As I write this, the first light snow is falling from the sky, and it really feels like sweater season. I often dread the beginning of this cold weather. I miss the farmer’s market, the madness of the holidays are looming over my head, and, I’m just plain cold. This year is different. The weather cooled very gently and after nine years of working at Caputo’s for the holidays, I’m feeling shockingly calm—almost zen, if you will.

So as the holidays approach and the snow starts to fall more frequently and in bigger doses, let’s enjoy it with our best friends and family over treats and nibbles. You’ll need a cocktail too, of course. Here’s how we’re enjoying the transition to winter:

CHEESE: Ossau Iraty Reserve

One of the most-celebrated and well-known Basque cheeses is made even more delicious in the hands of Caputo’s own affineuse, Antonia Horne, in the chilly comfort of our Cheese Cave. Ossau Iraty arrives in great condition to eat immediately. It tastes mildly grassy and sweet, and is a great choice for the table when you crave the comfort of a creamy, alpine-style cheese. But this is Caputo’s after all, so, of course, we couldn’t just let you settle for a good cheese. We want you to experience great cheese, and we want everyone to know first hand how our caves affect and improve even the most delicious wheels. Antonia gives the ultimate TLC to Ossau for six months. That sweet, grassy cheese transforms to have a deep, complex, brand new flavor. Ossau Reserve offers newly developed notes of caramel and browned butter with a still-perfect interior and more interesting and aromatic rind.

Enjoy this with your favorite cheese accouterments and wine alone, or get your cheese geek on and try the original Ossau and Ossau Reserve in a side-by-side tasting to see exactly what the differences are. You’ll want to hug Antonia afterwards. I always do.

CHOCOLATE: Solstice Chocolate

We give you one, fantastic chocolate almost every month, but this month is special. Here why:

1. We couldn’t agree on one Solstice bar. We didn’t have time to sell tickets to the WWE-style brawl it would take to select one, because of…
2. SOLSTICE CHOCOLATE FEST. That’s right. Our 4th annual Chocolate Fest features our first locally-made chocolