitetto in Puglia, which food writer
Julia della Croce described earlier this year as a town so
rustic that a traveler cannot find one single restaurant
thereor in other towns for miles around, for that matter. The oil is made by the third generation of the Schiralli
family whove been farming this land since 1922. Gaetano
Schiralli today is farming about 8000 trees. This oil is made
only from the very special Ogliarola variety of olives. The
oil itself is unfiltered, amazingly brilliant in its bright green
color and exceptionally pronounced in its flavor. Hints of
herbs, freshly cut grass, artichoke, green tomatoits big,
its bold, its a beautiful thing. Great with beef, fish, pasta,
salads or just poured onto toasted Paesano (the traditional
loaf of the Puglia region) bread. Julia della Croce says, The
oils fresh and potent herbaceous aromas and spiciness
lifts everything from fish to red meats, especially when
they are grilled, and especially when they are peppery.
The oil won a Silver Medal at the prestigious Los Angeles
fair this past spring. Really an amazing experience for the
serious olive oil lover and available right now at the Deli.

Alpha Tolman Cheese

from Vermont
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen and Zingermans Creamery
One of the best new cheeses weve
gotten in a long time. Essentially
a mountain style cheese made by
the Kehler brothers and their quality-focused crew at Jasper Hill in
Vermonts Northeast Kingdom. The
flavor is nutty, nice, big without
being overpowering, and it has a
lovely long finish. I just tasted it twenty-five minutes ago to
write this piece, and it still tastes great. Im not the only one

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

Terrific Cheeses from the Crew

at Zingermans Creamery
As youll glean from my conversation with Mateo Kehler Available at Zingermans Creamery and Delicatessen
(below), making cheese is anything but easy. Well, let me and on the menu at the Roadhouse
qualify. Making great artisan cheese is anything but easy.
All cheesemaking, when done by hand, is hard physical
work. But turning that hard physical work into a delicious,
well-balanced, full flavored, fantastic piece of cheese is no
small thing. So many things have to come together to make
it happen. The milk, the diet of the cows, the starter cultures, the weather, the salt, the agingall play a part. When
you hit it beautifully its very memorable. The cheesemaker
breathes a sigh of relief, maybe enjoys a moment or two of
celebration. But then, more often than not, before they can
settle into anything remotely resembling a comfort zone,
Little Napoleon
something changes in the cows feed, the molds in the aging
room, etc. and trying to recreate that near-perfect piece This could be my favorite of the lot. A young, hand-made
of cheese from just a month ago can be as challenging as
disc of goat cheese with a thin natural rind. If youre a
recreating a setting that you loved last week on a kaleido- French cheese lover its like a North American cousin of
scope. Theres a lot of turning, a lot of slight adjusting, a lot
Pelardon. Its totally delicious. Plus, theyre just the right
of hoping.
size for two. Take one home with a bit of a baguette, and
When it works, all is good. Or on occasion, really, really good. its a perfect pre-dinner snack or accompaniment to a nice
And of late, that is the righteously good sweet spot that the salad. Weve hit about all the right cultures, the right proCreamerys cheeses have been in. Truly delicious, as good as cess, the right acidity. We found the natural progression of
anything around (and I dont say that lightly). Ive had quiet that cheese, says Aubrey. The Napoleons are indeed little
compliments from people in the know all over the country. but their flavor is big and theyve made a particularly big
Its a tribute to the patience and good work of the whole impression on me the last few months!
crew. John and Aubrey, Stephanie, Roxanne, and everyone
at the Creamery have always made really good cheese. But
in the last six months or so, thanks to a lot of hard work and
a great deal of patience, theyve got that curd-kaleidoscope
really dialed in. The cheeses out at the Creamery are tasting
better than I think they ever have. Better balance, better finish, better aging. Really darned excellent.

Bridgewater Log
Rich, creamy, lightly aged cows milk cheese thats soft in
a way that most of us would now expect from goat cheese.
Its laced with bits of black peppercorn and aged with a thin
white mold on the rind. Great on pasta, gnocchi, burgers or
just about anything else!

Here are a few of my favorites:

City Goats

Manchester

Man, I love a disc of properly made fresh goat cheese. Its

so simple theres nothing to hide behind. So delicious I just
want to eat the whole thing in about fifteen minutes. And
these have been filling that bill to the max. The fresh City
Goats from the Creamery have been really, really good. Like
all good cheese it starts with the milk. And, Aubrey told me,
The milk hits a peak of quality in the fall. It gets denser
into the fall. Unlike the vast majority of fresh goat cheeses
on the market, the City Goats are completely hand ladled
to protect the fragile texture of the curd. The commercial
alternative is extrusion into plastic casings, like you would
do to make sausage. Saves time but breaks down the texture
of the cheese. If you compare hand ladled and extruded
cheese side by side, youll be shocked at the difference. The
fresh cheeses, which are on the shelf for sale within a few
days of being made, are never put into plastic eitherwe
use only paper wrapping to allow the cheese to breathe
properly. Something of this quality is not that easy to find
even in France if you get away from the top cheese shops
or the farms that produce it. A simple and simply delicious
piece of goat cheese!

Like the Alpha Tolman (below), this is anything but an overnight success story. We tweaked the recipe every week
for six years, managing partner Aubrey Thomason told me.
Every week? I asked. Yep. Literally, ever week I changed
something. The latest tweak was changing to the Jersey
milk that were now using. Now were tweaking the aging.
The different maturing techniques. To me its just the right
balance of unctuous and funky. Creamy, with a nice delicate
tang, and a long milky finish that lingers a long time and will
make you miss it when its gone. I like to let it get to room
temperature and then serve with toast and sliced pears. The
Roadhouse has been serving it as an appetizer, sprinkling a
bit of Muscovado brown sugar over the top and then running it under the broiler to turn it into Manchester brulee.

who thinks highly of it. Alpha Tolman took gold at last years
World Cheese Awards.
As with all great things, it has taken a lot of time and a lot
of work to get the cheese to this level of excellence. Mateo
Kehler told me, Weve been working hard on Alpha Tolman
for the past three and half years. I figure a cheese like Tolman
is really a 20-year project, he proffered. But were making
great progress and have been focusing on fundamentals
like what the cows are eating. So much of the quality of a
cheeseor any artisan food reallyis all wrapped up in the
details that few consumers ever imagine could make a difference. This past spring, Mateo went on, we eliminated all
fermented feed and have transitioned the herd to a 100 per-

cent dry hay ration. But theyre not done yet. This coming
year, he said, we will be importing a hay dryer from Reggio
Emilia (in Italy) to help us put up even better forages, which
we believe will lead to even tastier cheese.
Wondering about the name? I was. The cheese is named
for Greensboro, Vermonts first philanthropist who built the
library and school in the village and was the grandson of
Enoch Tolman, one of Greensboros founders. Our longer
term plan is to move Alpha Tolman production from the Food
Venture Center in Hardwick to a new farm we are building
in 2016 in the heart of the village of Greensboro. Tolman will
be the anchor there and we hope to use this model repeatedly
to start a few new farms in Greensboro over the coming years.

Like Zingermans Community of Businesses, these new farms

will be organized under the umbrella of the Jasper Hill brand
but will be managed by vested operating partners. In the end,
Alpha Tolman is way more than a cheese. Its a lever that we
are pulling on to create a new kind of agricultural economy
in Greensboro.
Jasper Hills herd of Ayrshire cattle has particularly rich milk
thats high in fat and protein. It makes a big difference. In this
case, Mateo said, we wanted go for something more funky,
hammy, oniony and savory to differentiate Tolman on the
counter. It does have a delicious just slightly salty lingering finish that in fact reminds me a bit of a good cured ham.

Hungarian Walnut Beigli

Available at Zingermans Bakehouse and Delicatessen
These were the surprise hit of the holiday season last yearso delicious that seemingly everywhere I went in the organization, Id bump into
someone singing its praises. A long-standing holiday tradition
in Hungary, beigli is pretty much a staple in every house at
Christmas. Personally Im happy to have it any time with just a
good cup of coffee. Beigli (pronounced bay-glee) is a yeasted
dough rolled up with a filling of walnuts. (In Hungary poppy
seeds are equally popular for the filing but were starting with
the walnuts).

The Power of Pamphlets

or Small Booklets, Big Ideas
We all have a special place or two.
You know, those semi-secret spots
that we return to now and again
to reconnect with meaningful
experiences in our past. For me,
the Labadie Collection, up on
the 7th floor of the University
of Michigans Graduate Library, is one of those spotsmy
secret garden of anarchist intellectual activity. Back in my
student days, I used to spend a fair bit of time sitting quietly
at the long wooden tables there, pencil in hand (no pens
are allowed), looking lovingly through the countrys leading
collection of anarchist and other radical writings.
I was particularly drawn to the old pamphlets: small booklets put out a century or so ago to convey the views of anarchist writers like Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin, and Jo
Labadie, the man who donated the original contents of this
special collection. There are over 30,000 pamphlets in the
archive (along with many thousands of books, posters, and
other printed materials). Back at the turn of the 20th century, pamphlets served much the same role in society that
the Internet does today. They gave writers a way to share
strongly held views, quickly and at low cost, with a large
number of people, many of whom had neither the time nor
the means to buy an entire book. To this day, those pamphlets cast a powerful spell over me. In the same way that
some people power down into video games, I could sit and
read through stacks of little leaflets for hours on end.
In the spirit of those anarchist publications that I love so
much, weve decided to print the individual Secrets from the
Zingermans Guide to Good Leading series as pamphlet-sized
publications. While of course I love it when you buy a whole
book, Im honored to make the essays available in this form.
Though these booklets are small, I hope the ideas inside provoke big thoughts for you as you read in the same way that
Emma Goldman and her compatriots did a century or so ago.
As her friend Freda Diamond said after Goldman passed away
in 1940, She opened your mind and made you think about
things you never thought about before. That was her outstanding characteristic. She made people think! If Ive done my job
well, then perhaps these will inspire you to find new ways of
approaching your work and the world at large.

Available at www.zingermanspress.com

The crust has a beautiful sheen to it and a unique,

slightly mottled, kind of crackly look. Inside
are swirls of a thick walnut-sugar filing thats
so good, I have a hard time not eating more
of it. The richness of the butter in the dough
and the walnuts on the inside are comforting and
compelling at the same time. A great host gift, or just something special to bring home to liven up a dark winter night!

Bakehouse Chestnut Bread

Available at Zingermans Bakehouse and Delicatessen
Its been a while since weve introduced a new bread at the Bakehouse.
Amy, Frank and I are all pretty excited
about this one! Baking with chestnut flour is a long time tradition in
Europe. Italy, France, central Europe all used large quantities
of chestnuts for cooking. It wasnt about prestigechestnuts
were what poor people ate. Rodger Bowser, chef and managing partner at the Deli has done great work to help chestnut
growers in Michigan to make their crops economically viable.
This bread uses that flour along with the Michigan wheat flour
we get from Westwind Mill. It bakes up into a light brown loaf
with a natural sweetness from the chestnuts and a nutty flavor
I love with goat cheese, or toasted with butter or olive oil. It
would be terrific to use for stuffing at the holidays!

Dark Chocolate from Tanzania

Here are the first
pamphlets coming out from
Zingermans Press:
Secret #1 The Twelve Natural Laws of Business: A More
Organic Way to Operate?
The keys to running your organization in harmony with
human nature.
Secret #6 Revisiting the Power of Visioning: Why
Positive Futuring Really Works
An in depth look at just how amazingly powerful the
Zingermans visioning process can be.
Secret #7 Writing a Vision of Greatness: And Why Its
Not the Same as a Strategic Plan!
The basics of our approach to vision writing, including the
four elements of an effective vision at Zingermans.
Secret #9 An 8-Step Recipe for Writing a Vision of
Greatness; A Surefire Way to Get Clear on the Future
You Want
The recipe that weve used here at Zingermans for over
twenty years and taught to thousands around the country
and the world and which, through Shawn Askinosies work,
is now being assimilated into the activities of the Mababu
Cocoa Farmer Cooperative in Tanzania (see right).
Secret #19 Fixing the Energy Crisis in the American
Workplace: Why Ignoring the Natural Laws of Business
Is a Recipe for Big Trouble
How working in violation of the Natural Laws of Business
has created an energy crisis in the workplace and what we
can do to help restore the natural human energy, creativity
and intelligence of everyone in our organizations.
Secret #25 The Power of Personal Visioning: Applying
Natural Law #1 to the Business of Living
An in-depth essay on how to take Zingermans approach to
visioning and put it to work to help you create the life you
want to lead.
Secret #29 Twelve Tenets of Anarcho-Capitalism: How
to Make Money without Getting Hung Up on Hierarchy
A look at my views on how the tenets of anarchist thought
can be put to work in the world of progressive business.

Available at Zingermans Delicatessen and Coffee Co.

This has been one of my favorites for a long time now and
thanks to the good work that Shawn Askinosie is doingboth
in his chocolate-making and in helping people in needit has stayed right there
at the top of my list. Heck, at the rate
Shawns going its going to stay there
for a long time to come. Every year
both his work and the chocolate just
get better! And Shawns visit to Ann
Arbor earlier this yearto speak about
his work in the Third World and about
running a community focused business
along with tasting a lot of great chocolategot me even more
motivated to go out and spread the word about what he does.
Honestly, I love pretty much everything about this chocolate.
To start with, the flavor is fantastic. Its a bit lighter, softer and
more cocoa-y than most of our other dark chocolate bars. And
although it contains nothing but Tanzanian cacao (carefully
conched and finished at Shawns little chocolate factory in
Springfield, MO) and organic sugar, its flavor has a small hint
of cinnamon and a slight bit of some other specific spice that
I cant put my finger on. Shawn himself says it has hints of
tobacco. It really doesnt taste like any other chocolate that
Ive had.
Then theres the story. Shawn has very meaningfully changed
the lives of people in both Springfield and Tanzania. About ten
years ago, when, after two decades as a very successful trial
lawyer in Springfield, Shawn decided he wanted to spend the
second half of his work life doing something he was passionate
about, but something that also made a difference for people in
need. He chose chocolate, which hed loved his whole life.
He succeeded on all countsAskinosie chocolate is some
of THE best Ive had anywhere in the world. In each country
he goes to Shawn works very closely with the growers, getting to know them, teaching them about quality, paying back
bonuses to them based on the overall financial performance
of the Askinosie Chocolate Company. He does an exceptional
job of sourcing super high quality cacao, which contributes
enormously to the quality of the finished bar. Every one of his
bars is fantastic whether its the Honduras, the Davao from the
Philippines, or the bar made from Ecuadorian beans. Each has
its own unique flavor, and all are delicious. Im very high on
the El Rustico bar that hes been doing for us, to our recipe, for

(continued on next page)

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

(Aris favorites continued)

many years now. It has the same delicious dark chocolate from Tanzania but much more coarsely ground
than usual (more in the old style of the Aztecs), and
studded with snippets of Mexican vanilla bean.
At the top of my list right now is this Tenende chocolate bar from Tanzania. On this project, Shawn really
outdid himself. The work to make this bar started
with a project Shawn initiated with the inner city high
school thats located not far from his plant. It was literally a bunch of high school kids that we assigned a
project to figure out what country of origin we should
use for our next bar. The class was also sponsored by
Drury University and the college students were mentoring the high school students. All the students met
once a week for a year to work on it, and at the end
of the project they picked Tanzania as the country we
should source beans from. Then we worked together
to raise money to send the high school students
there. I told them from the beginning that we werent
just going to go there to travel but that we were going
to do something good for the people there. We raised
about $70,000 to pay for the travel and to dig a deep
water well for the village.
Eighteen months ago Shawn went to Tanzania for his
annual trip to meet with the growers. Among other
activities, he decided to put the visioning process
that hed learned here at Zingermans to work with
the growers. Im pretty sure its the first time anyone
in the world has done visioning work of that sort
with a group of rural cacao farmers (though some
coffee friends in Honduras have now as well, and
in November Ill be in Bratislava teaching visioning
to 50 non-profit leaders from around the world at a
conference put on by the Pontis Foundation).

Primo Grano Pasta

from the Abruzzo
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
Buying better pasta is one of the easiest ways I know to upgrade the quality of ones cooking (unless of course you dont eat pasta). Seriously, its
as simple as that. You just begin your cooking by buying better pasta and,
presto, your meal can go from a solid B to an A+. Im not overstating this.
Theres a big difference between the pretty good artisan brands they sell
in most upscale supermarkets and a handful of really, truly great artisan
pastas like this one. Its the difference between buying a pretty good farmhouse Cheddar and a piece cut from one of the matured wheels of Jamie
Montgomerys best cheeses. The depth, character, complexity and everything else just goes up a couple of notches. Are you going to suffer from
eating mass market pasta? Of course not. Its perfectly fine. But what Im
talking about here is taking your meal up from perfectly fine to pretty
darned fantastic at the cost of a couple of dollars.
The Primo Grano pasta from the family-owned Pastificio Rustichella in the
Abruzzo region of Italys east coast is one of a handful that can make that
happen. Its made from a special wheat that Gianluigi Peduzzi has spent
seven years developing in the interest of replicating the flavor of the grain
grown back when his father got the pasta factory going in the 1920s. As
with all the Rustichella pasta, the Primo Grano is mixed at cooler temperatures (protects the flavor of the wheat), extruded through the old style
bronze dies (rougher surface), and dried very slowly (48-60 hours to get
the proper texture in the bowl). I prefer to cook it very al dente, the better
to taste the wheat. And be sure to salt the pot liberally when youre cooking. Unsalted pasta is like unsalted potatoes. Something serious gets lost
for the cost of a few cents worth of salt.
Right now I think weve got the best collection of artisan pastas weve ever
had. Really its kind of an all-star line up, one that I think is probably not
quite understood in its entirety. Its all too easy to assume that whats on
the shelves at the Deli is only slightly better but a lot more expensive than
whats in the specialty section of the supermarket these days. But, I cant
say enough about how good these areMartelli and Morelli from Tuscany,
Faella from Gragnano, Rustichella from the Abruzzo and the others. For
anyone who loves pasta, a box of six or eight different pastas would be a
very special gift.

Heres what Shawn wrote me while he was there: We

had an afternoon session on a 10-year vision for the
Mababu Cocoa Farmer Cooperative. I set up the discussion by spending the morning touring farms with them
on bicycle, and then taught them how to make hot
cocoa on an open fire. By this point I knew them pretty
well. So I posed the following question to them to start
For more on what makes better pasta better see the chapter in
the conversation about a vision: When I come back
Zingermans Guide to Good Eating.
here 10 years from now, what will I see? They started
with an enthusiastic discussion right away. After which
they listed the following areas of visioned improvement: electricity, housing, transportation (motorbikes), trucks
to help transport beans, learning about the world thru TV and Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
media. Interestingly, it is not their goal to grow in size, but they Shawn came upon this amazing rice when we was working in
would like to diversify into other businesses. I asked them to Africa. Its considered the cream of the Tanzanian rice crop
write me a letter in Swahili by the time they ship our beans in and is held in high esteem throughout east Africa. In fact, its
October and that they all sign it. I was so excited that I had to so highly prized more of it is sold each year than is grown
text you at 6am your time with photo.
(which means of course that a great deal of other, less flavor-

Tanzanian Kyela Rice

When the group was finished, Shawn told me, Mr. Livingston,
one of the growers, spoke aloud to the group: Im an old
man,but this discussion makes me feel young again.
This summer Shawn was again in Tanzania where we took
up the visioning work again. The first time around theyd put
together a list of bullet points for what their vision would
include. But this time, their challenge was to give more detail
to what they dreamed of. Thats not an easy assignment when
one is used to mostly making it through the challenges of
the present moment. After a good bit of silence and uncertainty, Shawn took a tip out of the ZingTrain playbook and
said, Lets imagine that the door to this room is a magic door.
And that when we walk through that door were in the year
2024. Weve done the same with visioning hats when we
teach here in Ann Arbor. Its a good tool to help us all let go
of the present day struggles with which were used to engaging. After a few awkward moments, one of the growers got
up, looked around the room and said, I see my wife walking
around the market. And shes buying what she needs because
we have enough money to buy it. And she drove to the market in our automobile. And when she gets home she is happy
because we have a mattress. And we have a ceiling on our
house. Shawn said, there were tears in his eyes when he
said it, which isnt hard to imagine since there were tears in
mine as well when Shawn told me the story.
Shawns passion and good work is inspiring. He sets a high bar
for the rest of us. As he reminded us at his talk at ZingTrain in
September, Gandhi said to find yourself, lose yourself in the
service of others. Now that Ive been involved in this visioning thing I think it needs to be required at the United Nations
because I think it could contribute to world peace and elimination poverty.
For more on the visioning process that inspired Shawn and
Mr. Livingston, see Zingermans Guide to Good Leading, Part 1;
A Lapsed Anarchists Approach to Building a Great Business.
Or better still, come to ZingTrains 2-day Creating a Vision of
Greatness seminar on January 26-27. Ill be leading and well
be providing plenty of Tanzanian chocolate to everyone there
to stimulate your creative energies! Sign up at zingtrain.com.

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

ful rices are sold dishonestly as Kyela). Shawn worked to

bring this rice to the U.S. for the first time (to my k n o w l edge). A significant portion of the sale of each
bag goes to fund free lunches at the grade
school in the town.
Shawn explains, We ship the rice
to get leverage. One metric ton of
rice is about 10,000 meals when its
cooked. But by selling it here in the States
its over 200,000 meals! We are feeding
lunch to 1600 students a day with no donations. Its all sustainable. We have a sustainbility plan with the PTA in the village so that
every year they take over a little bit more.
My real dream is that 20 years from now
they dont even remember me.
From a culinary standpoint, the main thing is
that the rice is amazingly delicious. Weve been eating it a
couple times a week at my house for the last year. Its exceptionally aromatic. Its subtle and gentle, yet its flavor, to me,
is so profound that it can easily serve as the centerpiece of
your plate at dinner. Delicious on your table and definitely
making a very positive difference back in Tanzania.

Bottled Spanish Beans

from the Basque Country
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
Weve long loved the Piquillo peppers from the folks at El
Navarrico in the Spanish Basque Country. While there are
now more and more brands of Piquillos on the market, I
still think El Navarricos are among the best. Their Cristal
Peppersa different pepper, thinner skin and even more
deliciousare truly amazing. But peppers arent all that El
Navarrico has to offer. These deliciously creamy bottled
beans are pretty spectacular. I love to use them as the base
for a quick and nutritious meal. Theyre so good I could probably eat them almost every night.

A Special Class for Pasta Lovers

with a Pair of Italian Experts

The Ten Top Secrets

of Buying and
Cooking Great Pastas
Thursday, November 13
While millions of Americans have fallen love
with pasta over the last fifty years, only a tiny
percentage have learned the simple but critical tips that can take your pasta dishes from
OK to world class. For this special event were
super fortunate to have not one, but two,
of the powerhouses of the traditional pasta
world. Gianluigi Peduzzi is a third generation
pasta maker from the Abruzzo, whose Rustichella pasta line has long been one of THE
best in Italy and the U.S. At his side well have
chef, importer and pastalogist extraordinaire
Rolando Beremendi whose excellent palate
and passion for traditional Italian food have
significantly altered the food scene here in the
US. The two will talk history, pasta making and
share recipes and cooking tips of all sorts. If
you like pasta do not miss this class. Its guaranteed to take the quality your pasta cooking
up to the level of Italys best chefs.

Thinking back to my first visits to Spain over twenty years

ago, one of the things that really struck me about going to the
Boqueria (named, along with Zingermans Deli, by Food & Wine
as one of the top 25 food markets in the world) in Barcelona
was the deference with which dried beans are treated. After
fresh produce and fish, there were more bean stalls at the
Barcelona market than bakeries or cheese shops. In Spain its
generally accepted and very well understood by everyone that
pays attention to food that there are enormous quality differences among different beans. And that when you pay more for
a bean its because its a better bean. And when you pay a lot
for a bean, youre probably getting something exceptional,
which is what we have heresome of the best beans
were ever going to get to eat. In fact, from what Ive
been told Spaniards, take their beans so seriously its
actually illegal to sell dried beans that are over a year
old. Spanish home cooks typically know as much about
the beans they buy as wine aficionados know about what
theyre drinking. Alubias Blancas just means literally white
beans but the flavor is far more memorable than the moniker. Tender, flavorful, buttery. Try the alubias with sliced
chorizo or with morcilla (Spanish blood sausage). Or serve
them with sauted vegetables and a bit of tomato sauce.
And then there are the Judin. These big delicious white
beans are to most beans what super-aged mountain Gruyre
is to supermarket Swiss cheese. I know that its kind of weird
to think about beans as a food that could really be that good,
butthese are pretty darned exceptional.
The Judin are really bigmaybe up to 2 inches across. More
importantly theyre delicious; very creamy, very smooth,
and very flavorful. If you just cook them up as is with some
bay leaves and a few whole vegetables in the pot you can
serve them as a side dish dressed with olive oil and sea
salt. Theyre great in a pot of Judias con Chorizo, which is
a really nice bean stew seasoned with saffron, Pimentn de
la Vera smoked paprika, some jamn serrano, chorizo, red
wine and olive oil. Ive simmered them for a few minutes in
a chicken broth scented with saffron and served them with
sauted onion, celery, fennel and carrots. Add plenty of good
olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground Telicherry black pepper. Theyre fantastic too with tuna. Go with some of the tuna
from the Ortiz family whose work takes place only about an
hour to the northwest of El Navarrico.
Then theres the habas baby fritastender young broad
beans, first lightly pan-fried, then packed in olive oil. Theyre
a super special delicacy in Spain. I had them for the first
time decades ago. Theyre remarkably juicy, a bit meaty,
with a velvety, almost creamy mouth feel. Theyre tiny but

you almost want to eat just one at a time to savor its special
texture and flavor. Try them heated with chopped pancetta
for an interesting change from pasta. Great for salads! If you
want to eat well, pour a jar of them into a bowl, add a touch of
extra virgin olive oil and serve along with some Piquillo peppers, olives, Manchego cheese and slices of Spanish chorizo.

Bulgarian LuteniTsa
from Deroni
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
This stuff has been at the top of my personal consumption list
ever since we first got at the beginning of the year. The simple
truth is, its delicious, its incredibly versatile, its good for
you and its not expensive! Hard to believe all those could go
into one jar but. . . sure enough, Lutenitsa fills the bill! Barely
known outside of Bulgaria, I think lutenitsa could be the next
big thing here at Zingermans.
While hardly anyone here will have heard of it, every
Bulgarian Ive asked has lit up with excitement at its mere
mention. One Bulgarian expat in Chicago was so excited she
could barely contain herself. Anothera server in a smalltown Pennsylvania restaurantsmiled broadly and said, I
havent heard that in a long time. Even Deronis promo materials make the same point. Their lutenitsa, they assure you,
will wrap you with the warm embrace of your beloved grandmother, take you back in your smiling childhood and the forgotten smell of autumn, with the aroma of roasted peppers,
coming from the gardens of every Bulgarian house.
Im sure there are many brands and a few million grandmothers who all make lutenitsa in Bulgaria. Unable to import our
own Bulgarian grandmother (for the moment at leastIm
betting that this article will bring one out of the incredible
cultural woodwork that is Ann Arbor) weve settled on the
Deroni brand. Named after an ancient Thracian tribe who
thrived in the area centuries ago, the company is clearly

devoted to crafting super high quality vegetable products.

They do their own seed selection in house, run their own
nurseries and farm all their own fields for growing. Theyve
won multiple awards for their use of quality control systems
and for the flavor of their products.
Lutenitsa is made from roasted eggplant and
tomatoes, stewed and coarsely ground into a
thick spreadable sauce. Lutenitsa is akin to
ratatouille or caponata and Serbian ajvar,
and Bulgarians seemingly love to use it
on almost everything from sandwiches
to snacks to sauces. Its slightly but not
significantly spicyluto means spicy in
Bulgarian. Spread thickly onto a slice of that
sesame semolina bread its amazing!
Of course, given the fact few of us have a
Bulgarian grandmother and even fewer still
will have spent an autumn in front of a Bulgarian
fireplace full of roasting vegetables, we dont have those
emotional bonds. But I think Im starting to make them.
Spreading some lutenitsa on toast makes a terrific lunch
or snack. Great with feta cheese or goat cheese. Delicious
on pasta, with fish, meat or in scrambled eggs. Honestly, I
often just eat it right out of the jar. A great addition to your
pantry and everyday eating and as close to a Bulgarian
grandmother as youre probably going to get this week!

Special Slovenian Sea Salt

Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
A container of the special salt from the Eastern Adriatic has
been sitting on my kitchen table pretty much every day for the
last year. Well, to be more accurate, its hasnt been the same
container the whole time. We keep using it up and then going
back to the Deli to buy more.
Many Deli regulars will have become familiar with the wonders
of French Fleur de Sel over the years. Its something special, a
delicate treat of soft, still slightly damp, snowflake-like specks
of sea salt that are delicious sprinkled at the last minute atop
a salad, a bowl of freshly boiled potatoes or broiled fish. This
new arrival from Slovenia is the Adriatic alternativeequally
delicate, equally delicious but with a slightly different flavor
thats all its own. The name in Slovenian is Fior di Sale. Because

the minerals are different in each part of the sea, traditional

sun dried salt like this will have its own unique regional flavor.
Whether it comes from Western France or from the Slovenian
coast, the flor is the first formation of salt on the seawaters surface. Supply is inconsistent because formation of the
flor (or the fleur in France) is irregular. Some seasons you see
it, some you dont. They say that on the days when its being
formed you can see the flor sparkling in the water as the
afternoon sun hits it. The salt does actually float on top of the
seawater but under certain conditions: the winds and water
movement and (lack of) rain must all be perfectly aligned to
allow the thin natural sheets of salt to form atop the water. In
the years when its there, the fleur is skimmed off the top with
thin wooden paddles within hours of being formed.
I havent yet been to visit the Slovenian salt flats yet but I
sorely want to go. Everyone who has been sings their praises.
If you do go theres a salt museum and you can take tours
of the salt workers huts. The salt itself is also beautiful. Its
taken from the small but important Slovenian coast near the
old medieval town of Piran. A few years ago the government
set up a national park to surround whats left of the centuries
old salt works that once dotted the entire coastline. The Piran
salt pans are important for the local wildlife . Rare birds regularly nest there and marine life like brown shrimp live in the
extremely salty water (and are known as extremophiles
good name for a band too, Im thinking).
While we here in North America take salt for granted today, it
wasnt always that way. Salt was essential to eating and preserving and much of the world had only minimal access to
it. Without salt people couldnt cure, pickle or preserve anything. The 15th to 18th centuries were pretty much the golden
age of salt making in Slovenia. The region was ruled by Venice
and Venetian vessels carried the salt to be traded around the
Mediterranean.
Sea salt, remember, was always seasonal. You only got it in
the summer. There wasnt enough warmth and sun in the winter. Salt workers would go back to farming in the fall. This
dual career path is referred to in Slovenia as sitting on two
chairs. Its not easy work. Starting in the spring, the salt
workers pull tons of sea water laden mud from the pools.
Most work straight through from before sunrise til after dark.
Workers typically lived on the second floor looking over the
salt flats. In an age where weather reports were only intuitive, being higher up off the ground made it easier to spot

(continued on next page)

Sweet Celebrations: Traditionally Made Treats

from Zingerman's Candy Manufactory
Both brittles available at Zingermans Bakehouse,
Creamery, Coffee Co., Roadhouse and Delicatessen

Peanut BritTle
available at Zingermans Bakehouse,
Creamery and Coffee Co.
Im particularly excited about this still relatively recent
arrival on our sweets scene. Were about two years into
making it at our Candy Manufactory and the more candymaker Charlie Frank works on tweaking the recipe, the better it gets.
For many decades now Ive felt like halvah was an unhappy
holdout from an earlier era. Weve improved the quality of
so many traditional Deli dishes over the decades. But halvah was sort of just staying silent in the background, available in the same sort of commercial version wed been buying since we opened. Happily now we can finally turn the
page on that halvah. What Charlie is making in his candy
kitchen is so much better.
Recently, I took a few pounds with me on the plane to serve
at this years Longhouse Food Revival in upstate New York.
Its a one-of-a-kind eventabout 150 food writers, chefs,
bakers, and assorted serious food folks from around the
country getting together at an historic barn owned by long
time cookbook author and New York Times food writer
Molly ONeill.
Which is why their near universal love for the blocks of
freshly made halvah that Id carried with me in my suitcase
from Ann Arbor was so gratifying. This was a collection of
highly placed culinarians, and they loved it. One told me
she was addicted and had gone back for more six times
at breakfast alone. Another, whos been teaching cooking
classes for decades, sought me out as we were leaving to
tell me it was one of the highlights of her weekend. Literally

dozens of others came by to comment to me on how much

they liked it.
They were raving for good reasonthe stuff really is seriously delicious. Sweet for sure. Halvah by definition has a
fair bit of sugar. But what I like is that it tastes most especially
of the freshly ground toasted sesame seeds, lightly toasted
and then ground at the Candy Manufactory. The ground sesame is mixed with some old-style, full-flavored Muscovado
brown sugar and some Michigan wildflower honey.
Because its so flavorful, a small sliver goes a long way. Put
a block of it out after dinner and let your guests nibble at
their leisure. It has also turned out to be a great accompaniment to cheese. Its sweet nuttiness is an excellent
compliment to creamy flavors. Very good crumbled atop
gelato. Or delicious for breakfast (or dessert for that matter) in a small grilled sandwich of chocolate and halvah.
Oh yeah, lest I forget, I love it with an espresso. If youre
feeling bold, just drop a small bit of the halvah right into
you hot coffee. Let it melt into the hot brew and you get a
really delicious, slightly sweet, slightly nutty, enticing and
amazing cup of coffee.
To make the magic happen even more easily, Zingermans
Coffee Company on Plaza Drive in Ann Arbor is now serving up a small sliver of halvah gratis every time you order
an espresso! Delicious! Makes my day better just thinking
about it!!

So special that even Oprah has taken up the causethey

wrote it up in O, The Oprah Magazine. As they put it, This
light, airy, crunchy confection, hand made in small batches,
features all the deep butterscotch flavor of traditional brittle but none of the teeth-cracking stickiness. Thats a pretty
darned good description. Im not typically a sweet eater or a
peanut person but I love this stuff. Its a great combination of
slightly sweet, slightly sea-salty with a nice dark toast on it.
In fact, as with the hearth baked breads from the Bakehouse
where I love super dark crusts (that most of the world would
mistakenly turn down as burned) Im partial towards the
much darker roasts here as well. In most peanut brittles its
the sugar that dominates but with Charlies you really can
taste the difference. Its about the Jumbo Runner peanuts set
into a background of butterscotch caramelized sugar.
The peanut brittle is terrific just as it is out of the package
but you can break it up atop ice cream for a great sundae or
add bits of brittle to trail mix. I knew we were onto something when Charlie first came out with this stuff and one of
the first customers who tried ita guy who watches what he
eats and I know from experience has a very good palate
wrote to tell me he ate the whole package in one setting.

Chocolate Covered
Peanut BriTtle
What could make that amazing peanut brittle even better? A
thin layer of dark chocolate! Yes, its truebuttery peanuts,
a touch of sea salt and enough dark chocolate to add a bit of
lovely bitterness to the mix.

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

(aris favorites continued)

weather fronts moving in allowing for last minute rescue

work to save the salt from the rain.
The pools were historically powered by windmills as the
seawater passed over a series of ever shallower dykes.
Using traditional techniques each salt worker can produce
about 5 tons each day, but the season only goes for about
three months. Last year only about 25 tons of the salt
flower was produced (and about 6000 tons of traditional
sea salt altogether). In the year 2000, there was no salt
at all. It rained too much! Its said that the best salt from
Piran comes only when there are 40 days straight with no
rain (the opposite of Noahs ark adventure) and where
temperatures are over 30C every day. Im waiting for that
to happen so I can try the salt. In the mean time Im going
to head back to my kitchen table and sprinkle a bit on my
salad and some steamed Yukon Gold potatoes to get this
evenings meal off to an elegant and excellent start. Each
salt flake is something special. As the Slovenians say, its
a small bit of the sea that could not return to the sky.

Royal Olive Oil from Spain

Another of my top oil picks of this harvest season. So
good, I keep sneaking back over to the sample shelf at the
Deli to dip a bit more bread in and have another bite.
Just to be clear in the copy since theres no way youd
know from just reading it, Royal here should be said in
Spanish, not in English, as in Roy-al with the Al like it
would be someones name. And it refers not any kind of
imperial court, but rather to a very old olive varietal from
Southern Spain. The truth is the oil is so good it would
well warrant getting a royal seal of some sort so you could
just use the word here as something of a edible double
entendre.
Anyways, all those fairly irrelevant etymological exercises
aside, I think I first tasted this oil from the Vao family at
the Alimentaria show in Barcelona four or five years ago.
Their Castillo de Canena Picual oil, which weve been carrying for a while now, was already one of my favorites.
It is very tasty,
big,
with
a
pretty
bold,
long-lasting flavor and very clean
and pleasant finish. The
Royal oil is right there
with itvery different
set of flavors but all the
good work that goes into
the agronomy, the picking
and the pressing are making for
a second, different but equally
excellent oil.
The Vaos farm and
press is in the town of
Canena, in the district
of Jaen, in Southern
Spain. The land is in the
Guadalquiver
Valley,
running
along
the
Guadiana Menor River
so the trees are drawing water naturally in that way. Written documentation
of the familys ownership of the land dates to 1780. The
castle itself was built in the first half of the 16th century,
designed by Francisco de los Cobos who was the Secretary
of Emperor Charles V.
When I first met Francesco and Rosa Vao they mentioned
that they were working on this oil. They hadnt yet sold
any, but they were starting to give tastes to good customers to let them know it was coming. The Royals history
is even older than the Vaos link to their land. Rosa told
me that the Royal predates the Picual in the Jaen area.
Its little known outside the area and it seems that hardly
anyone grows it anymore. To my (limited, of course) knowledge no one other the Castillo de Canena is bottling it as a
straight varietal. As with so many of the old olive types, the
yields on the Royal are low. Its harder to grow and harder
to harvest, so, not shockingly, there are fewer and fewer of
the trees left. The Vaos found some up in the mountains and
replanted them on their land at Canena a number of years
ago. Today they have about 45 acres of Royal planted. (For
context there about 6,000,000 total acres of olives planted
in the country.)
There are about 3600 Royal trees on that acreage which combined to produce about 4000 bottles of oil total last year.
The olives are handpicked early in the season so that the flavors and polyphenols are high. Last years harvest took place
on November 19th and 20th. The Vaos manage the whole
process on the farmgrowing, harvesting, and pressing is all

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

A Quartet of Compelling Grains

Available at Zingermans Delicatessen and
some are on the menu at the Roadhouse

What Glenn Roberts is doing for the world of old school, traditional rice, grains and beans is remarkable. Just as Shawn
Askinosie is changing lives in Tanzania, Glenn is altering the approach of caring growers, cooks and consumers all over the
country. His work is something wonderful and Im honored that we get to be a part of it here at Zingermans.
Glenns adamant insistence on old seed varieties, on traditional growing techniques, on proper storage to preserve delicate flavors and on adhering to historically sound recipes is emotionally and culinarily inspiring. The man has done more
for the world of cured corn than anyone else I know of. If youve enjoyed the grits at the Roadhouse or the Deli, or had a
bit of the amazing Carolina Gold rice at the Roadhouse, youve already tried some of Glenns beyond-great handiwork. This
fall the folks at the Deli have brought in four equally exceptional new offerings from Glenn and everyone at Anson Mills.
Each would be a great way to enhance your holiday cooking! Try them all. I know I plan to! They just might change your
views on what rice, corn and peas are all about!

Sea Island Red Peas

Jimmy Red Grits

If you want to eat old school pre-industrial Hoppin John,

these red peas are one of the key ingredients. Ruddy, small
and packed with explosive flavors, Sea Island Red Peas represent the variety of heirloom field peas that were eaten up
and down the Carolina coast back before the 20th century
push to standardization shunted them aside. As Glenn says,
They express the vigor of their African diversity with stunning and unique flavor and umami characteristics matched
by exceptional nutrition. Sea Island Red Peas cook to a
sweet, creamy richness. Outstanding when smoked pork
enters their world, Sea Island Peas reach maximum appeal
ladled over a bowl of Carolina Gold Rice Grits. Anson Mills
is proud to bring the companion crops of rice and peas
back into Charleston regional farming drawing comforting
flavors from the 17th century into the 21st. Hard to argue
with that! These Sea Island Red Peas are a simple and delicious way to upgrade the quality of your autumn eating
while honoring centuries-old culinary traditions.

The white grits we get from Glennmade from a 19thcentury varietal called Carolina Gourdseedare already
amazingly good. These Jimmy Red grits are even more special still. The Jimmy Red is a legendary, hand-selected
corn from a single farm family from James Island, South
Carolina. The corns origins date to the 19th century and
through the vagaries and uncertainties of industrialization
it barely survived into the 21st century. Jimmy Red was a
native corn from the Georgia midlands and eventually
made its way north to the Charleston lowcountry. As Glenn
explained, Jimmy Red is a classic Southern dent corn that
grows nearly 14 tall. The kernels of Jimmy Red corn on the
best ears are so deeply red that they look nearly black. Its
distinctive, deep corn flavor is emblematic of the cooking
of Carolinas Sea Islands. Jimmy Red Grits soaked overnight then cooked very slowly on low heat in just water,
Sea Island style, Glenn says, develop distinctive minerality, deep nuttiness, nuances of honey, dairy and sweet corn
with fragrances of mixed dried fruits. Let me emphasize
Glenns comment on long, slow cooking. You will do well to
simmer them for three, four or more hours.
One other notetheres no need to use cream or milk with
these great grits. The corn flavor will merely be masked by
the addition of all that dairy. Id finish them with some good
butter, hot bacon fat, or even a little olive oil, and a good
bit of freshly ground pepper. An exceptional taste of the
traditional South.

Laurel-Aged Charleston Gold Rice

Glenn calls this, A love child of our famed Carolina Gold
Rice and a lost rice called Charleston Long. Clearly his
poetic prowess is as high as his work with old school agriculture. While the amazing Carolina Gold rice we serve
every day at the Roadhouse is a medium grain, its cousin,
the Charleston Gold, is a beautifully perfumed long-grain.
To make this rice Glenn and his group store it with wild red
bay laurel leaves for three years at ambient temperature.
The rice ages through the heat of summer and the chill
(Charleston style, of course) of winter.
As Glenn says, The Laurel-Aged Charleston Gold Rice possesses rare and assertive grain-for-grain characteristics
and lovely aromatics similar to the famous aged basmati
rices of India. The style and foodways form of LaurelAged Charleston Gold Rice persists from early settlement
in Charlestowne, Carolina, where farmers stored multiple
seasons of seed reserves against catastrophic weather
events like hurricanes, called freshets during our Colonial
era, in seal tight barrels with laurel leaves to prevent loss
of vigor.
The aging dries the rice and brings the aromas of the wild
bay leaves into each grain. The drying means that the rice
will absorb more broth as it cooks, adding to the richness
of the finished rice when you serve it. And in this case,
the aromatics of the bay leaves will perfume your entire
kitchen. A powerfully good side dish for poultry, fish or
pork, or vegetables.

done on site and they use only their own olives. The olives
are pressed within three hours of picking. Theyre very into
sustainable growing and have done a lot of work with solar
power on the farm. Not a bad idea in the very hot and very
sunny Andalucia.
Having tasted and retasted the Royal oil about fifteen times
in the last few weeks, I can say with high confidence that
I really like it. Its already won a few awards for whatever
thats worth. Its got that rare combination of both buttery
and peppery that I really love. Vanessa Sly says Its a very
sexy oil and I think shes right. Ive been using it a lot. The
fact that I keep going back to it when I could be using any
of the other ten oils Ive got at my house on all the good
tomatoes from the market is probably telling. And Im putting it on toasted Paesano bread. And on salads. It would
be very good on what I think is a really great September

China Black Rice

Ji Hye Kim, the woman behind our San Street food cart, has
been serving this regularly at our San St. pop ups on Sunday
night and in our catering work and I think its fantastic.
The rice arrived in the U.S. about two hundred years ago,
possibly with Chinese forced laborers who came into this
country from South America. China Black was rice given as
tribute to the Emperor as part of the government tax system. Short grain, mildly aromatic, diminutive with a natural
stickiness that makes it great for porridge cooking as well
as for serving as a side dish. Glenn says that, a simple and
beautiful syrup emanates from each kernel during cooking. Its aroma hints of black cherry and stone fruit, and
maybe a little bit of vanilla. Stunningly beautiful with a
stark black sheen. It looks so good I almost dont want to
cook it. Dont let my hesitation hold you up. We have plenty
on hand and it will likely be a wildly welcomed discussion
point on your holiday table.

bruschettagrilled or toasted Bakehouse bread, plenty of oil

and then really ripe fresh peaches, pears, apples or plums.
The combination might sound odd if you havent had it but
it really is a great way to end a meal without eating any processed sugar. If you want to skip the bread (I wouldnt) the oil
would be good right on the fruit as well.
PS: I should mention that the Canena Royal oil comes in
a really great bottle. It doesnt look like any other offering
Ive seen so Im not sure where the Vaos got it. Original
black bottle with white xerography is how they describe it.
Cylindrically shaped black glass with a lot of right angles in its
shoulders, it reminds me a bit of those padded-shoulder 60s
suits worn by the stylin sales guys in Madmen. None of which,
of course, makes the oil taste any better but does make it nice
to look at on the counter and also a really good gift.

Terrific New Olive Oil

from Turkey
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
Ive been looking for a great olive oil from
Turkey for probably twenty years now.
I knew there had to be one. Clearly,
Turkey has the same longstanding
relationship with olive oil as every
other country in the Mediterranean.
Every six months or so someone
would send a sample my way and
my hopes would rise. But sadly, my
optimism was dashed every time.
Big promises were followed by farfrom-great flavor.
All that changed one night last spring
when I was working on the floor at the
Roadhouse. A guest stopped me to tell me how much shed
been enjoying our food. She was visiting from Turkey and
had been in to all of the businesses many times over the
course of her short stay. It turns out that she teaches cooking in Turkey and had come here to do the same. Excited, we
talked some about food and cooking in general. And then, a
few minutes in, I decided Id take another shot at finding that
elusively excellent olive oil from Turkey. Id be glad to help
you, she said quite calmly. Her name was Banu Ozden, and,
it turns out, she has an impressive educational background
both in the U.S. and in Turkey. I have friends who have a
company that sells very good Turkish olive oil, she told me.
I was encouraged, but Id been let down far too many times
to get carried away.
Four weeks later the sample arrived. I opened it anxiously,
not wanting to have my high hopes dashed yet again. But this
time really was different. Banu was right. The oil was very
good! By far the best Turkish olive oil Ive had in all my years
of tasting. Her friends at Nar Gourmet, from whom were getting it, are doing all the right things with picking and early
pressing to produce a high quality oil. And, to make the oil
particularly special, its made from the Ayvalik varietal which
is unique to Turkey. The oil itself is full-flavored, modestly
peppery, green without being as extreme as the Crudo I wrote
about a few pages back. A touch of green tomato in the middle, maybe a hint of almond in the flavor and a lovely olivey
aroma up front!
Finally, weve found a Turkish oil that we can proudly present!! I hope youll have a taste and experience the fine flavor of one of the Mediterraneans longest standing olive
oil producers. Im excited about the other products well
soon be getting from the same sources. Stay tuned to
Turkeygood things and good flavors are on our horizon!

Goose Broth with Matzo Balls

at the Bakehouse

This one isnt really

new but I love it so much
Im gonna squeeze it in here
anyways. I justify my decision with the knowledge
that although this amazing soup has been around
the Bakehouse for a bit, Im
pretty sure its still going to be
new to most of you! This soup is true to
its Hungarian Jewish roots its particularly important to share
the word on it because Im pretty sure the Bakehouse is the
only place around here that you can be confident of getting
goose broth made from scratch. And Im equally confident
that once you try it youll see why its been such a staple of
Hungarian Jewish eating for so many centuries.
Its excellence hasnt been going unnoticed. Six or seven times
in the last few months someone has told me that this was one
of the best soups theyd ever had anywhere. I concur with
our guests. Ive been eating it regularly since we started making it a few months ago. I know, I know, goose soup sounds
more like something from Dr. Seuss. But of course a dish that
seems exceedingly odd away from where its regularly eaten,
is down to earth, barely remarkable, everyday food in its
homeland. This soup is one of those.
Here in the U.S. most of the Jewish community eats chicken
chicken broth, chicken liver, roast chicken. But for Hungarian
Jews, chickens are at best a second rate option. The most
prized poultry over there has long been goose. The raising

of geese was one of the primary responsibilities of Jewish

wives in Eastern Europe. And the tradition of eating foie
gras is often credited to the work of Medieval Jews. There
are records of 11th and 12th century rabbinical arguments
over the ethical role of force-feeding geese that long predate the modern day discussions about the same subject.
(Many moved to Israel in the 20th century and get credit for
starting the Israeli foie gras industry.) Geese were historically fattened in the fall so that they could be slaughtered
before Chanukah (and Ill point out much the same seasonal
cycle of slaughter was used for pigs in the Christian community). Goose feathers were also of great import. The finest
were used to make quills for writing, the rest gathered and
used for stuffing comforters and pillows. Featherbeds were
highly valued and passed down from one generation to the
next. From a food standpoint the fat was highly prized. It was
known for being particularly creamy with a low melting point
that made it easy to cook with.

charcuterie you could probably best describe Nduja as a

spicy kind of Calabrian pork rillettes. Ive seen someone else
say that it is to pork what Nutella is to chocolate. If the Velvet
Underground had been eating it, the song might have been
titled White Light, Red Heat.

All of which will help, I hope, explain why in Budapest, ordering a bowl of goose broth with matzo balls is about as normal
as buying chicken soup here at the Deli. The goose broth is
part of our ongoing focus at the Bakehouse on Hungarian
foods. Along with the goose soup, we have a whole range
of rtes (ray-tesh, aka, strudel), tortes (like Dobos and Rig
Jansci), small pastries (flodni and kifli). All have honestly
been hugely excellent. Dont miss fried Lngos (the classic fried bread of Hungarian street carts) on Tuesday and
Saturday.

Aura Solanales Hot Sauce

from the Brinery

We make the goose broth in pretty much the same way one
would Jewish chicken soupgoose simmered with carrots,
onions, but with the uniquely Hungarian addition of dried
mushrooms, a bit of ground ginger and a touch of ground
nutmeg. The matzo balls have been marvelous as wellseasoned with fresh parsley and ground ginger and more goose
fat. You can find it on Fridays at the Bakehouse. Like chicken
soup, its most prominently eaten as part of the Sabbath meal
on Friday night or Saturday afternoon. But its delicious any
time. Ive been buying it by the pint and taking it home to
heat up. On occasion I add a bit of rice or a few egg noodles
when I warm it up. You can come by the Bakeshop (3711 Plaza
Drive) on Friday at lunch and leave feeling about fifteen
times calmer and more satisfied. It wont make world peace
but it will make you feel good!

NdujaSuper Spicy,
Spreadable Calabrian
Style Salami
Available at Zingermans Delicatessen
Over the years weve done a
pretty darned good job of
getting the great foods of
the world to Ann Arbor. But
this is one of the ones that
all my wishing, hoping and
wistful memories couldnt
make appear. Ive been
wanting to make Nduja
part of my regular eating routine ever since I first encountered it in Calabria
five or six years ago. I use the word encounter
intentionally. Eating Nduja is not an insignificant
experience. If you eat some casually at a party, I
pretty much guarantee youll remember it. Like the
Velvet Underground in its heyday, theres nothing like
Nduja on the market. Like the Velvets, Nduja isnt for
everyone. Its anything but middle of the road and its
not something to put out for folks who arent up for
eating on edge of exceptional (unless theyre your cousins from Calabria, in which case, Nduja is as comfortable
as an old sweater). Spicy, slightly sweet, buttery, powerfully
porky yet as smooth in texture as homemade strawberry jam,
Nduja is, almost inconceivably, both subtle and strong at the
same time. And like the Velvets, if you like it, youll remember
it and return to it regularly (as I have) for the rest of your life.
To get clear on the name, its pronounced en-doo-yah. Its
part of a little known subset of the Italian salami world called
salami dal spalmare, or spreadable salamis. In Calabria,
Nduja is every day fare. It shows up everywhere there, but
Ive almost never seen it anywhere else. Until now! Its made
by finely grinding pork fat and meat, seasoning it with lots of
spicy Calabrian chiles, and then aging the paste in a casing.
If you dont know Calabria, its remarkable for being one of
the poorest of Italys provinces, and also because its really
the only region of Italy where almost everyone thrives on
super spicy food. Chiles in Calabria are as commonplace
as they are in Central America. The area around the city of
Spilling is the ancestral seat of Nduja. Peppers arrived there
from the Western Hemisphere in the 16th century, around
the same time as tomatoes. If youre familiar with French

What do you do with Nduja? Almost anything really. Let it

come to room temperature to soften a bit and let the full flavor come out. I spread it on toast. Add a spoonful or two to
an omelet. You could probably crumble a bit of it atop a pasta
dish. But more than anything I just eat it with bread and other
antipastisome cheese, some cured vegetables, some olives.

Available at Zingermans Delicatessen

Speaking of spicy and hot, heres a super good new hot sauce
from Ann Arbors own The Brinery. Its quite delicious and
addictively so. Fruity, light, glowing good flavor all bottled up
after spending most of the year aging in wood barrels!
Ironically, the only reason I know about this local hot sauce
is not because Im so on top of food trends or have my finger
on everything that happens in the Deli. I didnt read about it
in a trade journal and I didnt even spot it on our shelves. The
truth is that Aura Solanales came to my attention because
one of our regular customers4-year old Eli Genisiosuddenly started dancing around the Deli with a big smile on his
face. Unsure of what had happened to evoke such a spontaneous outburst of happiness, I looked to his mother, Cara,
who was standing nearby. Its the hot sauce, she said smiling
and pointing to a beautiful hand done poster hanging over
the Delis meat case that showed the Aura Solanales label.
Every time he sees that sauce he starts laughing and doing
this dance! He loves it!
Mind you, weve been in the New York Times, had presidential
visits, and we even had a visit this year from Itzhak Perlman.
But I think in all our thirty-two (nearly thirty-three now)
years in business, thats the first time weve had a customer
make up a dance in honor of one of our products. That might
be all the endorsement you need! A spicy hot sauce
made by a great local company that a 4-year-old
loves so much it sends him into a dance routine that resembles the whirling dervishes. But
while there is a dance involved, this sauce is
not all flash. Theres a whole bunch of solidly
substantive stuff involved that makes the sauce
so special.
Backing up a bit, I first met David Klingenberger
when he was working at Tantr Farms. Wed talk vegetables every week at the Farmers Market. Davids passion,
poetic presentation and powerful personality became a highlight of my Saturday mornings. A few years later he opened
the Brinery to take his passion for pickling and traditional
fermentation techniques to the next level. His work has been
amazing. Every one of the Brinery products is exceptional.
We sell many of them at the Deli and happily so.
The Aura Solanales hot sauce is the latest in whats now a long
string of great, beautifully fermented hits! The name of the
sauce comes from aura as in the energy or atmosphere that
surrounds a person or a place. Its what we at Zingermans
regularly refer to as energy. Daves is exceptionally positive
and so is that of everything he makes. Solanales is an order
of flowering plants in the nightshade family of which peppers
are one of the more prominent members. I like it!
The sauce is made from six different peppers that David barrel ferments togetherHungarians, Jalapeos, Cayennes,
Cherry Bombs, Thai chiles and Habeneros. The peppers
are all mashed and then aged for eight months before
they get blended in with vinegar and garlic. The sauce is
light, vinegar-based. As David says, We consider Aura
Solanales a Louisiana-style, akin to Franks or Tabasco.
The flavor is fantastic. If you like even moderate heat,
youll love this one. In fact, you might follow Elis lead
and start dancing every time you see it come to the table!

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

Holiday Gifts fro

New DEli
CoFfeEcake

mail Order
Exclusive!

Introducing the New Deli crumbcake! Its size, shape and

topping are akin to ourBlueberry Buckle: moist crumb made
with lots of sweet butter and topped with a butter-crumble
crust. The flavor is far from American. For inspiration, we
took our cues from the subcontinent and devised a recipe
thats imbued with the exotic flavors and aromas of India:
pistachio, cardamom, ginger, clove and even a little coconut.
The result is a crumbly, sweet, exotic and slightly spicy coffeecake to make your mornings more interesting. Let your
taste buds travel without ever leaving home!
FREE SHIPPING

The Weekender

This is a great all-purpose gift, built from foods the recipient

can snack on right out of the box. Whatever the occasion,
folks will dig right in. This colorful cartooned gift box is
filled with a loaf of Zingermans Artisan Bread, a couple of
Brownies (Walnut-studded Magic Brownie and a Caramel
Dulce de Leche Buenos Aires Brownie), La Quercias Borsellino
Salami, Zingermans Peanut Brittle, a half pound of our
Noreaster Cabot Cheddar and a nosher-sized version of our
extremely popular, extremely goodSourcream Coffeecake.

ChOColate
Covered
PEanut BriTtLe
from Zingermans Candy Manufactory
Start with our flavor-charged classic peanut brittle made in
small batches by Zingermans Candy Manufactory. Its made
with Jumbo Runner peanuts and has a texture that looks
silky but shatters into crisp shards with each bite.Now cover
those tempting pieces with dark chocolate and the flavor
takes another boost. This is stovetop brittle with butterscotch-brown flavor, sharp, crackly texture inside, and rich,
luscious chocolate on the outside. If theres a product that
stands on the launchpad ready to shoot into the stratosphere
of popularity, its this one.

Lebkuchen

GelatO
FROM Zingermans Creamery

Thick, creamy, elegant, luscious. Eating gelato is an

event, a special occasion that borders on a religious
experience for ice cream connoisseurs. At Zingermans
Creamery, gelato maker Josh mixes fresh milk from
Calder Dairyone of the last farmstead dairies in
Michiganwith organic Demerara sugar and an array
of other great ingredients to churn out this Italian-style
ice cream with direct, intense flavors. Made in small
batches, shipped directly from our Creamery.
FREE SHIPPING

ChrIstmaS
GOodies Box

This box probably wont fit into their stocking, but its so
good lookingand tastywhy hide it in a stocking at all?
Make everyone jealous by sending our round wooden
gift box filled with aZzang! Original Handmade Candy
bar, our mini Hot Cocoa Coffeecake,Spanish Chocolatecovered Figs, a half pound of our Noreaster Cheddar, a
smallZingermans Stollen,Spiced Pecansand a loaf of
ourChocolate Sourdough Bread.

Fancy Schmancy
COokie Box
from Zingermans Bakehouse
This gift box has three different styles of Christmas cookies baked with all-natural ingredients and gift-boxed at
Zingermans Bakehouse. Makes a great host gift. Toasted Pecan Butter Balls, Pfeffernsse Spice Cookies, and
Chocolate Cherry Chewies with Valrhona Chocolate and
dried cherries.
18 COOKIE GIFT BOX

Sandy Lee fell in love with lebkuchen, the traditional

German Christmas cookie, while living in Berlin. She became
obsessed, learning all she could about them before returning to the States and starting her own lebkuchen bakery.
The recipe dates back to Medieval times and has many steps.
The dough is made from almond and hazelnut flours, whole
almonds, egg whites, honey, marzipan and a bevy of spices.
The dense dough rests for nearly a day before heading to
the oven. The finished cookies are hand glazed and studded
with almonds (classic variety) or cloaked in dark chocolate.
You will find three classic and two chocolate cookies in this
fire engine red tin. Each is about four inches across and an
inch tall. Theyre thick, moist, slightly spicy, sweet and very
nutty. The consistency is a cross between cake and marzipan, making them the perfect after dinner treat with coffee
or tea. Although traditionally intended to keep for months,
I think these treats will only last a few days (or hours!) at
your house. A cookie with history, a perfect gift for anyone
on your list.
5 COOKIE TIN, 1 LB

Sugar Plums

We all know the line fromThe Night Before

Christmas. If youre like me, though, and
grew up with sugarplums nowhere in sight,
you might have thought the kids were hallucinating, not dreaming of dessert.
Let me assure you theyre real. Greengage
plums are harvested in Portugal in late summer then submerged in sugar syrup, where
they rest for six weeks, slowly absorbing
sweetness. Finally, theyre laid in the sun to
dry. The long, complex processsimilar to
what happens withMarrons Glacsmakes a
candied plum. These are slightly sweet, green
and fuzzy on the outside like a peach. They
have a pit, so watch out. Remarkably, the texture is firm, like a fruit youve just picked. An
English and Portuguese tradition thats very
difficult to find in the United States. Packed
in a round wooden crate.
9 PLUMS PER BOX

Call 888 636 8162 HOLIDAY HOURS 8am-12

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

om zingermans.com!

Were answering
phones 24/7
beginning Dec 1!
888.636.8162

Bacon Club

Michael Symon, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay. Theyve all lauded our bacon club. Even vegetarians have joined in: six to date. Thats how many I know personally whove fallen off the
bandwagon thanks to the bacon from this club. Im not using that as a proposal for torturing anyone. Im just saying any food thats so good it can break a strong will has to be
worth trying. Well ship to the lucky recipient each month, just in time for weekend frying.
Each shipment contains 12 to 16 ounces of artisan bacon, bacon stories, histories and recipes.
Bonus! Free Bacon Booklet keepsake primer and awesome Pig Magnet with first club shipment.
3- AND 6-MONTH INSTALLMENTS, FREE SHIPPING

BANana BreaD
from Zingermans Bakehouse

ChANukah Gelt

Like our hugely popular sourcream coffeecake and magic

brownies, banana bread instantly conjures up nostalgia for
home baking. The thing is, this loaf tastes better than what mom
used to make (no offense intended, moms, its just hard to beat
our Bakehouse). There are no nuts in this loaf, just the classic
charms: flour, cane sugar, real butter and fresh eggs, a touch
of Madagascar vanilla and two freshly peeled bananas per loaf.
Wrapped in tissue, each loaf comes packed in its own colorfully
illustrated box.

The best tasting-and most authentic-looking gelt Ive ever

encountered. Gold and silver dusted disks (no foil wrapping
here) from Veruca Chocolates in Chicago are formed to look
like Judean coins circa 40 B.C. The real treasure is their flavor: dark chocolate with crunchy crystals of sea salt, an adult
balance of sweet and savory. A great gift for every day of
Chanukah. Kosher.

ALSO AVAILABLE IN DOUBLY ADDICTIVE CHOCOLATE.

16 PIECE BOX

Vintage Fruitcake

Full disclosure: the price on this cake may cause sticker shock. Where most fruit cakes are cheap, somewhat industrial and terrible, this is another species altogether. Its by far the best of its kind Ive ever tried. Robert Lambert
explains, The recipe is British, Victorian era. Its based on my grandmother Florias cakes, but instead of the storebought glaced fruits she used, I make my own candied fruit. He chooses blood oranges, bergamots, Rangpur limes
and more, many that he picks himself. Each cake is soaked in cognac and aged for a few months, then garnished
with a slice of candied lemon and a bay leaf, all wrapped gently in cheese cloth.A slice cut thin while the cake is
coolhe recommends serving it chilledlooks like a stained glass window and tastes fresh, clean and lively. Each
cake is about six inches long, comes in a muslin bag with a drawstring, and serves 8 to 10.

StolLEn
FROM Zingermans Bakehouse

Our delicious German-style cake is a long-standing Zingermans tradition for folks looking for unique dessert ideas, great gifts and
fine food for weekend brunch. If you havent had Stollen
before and wonder what all the fuss is about, just take
a look at the ingredient list: real butter, Bacardi
white rum, glaced lemons, oranges, cherries, fresh
lemon and orange zest, fresh lemon juice, currants,
almonds, golden raisins, Red Flame raisins, organic Mexican vanilla beans and our very scent-sual
Indonesian cinnamon. Toasted and spread with a little
sweet butter, its delicious and is perhaps rivaled only
by our owncoffeecakeas a great afternoon snack cake.
Each Stollen comes gift boxed and, barring extensive
snacking, lasts for weeks.

Chocolate
Menorah

Weve been hunting for Chanukah gifts like these for years
and we finally found this Kosher work of art from master
French Chocolatier, Michel Cluizel. Each candle is cast in
solid dark (55%) chocolate from the base to the flame. A fun,
clever and delicious way to celebrate the holiday. About 6
inches long, 4 inches tall, 100% delicious. Quantities limited.

RugElach &
HAmentaschen
Gift BOx
from Zingermans Bakehouse

Two of our favorite Jewish baked goods in two different

flavors for four different sweets that are sure to please.
Well include six hamentaschenthe triangle-shaped, open
faced cookie dough pastries usually eaten during the Jewish
celebration of Purimwith three each of the most popular
vanilla cream cheese and apricot flavors. Then well tuck in
eight rugelachthe crispy, flaky, cream cheese pastry thats
the royalty of Jewish baked goodswith four each of chocolate and classic walnut & currant flavors.

SERVES 6-8

Sourcream Coffeecake
FROM Zingermans Bakehouse

This is a Zingermans classic and perennially our most popular gift: rich, moist Sourcream Coffeecake
loaded withIndonesian cinnamonand toasted walnuts, baked in a traditional bundt pan. Its very
impressive and extremely delicious. And it lasts. In theory, a week or two after delivery, wrapped, itll
still be soft and scrumptious, melting in the mouths of a hungry office staff. Personally, Ive never seen
one withstand the onslaught of the hungry for more than an hour. Gift-boxed, its packed with tissue
in our coveted wooden ZingCrate. You can also buy the nosher size in our printed cardboard box.
FREE SHIPPING

2am Nov 1-30; 24 hours a day until Dec 23

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

HEAD, HEART, HANDS, HEALTH

4H and the Future of Farming

Health - Being, Living

The activities this week are the culmination of a season (sometimes two!) of work on the part of the kids in 4H. This is fundamentally an exercise for the kids to learn the business of
running a farm. Theyre charged with raising an animal from
birth, taking responsibility for its growth and development, and
preparing for the day when theyll compete with other 4H kids
in the judging portion of the fair (which happened earlier in the
week). The animals are entered into different classes and the
kids are evaluated by their knowledge of the animal, and its
overall condition (how well it was raised). These classes produce the top of class Champions and Reserve Champions that
will garner the most attention and money at tonights auction.
The young club members will parade their animals in front of
an audience of family, friends, and neighbors while the auctioneer barks and prices hopefully go up.
The rest of the Young clan has joined Alex and I, and we make
our way to the registration table just before the auction is set
to begin. The 4H folks give Alex a packet of papers that includes

nday

Chefs choice
frittata cooked and
served in a cast
iron skillet.

KI

LLE

TA
T F R I T TA

u rsday

nEsda
ed

th

Belgian pancake
cooked in a cast iron
skillet topped with
whipped cream and
local berries.

Anson Mills
cornmeal mush served
with two sunny side up
eggs and real
maple syrup.

GE

R S K ILLET

EA

fr iday

L MUSH &

SM

& S
LL
AW M I

esday

EJ Olsen covers Zingermans for our newsletter and

on zingermanscommunity.com and on Twitter.

RN

RA
VY

tu

LO

TS

NOV.-DEC. 2014

But the kids take their business lessons to heart. While were

ISSUE # 247

The bidding continues until hogs raised by Alexs son Ethan

come trotting into the ring. Alex is active in the bidding process, and price goes up. For a time, it looks like he might let the
hogs go to a couple of other aggressive bidders, but at the last
minute he jumps in with the winning bid. He tells me it isnt all
that unusual for friends and family to buy the animals of the 4H
clubbers. While the idea is to teach the kids how the farming
business works, community comes first. No one wants to disappoint the hopeful faces of the kids in the ring.

Two buttermilk
biscuits topped with
applewood bacon gravy.
Served with two
scrambled eggs.

10

CU

All blue plate pricing includes

a cup of Roadhouse Joe.

As the evening winds down, the bleacher crowds thin out and
people begin to drift away to gather in knots and talk. Theres a
lot of laughter and everyone seems to be smiling. Alex and Kelly
move through the crowd, stopping to chat, and talk about the
upcoming Chelsea Community Fair happening in a few weeks.
The Chelsea fair will also include an auction, so tonights process will be repeated with another herd of animals, another
crowd of families and hopeful kids. It all fits neatly into the ancient cycles of the agrarian year, a continuous circle of renewal
and harvest, of enjoying the bountiful gifts of the farming life.

CO

BIS

Available Mon-Fri, 7-11AM $11.00

When I ask Alex to sum up the 4H experience, he says, We need

more farmers. Until very recently, the number of kids going into
farming was on the decline. By having kids participate in 4H,
we increase the likelihood that more of these kids will become
farmers. But, the positive impact reaches far beyond the local agrarian community. The implications are important for our
country, as well. Simply put, Our food is better for having more
farmers, says Alex. If there are more farmers, we have more
competition, and therefore a better selection of food. Its important to keep our food supply healthy.

mo

Each of those hogs weighed roughly 300 pounds, and they sold
for $3.10 per pound. Doing the math, I realize the winning bidder just paid nearly $2000 for the pair. Alex smiles, and nods.
Animals are expensive. Farming requires a significant investment for what is essentially a gamble. And hes right. A lot of
things could happen to bring down the auction price. Disease,
accident, or simply a lower-paying market. Factor in all the
time, care, feed, and vet costs, and there is the possibility that
these kids might not realize a good return on their initial investment. They might even lose money. This seems a tough, but
necessary lesson about the farming life. For all the bucolic idealism we attach to the rural life, farming is still a business. And
sometimes its a very tough business.

Flour tortilla filled

with chorizo, eggs and
Ig Vella soft jack.
Topped with salsa
rancheros.

TH

Hands - Giving, Working

The auctioneer points to the winning bidder, Three-ten. To

bidder number...? The spotter calls out the bidders number,
which is recorded by a smiling woman to the right of the auctioneer. She consults a sheaf of paper, then reads out the winning bidders name. The audience applauds, and the teenager
moves her hogs out of the ring to make way for the next pair.

IT

Heart - Relating, Caring

As the auction moves from hogs to cows, sheep, and goats, Alex
buys a lamb and two goats to add to the Cornman Farms herd.
When the auction moves on to poultry, Alex points out some
bidders from Meijer, Buschs, and a couple of other food retail
outfits. But, I say, surely, this isnt an efficient way for them to
source poultry for their respective chains? Alex tells me that
these companies often buy from 4H auctions to donate to local
food banks and shelters. It seems that 4H auctions bring out the
best in everyone.

Head - Managing, Thinking

How about two-thirty? Two-thirty, two-thirty... In answer, one

of the spotters points to a bidder and yells, Hunh-YEAH!! The
auctioneer barely slows down. Two-forty, two-forty now. I
have two-thirty, two-forty now. Two-forty... Another spotter:
HOOP! Two-fifty now... And on it goes until the bidding peters out, and the auctioneer ends the process, Three-twenty?
Nope? Three-ten, then. Once...? Twice...? No reply from the
crowd.

RU

The clubs logo, a four-leaf clover with the letter H on each of

the leaves, symbolizes the four values that club members work
toward through the organizations programs:

waiting for the next round of bidding, Kelly Young shows me

some of the letters sent by 4H kids asking bidders to consider
buying their animals. The letters are polite, and filled with details about the care of the animals. Its charming to read their
young sales pitches, but the letters are surprisingly effective
and I find myself hoping these kids sell their animals at the highest price possible. As Im reading the letters, another auction
ends and I notice something else happening. The kids are seeking out the people who bought their animals, and giving them
thank-you gifts. Usually, its something homemade, like cookies,
along with a note of appreciation. In this noisy, crowded environment, its a touching gesture. Lessons well-learned, indeed.

SY

The 4H Youth Development Organization, known by its distinctive four-leaf clover symbol, has its roots in the early 20th century efforts of an Ohio school principal named A.B. Graham. By
promoting vocational agriculture in out-of-school clubs, Graham sought to arrest the decline of post-industrial revolution
farming as young people left their rural roots for jobs in the
city. Eventually, he partnered with the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station and the Ohio State University. His clubs are considered the founding of 4H.

The auctioneer is calling out the price per pound, which is how
these animals are sold. Starting out at two-ten. Two-ten now,
can I get two-twenty? At the edge of the ring stand several men
whose job is spot bidders in the crowd and relay their bids to
the auctioneer. The divide up the audience into thirds, scanning
the bleachers for a raised orange bidding card. When they spot
one, they let out a sort of cross between a word and a whoop.
It reminds me of listening to a baseball umpire calling strikes
or balls; the word itself is indecipherable, but the sound is emphatic.

KE

Alex hangs up and we chat. This is my first 4H auction, and hes

giving me the rough order in which things will happen. Alex will
buy a handful of animals this evening destined for the tables
at Zingermans Roadhouse, as well as a couple for the herd at
Cornman Farms. As we talk, several people stop by to say hello
to Alex and they talk a little shop, speculating on the prices and
condition of the animals. The atmosphere is one of friendly
competition. To me, Alex tells me, the beauty of 4H, is that
its a community thing. It strengthens the bond between farmers. In a little while, the people here will bid against each other
for prize-winning cows, hogs, lambs, goats, turkeys, chickens,
and even rabbits. And its all done in the name of a most worthy
cause for all in attendance: the young farmers.

Just after we sit down, the staff and auctioneer take their places
behind the high green wall overlooking the corral and the auction begins. The north gate on the corral opens, and a teenage girl dressed in a plaid shirt and new jeans enters, smiling,
with two of largest hogs Ive ever seen. She parades the animals
around the ring, keeping them in the center by touching their
sides with a long, slender stick. Alex informs me that the breed
is Chester White, which translates into a standard pinkish color
on the actual pig.

I see Alex Young standing in front of Shed B, talking on his cell.

Im here. Where are you guys? He sees me and waves me over.
Shed B is an enormous building with a roof, but no walls. Under
the roof is a temporary corral strewn with hay and surrounded
on three sides by stadium bleachers. The fourth side is a high
wall hung with green bunting and a sign that reads Washtenaw
County 4H Youth Fair.

a detailed list of the animals up for auction, and an orange bidding card with 888 written in magic marker. The numbers are
issued once to each bidder, and this becomes their number for
all time. As the numbers are issued in chronological order, so
the lower the number, the longer the bidder has been involved
in the 4H auction. As were seated, Alex greets an elderly couple
in front of us. I notice that their bidding number is in the low
single digits. Alex smiles and says, Yup, theyve been coming
here a long time.

Its a warm July evening at the Saline County Fairgrounds and I

am walking on the main thoroughfare toward Shed B. The Fairgrounds parking lot is filled with cars, pickups, horse trailers
and livestock haulers of all makes and models. Families stroll
through the fairgrounds, the children pulling the arms of their
parents in the direction of another shed or one of the many
enormous striped tents erected over animal stalls and pens.
Simple signs nailed to the tent posts announce the occupants:
Sheep. Goats. The place is crowded, and the air buzzes with
anticipation.

ERED BUR

WHATS IN A NAME?
The Story of Stichelton Cheese
Raw Milk Stiltoner, Stichelton
I was at a cheese counter the other day. A gentleman looking
for blue cheese stood next to me. The cheesemonger asked
if he liked Stichelton. Hed never heard of it. She asked if
he liked Stilton. That got an enthusiastic nod. But heres the
catch: Stichelton is Stilton, except for a pesky technicality.
So why dont they just have the same name?

Stilton, Sticheltonwhats in a name?

In this case, a lot. Stilton is the name of the lauded blue
cheese produced in Nottinghamshire, the middle of England,
since the middle of the eighteenth century. Since pasteurization wasnt invented until a hundred years later, for most of
its history Stilton was made with raw (unpasteurized) cows
milk. However, during the second world war, when nearly all
of Britains cheese production was centralized, the milk was
pasteurized to make war time cheese rations. It happened to
all the classic British cheesesCheddars and Cheshires, too.
After the war ended almost everyone continued pasteurizing. The final nail in the unpasteurized Stilton coffin came
in 1989, when an outbreak of food poisoning was alleged to
be caused by a batch of Stilton made with raw milk. Though
there was never any conclusive proof that the cheese was
the cause, the rules about Stilton were formally changed
so that by 1990 all Stilton was made with pasteurized milk.
That rule change effectively outlawed traditional Stilton. The
cheese that had been made for over two centuries could not
be made any more.
Randolph Hodgson, the founder of Neals Yard Dairy in London, decided to try to revive the practice of making Stilton
the old-fashioned way with raw milk almost a decade ago.
He partnered with cheesemaker Joe Schneider, but as they
started testing recipes the Stilton Cheesemakers Association would have none of it. Joes cheese could not be called
Stilton in Britainat least not legally. Rather than give up,
they decided to just call it Stichelton, after the village where
the first Stilton was made 250 years ago.

the cheese counter. Its sounds silly, but its no joke. There
are legal ramifications if a British cheesemonger doesnt
clarify that they have Stichelton which, technically, is not
quite Stilton.
The US hasnt been bound by British law since 1776, so we
can call this cheese whatever we want. Go ahead, thwart the
British cheese police, say it with me: Raw Milk Stilton. Feels
good, doesnt it?
Joe Schneider makes his Raw Milk Stilton from the milk of a
single herd of cows on a single farm.
In the cheeseworld, they call this style of cheesemaking
farmstead. Since the cows all live and graze together, the
milk varies day by day with changes in weather, the seasons,
and other local conditions. Every other Stilton in England is
made from milk pooled from several farms. That mitigates
the variations in the milk. It makes more homogenousAKA
less interestingcheese.

ton takes about 6 months to reach its peak, so the wheels

that are available in December are the ones made with that
summer milk. The differences in quality are even more pronounced when the milk is raw, which gives the cheese more
complexity, better flavor, and better texture.
Raw milk Stilton has a rich, savory, oaky flavor thats deeper
than almost any other blue cheese on earth. It also boasts an
incredibly creamy texture. In Britain, Stilton is often eaten
after dinner with a few walnuts and a glass of port, all of
which make for a combination that I highly recommend. You
could spread some raw milk Stilton on a steak or toss it into
a salad or bake some into scones. But I think its best eaten
just as is, maybe with a handful of spiced pecans. However
you enjoy it, let it warm up to room temperature before
serving for the best flavor and texture.

Joe and his staff of two do all the little things that add up
to making a great cheese: they start with great milk; they
add very little rennet or starter cultures; they hand-ladle
the curds into molds to keep them from breaking up too
much and help the cheese develop an incredibly luscious,
fudgy texture. But perhaps the most interesting part of
the process is how they make the cheese blue. During the
cheesemaking, powdered Penicillium roqueforti (the same
mold that makes French Roquefort blue) is added to the
milk. About eight weeks later, the wheels are pierced with
eight inch long needles. The holes let more oxygen in which
allows the mold spores to grow and develop into the bluegreen veins that give the cheese its trademark flavor and
creamy texture. Sometimes youll see a line of dots on the
rind or a straight line of blueing running through the interior
of the cheese; those show where the needles entered.

Valerie Neff-Rasmussen writes The Feed,

a regular enews that covers our favorite flavors.
Subscribe at www.zingermanscommunity.com/e-news

Stilton is as much a part of British Christmas as figgy pudding.

A while back, a cheesemonger from Neals Yard Dairy told

me a story.

In the U.S. it hardly seems like Christmas without a batch of

cookies intended for Santa. Its a tradition at nearly every
house that celebrates Christmas. In England at Christmastime, everyone eats Stilton.

Sometimes, he said, secret Stilton agents come into our

shop and ask whether we have any raw milk Stilton. If I
say yes, then bang! Were threatened with a fine. I can just
see the scene: a clandestine agent in a trenchcoat and sunglasses, yelling Gotcha! and slapping a badge down on

Stilton is eaten at Christmas for the same reason that you

might eat a goose then: because its at its best. Stilton is made
year round. While the cows are out to pasture in the summer, theyre eating a more varied diet of grasses and herbs,
and the milk they produce is more flavorful. A wheel of Stil-

Pick up a hunk of raw milk

Stilton at Zingermans Delicatessen
on Detroit Street in Kerrytown
or we can send it to you from
zingermans.com.

Ari Weinzweig
Book Sale!
November & December ONLY at
NOVEMBER
Ortiz Sardines

DECEMBER
Conservas Ramn Pea

Were putting these exquisite Spanish sardines back on sale. These big and meaty
pilchards are cleaned, cooked and packed
by hand. Preserved with olive oil in a beautiful glass jar, they are packed upright in the
traditional old-world style. Their mellow,
briny-sweet flavor will actually improve
over the years, if you can wait that long!

When you open a tin of anything that Ramn

Pea produces, you will realize before your
first taste why they are considered the best
that Spain has to offer. Whether it is tender
sardines, colorful octopus, or velvety squid,
everything is handled with great care in order to present you with a superior product.
Wait until you taste them!

Jar $9.99 (reg. $14.99)

Tin $5.27 (reg. $7.99)

Sardines with Padron Peppers - $13.15 (reg. $19.99)

Squids in Ink - $13.15 (reg. $19.99)
Squids in Olive Oil - $13.15 (reg. $19.99)
Octopus in Paprika Sauce - $16.50 (reg. $24.99)
Octopus in Olive Oil - $16.50 (reg. $24.99)

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To Better Bacon
Zingerman's Guide
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Zingerman's Guide To
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ISSUE # 247

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NOV.-DEC. 2014

11

Three years ago last summer I had the pleasure of being up

in Montreal for a conference. Its a great city to visit. Its
as close to Europe as youre going to get in North America
is a pretty common refrain from many folks I know. As I do
everywhere I go, I snuck out of the conference for a bit, took
a taxi out to the Jean-Talon market and started to explore. It
was thriving, alive, full of families; locals and tourists both
worked their way through the stalls. A bit of cheese, a couple
of bakeries, some maple syrup producers, a great frite stand,
and of course plenty of locally grown fruits and vegetables.
But the most memorable bit of the morning came when I
walked up to this little spice shop. Even from the street it
looked great. Ever curious, I went in. It turned out to be one
of the highlights of the whole trip.

That day came last summer when I was at the Fancy Food
Show in New York City. Walking through the show that Sunday afternoon, I looked to my left and saw a big display of
those same fantastic little tins of pices De Cru spices. I was
immediately excited. Finding a treasure like pices de Cru in
its hometown was great. Finding it at the Fancy Food show
made me smiletheir presence on the show floor meant that
the folks who owned it were ready and able to get their products across the border into the US. Four months later, I have
a happy ending to share: were selling the spices of pices de
Cru here at Zingermans. And equally enticing, Ive gotten to
learn the story of the de Vienne family who started it, and
hear all the amazing stories of the exceptional spices theyve
assembled from their world travels over the last thirty years.

Ive been to a lot of retail spots and restaurants over the

last thirty years. I can usually tell you in about two minutes
what the business is like based solely on the energy I experience upon entering the building. pices de Cru, it was clear
almost immediately, was pretty excellent. It was alive, buzzing. It looked great and it smelled even better. We havent
historically done a ton of work with retailing spices over the
years, but it was everything I would imagine a Zingermans
spice shop might be if we had one. The staff was engaged. The
energy was excellent. The aromas were amazing. Everyone
was talking spices, smelling spices, sharing stories of what
one could cook with them. People were smiling and laughing.
Some folks (like me) were clearly from out of town. Others
looked like regularscoming to score a tin or two of some spice
blend that they clearly counted on for their everyday cooking.

While its only the beginning of what I hope will be a very

long relationship, all our early interactions have been excellent. Those lovely little white paper-wrapped tins, filled
with exceptionally aromatic spices are starting to show up
on the Delis shelves and in our kitchens. Just in time for
holiday cooking, entertaining and gift giving. But the best
news is that once you try them, Im confident youll be back
for more. Just as weve all gotten hooked on great cheese,
amazing olive oils, handmade breads, and incredible candy
bars, its hard to go back once youve experienced spices
of this caliber. They are fantastically flavorful. It turns out
that my initial instinct, the intuitive feeling that Id walked
into something really special that morning in Montreal, has
shown itself to be true.

Perhaps most exciting of all was listening to the staff tell the
story of where each spice came from, the region, the town,
and often, the family that grew it. I felt strangely at homeit
was, as I said, a lot like being in the Deli. When customers
asked a question, staffers would open a tin or jar (sound familiar?) so that their client could smell the spices. But they
didnt stop therethey would scoop a bit of whatever it was
the customer was curious about into a mortar and pestle and
grind it up right then and there. Which means that customers
were experiencing the spices in their full potencyfreshly
ground, when all the essential and volatile oils were at their
highest. I loved the packaging toosmall tins with simple
white printed labels that looked like they were stamped by
hand onto the paper. You wont be shocked to hear that I
bought a bunch of stuff to bring home. Deep, dark, musky
Kurdish red pepper flakes. A whole bunch of amazingly aromatic Tellicherry black pepper from a single estate in India.
Wild pepper from Andaliman. I loved it all.
As excited as I was about the visit, I actually had little hope
that wed be able to get the spices to the Deli to sell. For
reasons that are over my history majors head, it remains
very challenging to bring food over the border from Canada
for commercial purposes. So I savored what Id brought
back, saved the tins, and filed the idea away. Impatient as I
am, Ive learned that making great things happen can take
a long time. Ive often spent years, even decades trying to
figure out a way to bring products to Ann Arbor. So I kept
the tins on my counter, and hoped that, one day, we would
make something happen.

To prove the point, here are a few snippets from Ethne and
Philippe de Viennes book Spice Hunters. Our culinary heroes are people who cultivate, harvest and cook with the
best spices the world has to offer. We are profoundly committed to authenticity of traditional recipes. When we travel,
we cook withand live amongthe people whose communities we visit. For the past thirty years this modus operandi
has been our greatest source of information, inspiration and
innovation. This is clearly the same attitude and approach
that weve taken here at Zingermans with every product we
work with; go to the source , meet the people, study the culture, stay true to tradition. You can see why I was so excited
to encounter pices de Cru. The de Vienne family are clearly
our spiritual and culinary compatriots.
What follows is an interview with Marika de Vienne, Ethne
and Philippes daughter. Along with her brother, Arik , she
and the family continue to travel the world sourcing spectacular spices, meeting the people who produce them, learning the culture and cuisine of the region, and then sharing all
that with us! I hope that youll take a few minutes to smell
some of their amazing spices, or perhaps to taste them in
some of the dishes at the Deli, Bakehouse and Roadhouse.
If you head up to Montreal, make time to head to the JeanTalon market and say hi to Marika and her parents in person!

2014

When we developed our Holiday Blend for 2014, we had in mind a session coffee that
emphasizes body and balance over acidity and super complex floral bouquets. After a lot
of blending, tasting, and tweaking, we settled on a medium-roasted blend of estate-grown
coffees from around the world. We think its the kind of coffee you will drink day and
night, at breakfast and with dessert, indoors, outdoors, with family and friends, or just by
yourself, as you sit fireside wrapped in a pile of blankets.

12

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

So what do you all do?

Marika: We travel the world looking for whole spices, authentic recipes, and traditional spice blends. Thats really our
mantra. We go to different countries and start in the markets.
We look at what everyday people are eating. Cultural gastronomy often happens through restaurants. But we look at
what people are cooking at home.
Your parents started the business back around the same
time we started Zingermans, right?
They did. My parents were actually caterers. The top caterers in the city really. And the more press we got, the more
demand there was for our catering. We cooked everything
to order, we didnt cook anything in advancewe always
cooked food fresh. Over time there was more and more interest in us catering larger and larger parties. We were getting requests to do events for over 1000 people. This was
in the late 80s and catering at that time still mostly meant
that someone brought a plate of chicken to your place at the
table. And we were like You cant do our kind of fresh food
for 2000 people from a temporary kitchen in a parking lot.
So we started to look at cultures where they were used to
serving banquets to a thousand or two thousand people,
some times for three days straight. Places like India and
China where they had big traditions of these huge banquet
meals. What we had in common with them was that they used
really great ingredients. But the other thing that they all did
was to use a lot of spices in their cooking. Spices make for
much more complex flavors. So we really explored the spices.
One advantage of us being caterers in Montreal is that in the
summer theres no catering to do, so we could travel for six
weeks as a family. My parents, and my brother and me. And
wherever we would go to visit we would find all these spices
that you couldnt find here in Montreal. Everything here was
ground and not very flavorful. But wed go to Trinidad or
Mexico or other places and wed bring back these amazing
spices. My dad would share them with other chefs and thats
really how pices de Cru started. We started trading spices
with other chefs who hadnt ever had anything like them but
wanted them for their own cooking.
At that point we were still primarily caterers with good
spices, not spice sellers. And then one day my dad went on
a cooking show with a woman who turned out to be like the
Oprah of Montreal. And then it exploded. People were calling us like crazy. But for a long time we resisted getting into
the market. We didnt want to be part of a fad. We wanted to
be part of a movement. To teach people that for a very little
money they could significantly enhance their cooking.
So you really know all the people who grow the spices?
A lot of them! We know many personally. We buy directly
from growers, local traditional traders, coops, and then we
have trained, trusted. local agents to do the buying for us in
some places. There are still some spices that have become
so commodified that they present a challenge. For now! Not
all countries really can meet the romantic vision of a single
family meeting all our needs. Every place has its own socioagricultural systems that we have to work with. But we do
know where the vast majority come from. We select them all
personally and we have NEVER, ever bought from brokers.
Our vision is that one day we can pinpoint where all our
spices are sourced.
Weve been buying nearly all our Mexican chiles from Fernando and Lucia Lozano for some time. Theyre from the high
Sierra Mixe in Oaxaca but theyve become chile traders over
the years and now they live in the city. Everyday of the week
they sell their chiles in a different tiangi the traditional
Native markets that are all over the Oaxaca valley. They are
really classic chileros, buying and selling from the various
Zapotec, Mixtec, and Mixe areas of Oaxaca. Their star chile
is the pasilla de Oaxaca. They get it from the neighboring village of their birth at the highest point of the Sierra . The Pasillas have to travel four hours on horseback before they reach
Fernando and Lucias village where there is a track passable
by truck. We have never been to those high villages but were
working on visiting for the 2015 harvest, which coincides with
the Day of the Dead feast. Needless to say were completely
worked up about visiting. Of course, first we have to get the
permission from the village elders. Fernando and Lucia are
working on that.

We love to tell the stories of the people we buy from. A lot of

people dont think that their story is interesting. But we tell
them it is. We still depend on our interactions with our suppliers and travel. Were like middlemen for our suppliers. When
we get articles about us in the press all they want are recipes.
We try to talk to them about the people and their story but
theyre not interested. We fight tooth and nail to with the editors because they say that people just want recipes. And we say
NOpeople do want to know where these flavors come from.
When I talk about spices I rely on my own experience with
that spice. Ultimately spices are a very personal thingno
one else tastes things exactly like you do. And then theres
the story of how we discovered each spice. Theres a story
behind every single blend, behind every spice that we sell.
There are human beings behind this, every step of the way.
Its always about their story. We love talking (as yo u can tell!)
and sharing stories and its the wonderful story behind that
makes it special.
Can you tell us a bit more about the business?
My mom is from Trinidad. She left there at 13 and her family
went to Toronto but then pretty soon after that they moved to
Montreal. My grandmother was really enchanted by the idea
that her kids could learn French. Shes an amazing woman.
She turned 90 at the end of September. Shes extremely wise
and a very cool woman. She has the most amazing taste in
food. Ive never seen anyone who knows as little about food
on a professional level but then has such amazing taste in
food. My parents met because of my grandmother. My father
worked for her here in Montreal and after a few years she
invited him to dinner and he met my mom. Little did she know
that theyd end up getting married!
My father grew up here in Montreal. He spent half his childhood in France and half here. My father is from a family of
aristocrats from the center of France. They were horrified
that my father wanted to cook. That was like a servant job.
They were really from the upper crust. His mother couldnt
believe that her son was going to work behind a stove. But my
mom really encouraged my dad. He has an amazing nose and
an amazing palate. He has a real talent for deciphering these
things. Im more partial to Asia. My dad is more partial to Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico. I was born here and my brother
as well. My brothers ceramics are used in our stores for tea
service. His collection is available in the Montreal Museum of
Fine Arts shop.
So theyve both been part of this from the beginning?
Exactly. My mom said Were gonna offer nothing but the best.
Im tired of companies starting with pretty good but then going lower and lower in their quality. If Mother Nature doesnt
provide it we werent going to either.
When it comes to food, this is a family business. A lot of our
employees have been here with us a really long time. Food
is about sharing an experience. Its the best way to start any
conversation. Food and cooking really open peoples minds
to possibilities. Its a very non-threatening way to expose
people to another culture. We do both. For us its all about
doing it in a way that feels right and ethical. Sometimes we
feel kind of alone and its nice to know there are otherslike
Zingermansout there.
What are some of your favorites of the spices?
Cardamom! I use it in everything. Its just a beautiful aromatic
spice. Its extremely potent. Im the person whos gonna sneak
a cardamom pod into anything. Im not usually into potent
spices but I use cardamom in everything. In desserts, in chai.
Ours comes from the Cardamom Mountains of India. A lot of
what you find here is the Guatemalan cardamom because
they produce so much. Its fine but once you have the one
from the Cardamom Mountains, youll never go back. Its so
much more interesting. I also like the Colombian variety of
cardamom that we get. Weve only had it about a year. Its also
a green cardamom but its distinctly floral. I would use that
one for desserts, for cookies and cakes.
Another spice I use a lot is our Grains of Paradise. Its from
the same genetic family as cardamom. We get one that comes
from Trinidad. This one only grows in the wild. Once you
have these, the others youll try on the market are horrible.
Ours are really potent and extremely floral. It starts with an

intense heat and then this intense lavender flavor. Theyre

great with chocolate.
What about black pepper? Thats something I really crave
all the time.
Pepper is my dads purview. Hes always on the search for
great pepper. Were always looking for the single source, the
mono varietal. We have the Tellicherry. Its been more popular in the States than here in Canada. Weve had it since the
beginning but in Canada no one knew it. Its so aromatic. Its
got a nice heat.
The one I LOVE is the tribal pepper. It grows on vines in a Tiger
Preserve in India where it is picked by local villagers. So its
literally semi-wild. Theres a heat to it thats unlike any other
black pepper Ive ever had. Its more like white pepper. Its got
the heat of white pepper with the flavor of black.
I also recommend our 8-Pepper Blend. Most pepper blends
are a waste of time because they mix white, black, green and
pink and its silly. They dont work well because the black and
the white overtake the delicacy of the other two. But I still
really wanted a pepper blend. I bugged my dad for years. But
he didnt like the idea. And then, literally, it came to him in a
dream. He had the idea to add allspice to the blend. I love it.
Its one of the few original blends we have but because it has
so many aspects it works with almost everything.
Then we have the black pepper thats from Saji. Its all from
one mans estate in India. My father insisted that it was so
special that we needed to not just tell the story but put his
name right on the label. He said, it must be known because
its that exceptional! Its a little bit larger in size than most
black peppercorns and very aromatic. He is still sifting the
pepper completely by hand. Theres no big machines. Theyre
going through to sort it totally by hand, each grain, one by one.
How about your blends?
Almost all the blends we do are traditional blends in their
home areas. Were very committed to the traditional. The
blend I love most now and I just love smelling is the Satay
Spices from Indonesia. Its amazing. Its very heavy on the lemongrass and the cardamom. Its hot. We didnt cut it downwe
reproduced it just the way we had it in Indonesia. You put it
on chicken with peanut sauce and its very good. But you can
basically use it on anything. Its really fun!
Another great one is called Silk Road Spice. One year on vacation we wanted to really get away. So we decided to go the
desert in China where we figured there wont be anything to
do with food. We get there and its Ramadan so we thought
we were really off the hook. But we were wrong. Its been a
trading post for centuries. Were walking through the market
and we see this spice blend and its ground. And we realize its
the blend theyre using in their pulled noodles and their lamb.
So we asked, What is this called? And they all just said, Its
called the blend!
So one guy in the market, we asked him what was in it, and
he basically said, Thats for me to know and you to find out.
We bought a kilo and my dad tried for like three months to
reproduce it. After about two months he realized that he
was restricting himself to the spices of the region. But wed
forgotten the obviousthis was a trading post so there were
ingredients on the market that would have come from many
other places. Once he figured that out, we had it. The blend
has three different roses, anise, star anise, cassia buds. The
authentic name was the blend. Its great in desserts. I like
to blend it with a black tea from Yunnan. The people in Yunnan thought that was crazy. In China they said only ignorant
people would put spices in tea. It wasnt my intention to mix
itusually we just like the traditional things but it was delicious. Everyone fell in love with it.
I love the Yunnan blend too, from China. I lived there for so
long. Its the first recipe in our book. Its the one blend that
you can just use raw. You boil some lettuce leaf and dip the
cooked leaf into the spice blend and eat it. Its delicious. Its
got black cardamom mixed in with three different chiles. You
just dip the cooked lettuce in and you serve it with rice. One
of the chiles is hot in the blend. And I love showing it because
I dont really cook. Cooking in our family is something that
men do. For people who are afraid to cook, then this is for
them. I just ask, Can you boil lettuce? If you can, this is for

you!
I love the black curry too. It comes from Sri Lanka. The black
curry has cumin, coriander and a bunch of other spices. All
the spices are roasted for different lengths of time. The coriander is lightly roasted, the cumin is heavily roasted. And
it has toasted rice in it. It goes really great with beef. Most
people think of curry as yellow, but I just say curry means
blend honey. We call it black and white night because hes
white and Im not. Well have a black curry and we have a
white curry with fennel.
What else should folks know?
Its hard to describe what we do because its so organic and so
normal for us. We love sharing. It sounds hokey. But at some
point when Im at the store and someone discovers some
flavor that theyve never had. And theres nothing like that
sparkle in someones eyes when they discover a new flavor.
When I go back to those places and show them what weve
done with their product. Were so against the colonial attitudewe want things to go both ways and we want to share
both ways.
One of things thats important to understand is that we dont
switch suppliers. Once we have someone whose product we
love we stick with them. If the crop runs out we just wait for
their new crop to come in. We dont switch to someone else.
Are the recipes secrets?
Not at all. To the contrary. When we opened we only had 8
blends and they were all ones we were very proud of. We
had a book on how to make your own. And we literally had
the recipes and everything. And people were like, we dont
want that. We want to buy it. So its stayed a part of our ethics
that we tell people exactly. If you want to learn that dialect of
Mandarin and climb that mountain to get that chile, go for it.
The growers need more business and its an exceptional product. And we want to help them succeed. Sometimes we have
pay them for their losses because no one else will help them.
You dont sell ground spices do you?
No! Its against our mission. A lot of ground spices are cut with
flour or powdered brick, ground up rice, etc. With us what
you see with us is what you get. So we want people to see
what we havent really altered the produce in any way. And
that what we have in our tins isnt changed in any way.
Spices are delicate things. They have essential oils and volatile oils. As soon as you grind they will fly away. Even in our
containers which will protect from light and humidity. Even if
we ground in a can they only last in our cans 6 months. But
because were buying really special crops we want them to be
able to last as long as possible.
Whats the point of traveling across the planet and then
grinding it up and letting all those valuable oils get lost? It
just seems like a crime.
The 2012 crop of Tellicherry pepper was phenomenal and we
bought it all. Itll keep six years in the right conditions. If we
ground it might last 8 months. but this way we can keep it
much longer. We had a customer come in like 8 months ago
and she had a tin of our spices from nine years ago when we
opened the store and they were still good. Kept whole and
away from light and moisture. It just tastes so much better
when you grind them yourself right when you use them.

Turn the page to find out

about some of the spices
were bringing in to the Deli!

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

13

BLACK PEPPER
TELLICHERRY RESERVE
I love black pepper, and this is most definitely one of
the most aromatic peppers Ive ever tried. Its exclusive to pices de Cru and comes from the estate of a
single grower, called Saji. He takes his pepper and all
his work very seriously and his care and commitment
come through clearly in the quality of the pepper.
These tins are only the ripest of Sajis pepper berries,
representing only a bit of what he grows (less than
0.05% of the entire harvest qualifies). Sajis estate is
a mixed forest plantation of pepper, vanilla, coffee,
cocoa, fruit trees, and other tropical forest products.
This ecosystem represents the natural jungle environment of the Wayanad region where pepper still grows
wild, enabling the production of an exceptional, very
large and rare pepper. In a world seasoned with anonymous large-scale production peppers, this is a true
proprietors reserve.
For more on black pepper see Zingermans Guide to
Good Eating.

VOATSIPERIFERY
BLACK PEPPER
A truly unique, wild-harvested cubeb-like pepper from
the island of Madagascar. Its growing notoriety with
Western chefs testifies to the incredibly aromatic profile of this pepper. Marika thinks its ready to take the
world by storm! Like cubeb black and long peppers,
voatsiperifery is a true pepper. Voatsiperifery comes
from Voa, meaning the fruits and tsiperifery, Malagasy for this pepper vine. From what I understand,
the wild pepper grows very high on the trees and the
berries appear only on the new grown shoots annually.
The Voatsiperifery berries look a lot like Java cubebs
(known as comet-tails)small round spheres about 3
mm across with a thin tail thats a bit longer than the
ball is round. Voatsiperifery has been used in Malagasy
cooking for centuries and is ideal for seasoning fish
and seafood recipes. The woody, floral fragrance of
these dense, red-brown, peppercorns evokes citrus.
Its subtle sweetness and moderate heat are great for
desserts and chocolate. For a great red meat seasoning blend Voatsiperifery pepper with other pepper
varieties. A rare taste of Africas biggest island and an
exceptional way to add flavor and character to your
cooking.

SYRIAN CUMIN
Clearly Syria is not generally a happy place to be right
now. Our thoughts and prayers go to everyone there
who is struggling to make it through this difficult time.
Spices continue to spread even when strife is taking
over the headlines. This is one of the de Vienne familys favorites: Syrian cumin has everything that we
love about cumin. Its fresh taste is perfect for Middle
Eastern and Mediterranean dishes. I love it too. Cumin is staple in Middle Eastern, Turkish, and Mexican
cooking. Syrian cumin always fetches higher prices on
the world market for its exceptional flavor. Its fresh
taste is perfect with tajines, couscous, kebabs, mezzes
and potato dishes. In Morocco, roasted ground cumin
is a standard condiment on tables used just like salt
and pepper.

14

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

WILD UZBEK CUMIN

Spices, like wines or coffees, vary from origin to origin. This Uzbek cumin has a very different flavor, fragrance, and taste experience than the also-excellent
Syrian offering. It has a very delicate, but still delicious taste with hints of wild herbs. People who shy
away from the pronounced presence of other cumins
are usually won over by this wild offering. pices de
Cru says to use it straight out of the container, without roasting or grinding, as a finishing touch on your
special dishes.

OOOOO

CEYLON CINNAMON

Thats not a typo: 00000 is the highest grade of Sri

Lankan cinnamon thats sold. The de Vienne family are
adamant that this is the best cinnamon on the market. They get it from their friends Sanath and Deepa
who make additional selection from their warehouse
especially for this offering. Deepa and Sanaths cinnamon is the only one they use in their blends. Sanath
and Deepas plantation is situated in sandy soil in the
village of Cinnamon, Sri Lanka, a few hundred meters
from the Indian Ocean. The quills of 00000 Cinnamon are so thin that they crumble to dust when rolled
between your fingers. Excellent in desserts, curries,
slow-cooked dishes and baked goods, a pinch of this
true cinnamon is enough to improve all sorts of dishes.

ISOT KURDISH BLACK

PEPPER
This pepper is truly something special. Justin Dalenberg, chef de cuisine at the Roadhouse, was so excited
the first time he smelled it that he was still talking to
me about two days later. For good reason. This pepper
is aromatically amazing! Cultivated by Turkish Kurds,
the Isot Kurdish black pepper is prepared in a timehonored method thats been used for centuries (not
dissimilar to that used for the Urfa pepper). Isot Kurdish pepper begins as a red sweet chile pepper with a
mild heat, which is partially dried in the sun. It is then
covered with tarps and left to ferment and oxidize under the autumn sun. When its almost black, the chile
is left to dry in the open air, crushed into flakes, and
then preserved by adding oil and a pinch of salt. The
fragrance is amazing! Works well in most any dish,
such as roasted potatoes, grilled meats, salads, soups
as a garnish, or a basic tomato sauce.

IMPERIAL KASHMIRI
CURRY BLEND
A curry you would find served in the royal kitchens
of Kashmir during the Raj. Each tin features gram
of our premium Kashmiri saffron and two varieties of
cardamom along with a traditional curry blend. The
ideal blend for festive dishes such as red meat curries
and game or mijots with cream, butter, and yogurt.
Chili, cumin, fennel, coriander, cardamom, pepper,
cinnamon, clove, turmeric, and saffron are all blended
to make this magical spice mix. Superb for a traditional butter chicken.

TAJINE SPICES
The go-to spice blend for meat tajines enhanced with
a touch of classic ras-el-hanout. A blend of sweet and
hot Moroccan peppers, cumin and lots of ginger. Ideal
for sweet and savory tajines such as chicken tajine
with preserved lemons, or raisin and almond tajines.
Will give an authentic Moroccan flavor to chick pea
salads, soups, or any slow-cooked meat dishes.

MONTREAL SPICE BLEND

The Montreal Spice Rub is one of the most famous
for seasoning steaks of all kinds. Originally used on
smoked meat, the classic staple meat of Montreal delis, its made from black pepper, mustard, garlic, onion,
salt, dill seed, and chile. The pices de Cru blend can
also be used on various red meats, especially when
grilling! Also great in your deviled eggs!

AVAILABLE AT

d
e
D
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u
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E
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a
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t
to the source of great food!
Tour Hungary!
May 18-28, 2015
Weve so much enjoyed our journeys to
Hungary that we want to take you on our
next trip! Hungary has an incredibly rich
and varied food tradition reaching back at
least 1500 years, including an Eastern European Jewish influence. From the regional cheeses, wines, cured meats, and bountiful produce, to the incredible breads,
pastries, and elegant multi-layered tortas,
Hungary has it all. Come find out how much
more there is to Hungarian food than its
excellent paprika!
Zingermans Bakehouse
Managing Partner

Tour Traverse City

and the Leelanau Peninsula!
May 29-31, 2015
Come with Zingermans Food
Tours to explore amazing artisanal food right here in Zingermans own backyard, in the
foodie paradise that is Michigans beautiful Traverse City /
Leelanau Peninsula area.
We have created a very special 3-day tour, packed full of
tasting, eating, drinking, and
learning about great food and
beverages directly from the
artisans who make them! These
producers will open their workshops to us and share their passion for what they do. The local food scene up there is
thrivingfrom farmers and cheesemakers to chefs and winemakers, everyone we talk
to in that area is really excited about whats happening there, and how vibrant, and delicious, their local food web has become. And they are proud to share their knowledge, and
the fantastic fruits of their labors, with us.

Zingermans Events on 4th!

Introducing a Great Place
to Celebrate!
Our event space in Kerrytown (just down Kingsley St. from the Deli) is the
ideal spot to gather with friends and family and celebrate the season together. Check out www.zingermanscatering.com for photos of our new space and
picture yourself as the life of the party while we handle all the arrangements.
Holiday parties at Zingermans Events on 4th can seat up to 60 folks and include a full bar as well as a barista station with made-to-order coffee drinks.
Weve also developed a special holiday menu for the seasons festivities!

Zingermans Catering 2014 Holiday Menu Highlights

Emmas Remarkable
Party To Go

Holiday Cocktails

This great collection is perfect for

taking to the office, a friends party
or for entertaining in your own
home. Weve gathered our favorites:
two types of savory Italian salami
with brown mustard; two hand-selected artisan cheeses with slices
of Bakehouse French baguette; Edwardss peanuts; our housemade
hummus and crisps; plump grapes
and juicy strawberries; and for a
sweet finish, an assortment of Bakehouse brownies, including Buenos
Aires, Pecan Blondies and Black
Magic. So, grab a bottle of red wine
and give your friends a call!

Get in the celebratory spirit with

our holiday cocktails

The French 75
A staff favorite, the French 75 was
created in 1915 at Harrys New York
Bar in Paris. It was said to pack a
punch like a French 75mm howitzer.
Gin, champagne and lemon make
this a sure-fire party starter.

Mulled Red Wine

Warm up on a snowy evening with
our mulled red wine. We combine local apple cider, red wine, cinnamon,
anise, orange and other mulling
spices to keep you toasty on a chilly
winter night.

Terras Transcendent
Coffee Bar
A delicious ending for your party.
Our very own fresh-roasted coffee accompanied by Calder Dairy
whipped cream, chocolate shavings,
vanilla syrup and housemade Scharffen Berger chocolate syrup.

Just give Zingermans Catering a

call at (734) 663-3400 or
send an email to
[email protected]
One of our friendly Catering
staffers will help walk you
through the initial planning
steps, and assist in turning your
vision into an event your guests
will remember!

Tour Tuscany!
October 3-12, 2015
With Peggy Markel, long-time fellow culinary adventurer and food guide, well experience the wonderful food, culture, and
landscape of Tuscany. Well go behind the
scenes and visit traditional small producers of some of the regions finest foods,
from the massive wheels of ParmigianoReggiano, to the beautiful, small bottles of
real balsamic vinegar, from Chianti Classico wines and artisanal olive oil to the
melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto crudo. And
well roll up our sleeves and enjoy Tuscan
cooking lessons in a 15th-century villa in
the rolling hills outside Florence.
&
Zingermans Food Tour Guides

Log on for more information about all of our tours and to sign up for our e-news.
Call or email any time or find us on Facebook. We'd love to hear from you!
www.zingermansfoodtours.com
888-316-2736 [email protected]

SandwicH of the Month

November

December

Jules Path Home

Angus & Tessies Skipanon

Sing-a-long

$13.99
Our tip of the knit cap to one
of the most calm, benevolent
and masterful sandwich line
cooks, who also moonlights
as a rock star. Crunchy lettuce, and a splash of olive
oil and red wine vinegar are
deliciously modest companions, used to highlight two of
our favorite pork products!
Smoky tasso ham couples
with peppery hot soppressata
& snappy provolone cheese
to create a flavorsome foundation, perfect for autumn.

$16.99
Its East meets West in the Midwest!
We take the most remarkable line caught,
packed-in-water tuna from the West coast
(Skipanon Seafood in Warrenton, Oregon)
and pair it with the lively, stone-ground
yellow mustard from the East coast (Rayes
Mustard in Eastport, Maine). We bring it
back home with the jalapeno speckled Brinerys Relish, made right down the street!
We add some crunchy leaves of lettuce,
and layer it all on toasted Bakehouse White
bread, to create a classical combination of
some of the best products in the country.

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

15

HOW THE HOT TOMATO

CAME TO ZINGTRAIN,

found some pretty awesome people, and codified a funky culture!

An interview with Jen Zeuner, owner & founder of the Hot Tomato
Gauri: Tell us a little bit about Hot Tomato.
Jen: The Hot Tomato is a funky little pizza joint in Fruita, CO,
a town of about 12,000 people and one of the most sought
after mountain bike destinations in the world.
The story goes something like this: Jen Zeuner, former professional mountain bike racer and Anne Keller, mountain
bike guide, move to Fruita to work at a local bike shop. After
3 years or so of listening to tourists say, There are great
trails here, but where do we find something to eat besides
chain restaurants? they open the Hot Tomato.
We figured it would be easy, we knew how to cook, we would
make money, we could hire people to work for us and we
would have all the time in the world to do what we love to
dobe outside and ride our bikes!
That was 9 years ago. Fruita had 6000 people, a grocery
store, a post office, a bike shop and the Hot Tomato.
Somewhere along the way, we realized that we had something
unique. It seemed everyone wanted a cool place to hang out,
drink a beer, eat a slice and talk about their day, their ride,
their life. We created that place and they kept coming back.
So we hired more people and continued to grow and be more
successful. In all honesty, although we had no idea what we
were doing, we just kept doing it and. . . .
Fast forward to today, we have 24 awesome employees. We
are the largest account on the western slope of Colorado for
New Belgium Brewing and one of the largest independent
businesses in our community.
We are committed to and appreciate our community, our
guests and our staff. We believe in going the extra mile and
giving mind blowing customer service. And we serve some
darn good East Coast style pizza.
Gauri: How did you first come to ZingTrain? What were you
seeking for your business?
Jen: As you can imagine from the Hot Tomato story above,
we were really struggling with handling the growth without
a lot of structure. Anne and I had been so consumed with
working in the business for 7 years that we had never really
got around to working on the business. We werent on the
same page.
We hired a GM to help. A friend at New Belgium had suggested ZingTrain. I optimistically registered for Leading with
Zing! and bought a plane ticket riding high on the hopes we
had for the new GM. The GM quit. It was a disaster! By the
time I boarded the plane for Ann Arbor, we had agreed to
look into selling the Hot Tomato and been in touch with a
business broker.
All of which to say, I cant really say that I know what I was
seeking. At that point, I think I just wanted a few days alone!
But in those three days I was transformed. I feel like before
I showed up everything was in black and white but when
I walked in at 7am on Monday morning, everything was in
color! Everyone was full of excitement and wanted to help! I
was getting so many answers, ideas and inspiration. It was so
hard to sit there and listen and really take things in and yet it
was all so easy to understand.
Gauri: What seminars have you taken so far?
Jen: I have taken Leading with Zing, Bottom Line Training
and Fun Flavorful Finance twice (once solo and the other
with 3 other Tomatoes!) and hopefully I will attend Working
with Zing! in November.
Gauri: Youve mentioned before this other aspect of
ZingTrain seminars that keeps you comin back for more. Can
you share that?

16

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

Jen: I am addicted to the positive energy that I get from the

seminars.
I find that being in a room full of like-minded individuals gives me a much needed boost on both a personal and
professional level. To have connections with other people
who have similar issues is incredibly enlightening. Most of
us think we are the only person with this certain issue and
then as you start listening to the stories from everyone in the
room you realize thats not true and that there are positive
ways to turn things around and learn from the experience
of others.
Gauri: What aspects of what you learned at ZingTrain have
you chosen to implement at Hot Tomato?
Jen: Until Zing Train, we had certain checklists and guidelines and such but not everyone was on board all of the time.
Coming to Zing Train seminars made me much more aware
of the importance of being very clear and explicit about the
expectations of our organization. And of the importance of
creating buy-in.
And with each implementation, we continue to connect the
dots for our staff to better see the big picture.
Gauri: How has coming to Zingermans and ZingTrain
changed the Hot Tomato as a business?
Jen: The Hot Tomato is bigger and better than we had ever
imagined. We currently have more people on staff than ever,
our sales continue to grow and peoplestaff and customers
alikelove our culture.
I think that in the beginning we were so consumed with creating good food that we didnt focus so much on the culture.
We just taught our (much smaller) crew to follow the recipes, be nice and have fun. This seemed to work and over the
years planted the seed for the unique culture that is now
flourishing.
A challenge that has come with growth is that it has been difficult to find the magic potion to get our new hires to understand that we arent just a pizza joint. It so much more than
making the pie and bringing it to the table. Its about giving
the staff, the customers, the community what they have come
to expect over the past 9 yearsmind-blowing service and a
Hot Tomato experience.

As far as change goes, it takes a lot longer for the volcano

inside to start rumbling, and I am much better at taking the
time to understand the issue and come up with a solution. I
am much more attentive to the needs of the team.
I am also much more self aware. I find myself going through
the checklists in my mind, being aware of my tone of voice,
coming up with positive ways to change negative behavior,
not just for staff and customers but even for myself. I would
definitely say I am much more mindful of my energy. I know
I still have a ton of work to do but I am confident that I am
moving in the right direction and I am seeing an incredibly
positive response in the people I work with.

2014-15
Seminar Schedule
2-Day Seminars
[$1250-$1500/person, check out our multiple seat discounts]
THE ART OF GIVING
GREAT SERVICE

November 10 - 11, 2014

February 2 - 3, 2015
May 7 - 8, 2015

When we come for seminars, we have such positive experiences delivered by such a huge pool of Zingermans people
that it truly drives home the point that if we trained our staff
on this culture we have and gave them the right tools, we
could continue to create something awesome!

LEADING WITH ZING!

Gauri: How has coming to ZingTrain changed you as a

leader?

February 19 - 20, 2015

May 18 - 19, 2015

Jen: This, I believe has been HUGE for me. I grew up in New
Jersey where I think you are born with an attitude and a
pretty big ego! Being a successful athlete only added to it.

THE ZINGERMANS
EXPERIENCE

When I opened the Hot Tomato, with little or no work experience of any kind, my idea of leadership was: You do it my
way. Why? Because I said so.
Starting my own business, and realizing how much I needed
good people, quickly taught me to be really appreciative.
I learned that if I asked nicely and explained the whys, it
worked better!
Until Zing Train, Id never really heard much about Servant
Leadership. When I listened to the definition of this philosophy, I thoughtthis is what we do and these people are telling me its okay, and they do it like this and they are successful! It was a huge aha moment for me!

February 16 - 17, 2015

May 11 - 12, 2015

BOTTOM-LINE TRAINING

December 8 - 9, 2014
April 13 - 14, 2015

FUN, FLAVORFUL FINANCE

January 19 - 20, 2015

March 19 - 20, 2015
June 8 - 9, 2015
CREATING A VISION
OF GREATNESS

January 26 - 27, 2015

June 1 - 2, 2015
ZINGERMANS
MARKETING SECRETS

March 9 - 10, 2015

WORKING WITH ZING!

November 3 - 4, 2014
April 27 - 28, 2015

BUY 2 SEATS,
BUY 4 SEATS,
get a 3rd
get a 5th free!
for 25% off!
BUY 5+ SEATS,
get 20% off
BUY 3 SEATS,
every seminar!
get a 4th
for 50% off!
[applicable to 2-day seminars only]

Throughout November, well be featuring one of our all-time favorite soft-ripened goat
cheeses. A recipient of American Cheese Society Awards in 2006, 2007, and 2012, the Detroit
Street Brick is quickly becoming a fan favorite in restaurants and shops throughout the
Midwest and along the West Coast. This velvety bit of goaty goodness gets its start from
some of the very best regional mixed-herd goat dairies weve had the pleasure of working
with. After a very gentle low-temperature pasteurization, we allow the milk to set for hours
and hours, so this subtle and complex goats milk imparts as much flavor as possible to the
resulting curd.
Whereas the majority of cheesemakers still use comparatively less expensive calf rennet
(from cows) to make their goats milk cheese, we opt for kid rennet (from goats) which
remarkably alters and enhances both the flavor and texture of the finished cheese. While
subtle, there is an immediately recognizable note of citrus in the paste of this cheese, and
over time weve come to use whole and freshly cracked green tellicherry peppercorns to
tease this citrusy essence out even further. The balance of this cheese is astounding, and it
always brings a smile to our faces to pull one out of our aging room, cut through its fluffy
rind, and taste the interplay of some very intriguing flavors.
Honored by Cooking Light as one of its favorite cheeses for the holiday season, we feel
that the Brick really soars in the Fall, thanks mainly to the comparative richness of autumn
goats milk. As the temps start to drop, we see a marked increase in both the butterfat and
protein content of our goats milk, and richer milk translates directly into
richer cheese. The Brick pairs wonderfully with all sorts of late season root vegetables and squashes, but our favorite way to enjoy
this cheese is one of the simplest: get a baguette from Zingermans
Bakehouse, put a thin slice of Detroit Street Brick on it, grab a
bottle of your favorite olive oil, drizzle away, and enjoy.

reg. $32.99/lb

Design Your Own Gelato!

A Sweet Gift for the Holidays

This year, Zingermans Creamery has come up with the perfect gift for all of your
friends and relatives that already have one of everything: the opportunity to design
their own gelato!
Since we started making gelato nearly 10 years ago, weve
received hundreds of suggestions from our guests on flavor ideas; some great ideas and some very creative ideas
and several have even made it into our case. Now were
offering you the opportunity to have your friends/ relatives embrace their inner gelatician, to create the next
Moose Tracks.
While youll be able to choose from traditional ingredients, like our handmade chocolate chips, peanuts roasted with Michigan butter and salt, or peppermint candy
from Hammond candy company, were also offering
some ingredients that youre not so familiar with, such as
candied bacon, strawberries in balsamic vinegar syrup or even
caramelized Irish soda bread. We will be updating the list of flavors regularly, so the creative opportunities are nearly endless.
For $175, you get a personalized gift certificate entitling the recipient to twelve 12-ounce
containers of gelato and personalized labels that will arrive on their doorstep.
Shipping included.

Get yours at www.zingermanscreamery.com!

I can think of no food that has been idealized, romanticized, eulogized and glorified
more than cheese and by great and eloquent writers. All that can usefully be said about
cheese has been said. Nevertheless.
There are stories of the origins of Camembert that describe a cheese far different from
the Camemberts of today; they describe a cheese more rustic and feral. The Manchester
we make at Zingermans Creamery was the search for that origin. While a noble goal
resuscitating a lost traditionthe very characteristics that made it stand out, also made
it relatively unpopular. I cant say that we ever found that origin, but many of those
wild characteristics borne from rogue molds and microbial growth flourished in the
early Manchesters, always flirting with greatness, but succumbing to inconsistencies.
We refined the cheese, changed the recipe, changed the milk and struggled for years
in our attempt to nurture the good without losing all the vagaries of tradition. Despite
frustrating setbacks, the cheese survived its inelegant years. The Manchester was like a
beautiful rough stone with flashes of color.
I remember laughing when my wife suggested that the Manchester would one day be the
signature cheese of the Creamery, as I stared at the rugged surface of the cheese shrouded in depressing hues of gray, brown and black molds, internally debating whether I
would choose to eat it over starvation.
Ten years later, scores of gentle and not so gentle alterations to the recipe and the
Manchester has become not only that, but one of the great jewels of American cheese.
Beautiful in its youthful subtlety, what sets the Manchester apart is its versatility and its
refusal to be one thing. For December, we are pleased to offer this crown jewel in all
its facets.

Young Manchester $12.99 (reg. $14.99)

When young the Manchester is a dense,
rich cheese with a slight and gentle citrus
tang, which melts under the tongue with
the effervescence of one of Michigans
fine sparkling white wines. (See Jack in
our cheese shop for suggestions.)
Aged Manchester $12.99 (reg. $14.99)
At room temperature, the aged Manchester slowly transforms; its softened wrinkled exterior, unable to
support the weight of the firmer center
collapses and its rough exterior gives way
to the amazing rustic flavors hidden beneath its unrefined appearance. At this
stage, the cheese resembles the cheeses
of the dauphinois, soft and creamy with a
bold reminder of the farm.
Beer Washed
Manchester $13.99 (reg. $15.99)
Perhaps the most dramatic shift in flavor,
beer washing nurtures bacterial development on the surface and the cheese develops a pungent aroma
and the strong characteristics of a washed
rind cheese.

Bruleed Manchester $7/half (reg. $8)

We take a young Manchester (you can do
this yourself if you have a brulee torch)
split it in half horizontally, cover the cut
surface with sugar and brown it with
a torch. When ready to serve, pull the
cheese out of the refrigerator and place
in a warm oven (under 200 degrees) for
about ten to fifteen minutes, or until the
cheese is softened throughout, but not
melted. Cover the surface with fig preserves and serve with crackers or a sliced
baguette.
Manchester wrapped
in Cabbage Leaves
$13.99 (reg. $15.99)

Cheeses have been

wrapped in leaves
for thousands of years.
Leaves are the plastic of
the past, but unlike the wraps
of today, which usefully preserve the initial integrity of the cheese, leaves alter
the texture and flavor. This cheese makes
a dramatic presentation as the cabbage
leaves are opened to reveal a soft, creamy
cheese that captures the wilder natures of
the Manchester.

Manchester aged with Sweet Cherries soaked in Michigan Riesling

$13.99 (reg. $15.99) The sweet tart Cherries and this semi-dry Riesling from Left Foot
Charley bring out the beautiful unctuous texture of the Manchester. The richness of the
Jersey Milk and acidity of the cheese balance the sweetness of the cherries and wine
perfectly. Its a match made in Michigan!

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

17

Thanksgiving Dinner

FROM ZINGERMANS DELI

Complete Thanksgiving Feast

Weve put together a complete feast for your

guests to gobble! It includes our butter-basted
& sage-rubbed bone-in turkey breast, mashed
potatoes, homestyle gravy, cranberry sauce, sage
& celery stuffing, wild rice, maple syrup sweet
potatoes, Bakehouse Farm bread along with fresh
Michigan farm butter, plenty of our amazing spiced
pecans for snacking & Pilgrim Pumpkin pie from
the Bakehouse for dessert.
Generously feeds 4 (leftovers too!)

John & Nick Harnois Turkey Breast

Pastured poultry from John & Nick Harnois

Organic Farm in Washtenaw County. Each bird will
be hand selected by Chef Rodger and John Harnois.
Butter-basted and sage-rubbed bone-in turkey
breast, roasted to perfection and ready for your
Thanksgiving table.
Whole breast 6-8 pounds, serves 6 to 8
Half breast 4-6 pounds, serves 4 to 6

Thanksgiving foods available for pickup: Tue. Nov 25th at 12PM until Wed. Nov. 26th.
Place orders in advance to ensure availability. Open 7AM to 10PM daily.
Closed on Thanksgiving Day. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The ThanksgivinG that realLy gives!

We will donate 100% of our profits for all Complete Thanksgiving Feast sales to Food Gatherers to help feed lots of hungry people in our community this holiday season. For more
info about Food Gatherers call (734) 761-2796.

A special thanks
to the growers, producers, and their families,
whose hard work contributes the very special
ingredients that make up our Thanksgiving menu.
Thanks to John Harnois & Son, Tantr Farm, Apple Schram Orchard, Chestnut Growers Co-op, Garden Works,
Goetz Farm, Zingermans Creamery, Zingermans Bakehouse,
Cornman Farms, Zingermans Coffee Co., Grazing Fields, Shane
Powers, Calder Dairy, DeGrandchamp Farms, Seeley Farm, and
Green Things Farm.

COMPLETE MENU AT ZINGERMANSDELI.COM. CALL 734-663-DELI(3354) TO ORDER

THANKSGIVING
MEALS TO-GO!
HOLIDAY MEALS AVAILABLE TO PICK UP
NOVEMBER 25, 26 & 28TH
(were closed for Thanksgiving)

#1 Order

Call 734.663.3663
48 hours ahead
of time

#2 Pick-up
Drive up to
the Roadshow

#3 Re-hEat
& serve!

Use our instructions

Family Feast $345

The Roadhouse has you covered! Weve got everything

you need for a complete holiday mealeven the leftovers!
Serves 8-10

Whole Free-Range Turkey,

or Roast Angus Beef

Savory Cornbread Stuffing

Roadhouse Mashed Potatoes

Marks Stuffed
Cornman Farms Squash

Traditional Roadhouse Gravy

Roadhouse Bread

Really Fresh Cranberry Relish

Bakehouse Pumpkin Pie

Turkey For Two $90

A Thanksgiving meal made for two. Just the right amount of

fixins for two with a little leftover for the next day.

Traditional Oven
Roasted Turkey Breast

Roadhouse Turkey
Gravy (1 pint)

Savory Cornbread
Stuffing (1 pint)

Roadhouse Mashed
Potatoes (1 pint)

Really Fresh Cranberry

Relish (1 pint)

Mashed Sweet
Potatoes (1 pint)

Roasted Cornman
Farms Vegetables
(1 pint)

Zingermans
Bakehouse Rustic Rolls
(4 rolls)

18

ISSUE # 247

Mini Pumpkin Pie

(2 pies)

NOV.-DEC. 2014

1. Askinosie Peppermint Bark

Artisanal peppermint bark made in
Springfield, Missouri. Few things say holiday
cheer quite like layered slabs of single-origin
dark chocolate, buttery white chocolate,
and all-natural crushed peppermint from
Hammonds Candies.

2. Veruca Chocolate
Grown Up Gelt for Hannukkah
Enjoy the tradition of Hanukkah gelt a bit more
deliciously! Gold and silver dusted disks from
Veruca Chocolates in Chicago, are formed to
look like Judean coins circa 40 B.C. Available in
Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate with crunchy
nibs, Dark chocolate with crystals of sea salt. A
great gift for every day of Chanukah.

3. Pralus Chocolatier Pistachio Diabolical Bar

A new addition from Francois Pralus. Rich 75%
dark chocolate brimming with creamy pistachio
paste and dotted with roasted pistachios. This
bar looks innocent from the outside, but it is
definitely a show stopper.

4. Big Picture Farm Goat Milk Caramels

Handmade in Vermont, these soft & creamy
caramels are crafted using rich milk from a
happy herd of pasture-raised goats, lovingly
tended to by farmers Louisa and Lucas.
Smooth & buttery caramels with a complex
sweetness, packaged in adorable boxes.

5. Dandelion Chocolate
Single-Origin Chocolate Bars
Decoratively wrapped bars produced in
small batches in San Franciscos Mission
District. They use a simple recipe of just
cocoa beans & sugar, which highlight the
nuances and unique flavors of each of
their single origin chocolate bars.

6. Poco Dolce Toffee Tin

Inside these modest round metal tins you will
find a whopping half-pound of buttery toffee
enrobed in bittersweet chocolate. Espresso
features toffee infused with housemade espresso
while Popcorn is just thatfreshly popped
popcorn folded right into the sea salt toffee.

7. Mindo Chocolate Makers

Ecuadorian Drinking Chocolate
New this fall from our friends at Mindo Chocolate
Makers in Dexter. Crafted special for Zingermans
by owner Barbara Wilson. Their 77% dark
Ecuadorian drinking chocolate is delicately floral,
has a nice acidity and leaves a lingering finish.

8. Enric Rovira Bombolas

Nuggets of goodness covered in chocolate crafted
in Barcelona, Spain. Candied orange pieces, enveloped in 70% dark chocolate and gently dusted with
confectioners sugar. The almonds are the long
& slender Largueta variety, caramelized in their
papery skins, dipped in dark chocolate and rolled
in cocoa powder.

9. D. Barbero
Tripolino Chocolate Covered Nougat
The Barbero family has been making torrone
since 1883 in Asti, Italy. This 100 gram torrone
bar is crisp & crumbly in texture and loaded
with lush, toasted hazelnuts and smothered
in layers of dark chocolate.

10. Custom Box of Chocolates

Who doesnt love a special custom box of
confections? The Next Doors truffle case
is treasure trove of handmade treats
from producers located all over the
world. Come explore the selection or
let one of our staff put together the
perfect assortment of flavors and
textures.

from:

Elegant Desserts

A special meal calls

for a memorable finish.
We have a collection of
cakes and tortas that are sure
to impress your guests.

Buche De Noel

Our version of the traditional French holiday dessert: a light,

vanilla chiffon cake filled with walnut rum buttercream, rolled
up and covered in chocolate buttercream. Its decorated with
handmade edible sugar mushrooms, holly and freshly fallen
sugar snow. Each log serves 8-12 so its plenty for a good-sized
holiday party and it keeps long enough that you can enjoy for
a few days after a small family gathering. Either way its a great
centerpiece for a holiday table and fun to decorate with edible treats of your own.

Esterhzy Torta

Our version of this famous torta is made up of layers of toasted walnut cake filled with a magnificent mixture of vanilla
bean pastry cream, fresh whipped cream and more toasted
walnut, decorated with vanilla and dark chocolate poured
fondant in a distinctive design used specifically for Esterhzy
tortas.

Rig Jancsi

(ree go yon chee) This Hungarian torta is made of two light

layers of chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate rum
whipped cream and iced with apricot glaze and dark chocolate ganache.

Dobos Torta

(doh bosh) Five thin layers of vanilla sponge cake and espresso
dark chocolate butter cream, all topped with pieces of crispy
dark caramel. One of Hungarys most popular tortas.

Krmes

Krmes (krem-esh) is a beloved Hungarian pastry sold in practically every Hungarian pastry shop. Eating krmes in Hungary
is an event, like how we go to ice cream shops in the U.S. Our
krmes is made of three layers of buttery puff pastry with
a filling made of vanilla bean pastry cream mixed with soft
meringue (egg whites whipped to soft peaks with sugar). The
pastry is very golden brown and flaky. The filling emphasizes
vanilla flavor and a creamy smooth texture. Were making our
krmes fresh daily in very small batches.

Paris Brest

Cardinal Slice

Known in Hungary as kardinlis szelet, this classic dessert is

sure to please the most discriminating pastry and coffee lover and makes an impressive showing at dinner parties. This
pastry is built of three layers of crisp meringue and sponge
cake separated by whipped cream and Crme Frache that
is intensely infused with espresso couleur, a syrupy extract
of deeply caramelized sugar and freshly made espresso. This
delicate dessert is available Thursday-Sunday.

This traditional French dessert was originally created to celebrate a bicycle race (shaped like a bicycle wheel) from Paris
to Brest in France. To make it we pipe a ring of pate a choux
pastry, bake it till golden brown, then its sliced and filled
with vanilla bean pastry cream, slices of fresh strawberry
and vanilla bean whipped cream. The first time Toni, one of
our partners at Zingermans Mail Order, tasted this she said
Its plate lickin good. Available in three sizes. Go for the
large ring, its a real show stopper.

Appreciated
Gifts!
Stollen
Give the Gift of
Is dad ready to learn how to make his first

A holiday staple at the Bakehouse that seems to get more popular each year we bake it. Stollen is a traditional German holiday bread made with sweet butter, Bacardi rum, candied lemon
and orange peel, oranges, Michigan dried cherries, citron, currants, almonds, sultanas, real vanilla and more.

Gingerbread Cake

Our moist and sweetly spicy gingerbread cake is made with

real butter, demerara sugar, crystallized ginger and a splash of
fresh orange juice. Its a little dark and mysterious too from its
rich molasses, Zingermans Coffee company brew and a pinch
of pepper. Plate yourself a thick warm slice with a big dollop of
fresh whipped cream. It will make you love winter.

perfect pie crust? Want your friends to join you

for a pizza-making party? Do you want to send
mom on a BAKE!-cation?
Give em a BAKE! gift card and let your loved
ones pick the class thats right for them!
Call 734.761.7255 for more information

Cranberry Pecan Bread

Available
EVERY DAY
in Nov & Dec

Gift Boxed Cookies

These handsome presents are ready to give, great for your host
and handy for travel. Six to choose from:
Hungarian almond kifli
apricot and
cookies
currant walnut rugelach
raspberry and
Fancy Schmancy Holiday
chocolate rugelach
cookies
citrus almond mandelbrot
includes pecan butter balls,
chocolate and vanilla bean
pfeffernsse spice and
macaroons
chocolate cherry chewies

When we sample it, theres a phenomenon of customers who grab a piece as theyre leaving and come back a few minutes later
asking What did I just eat? Thats amazing! This bread is a magic combination of our San Francisco Sourdough, toasty pecans,
and dried New England cranberries.

about giving the gift of BAKE!

available at Zingermans Bakehouse, Deli and Roadhouse and www.zingermans.com

ISSUE # 247

NOV.-DEC. 2014

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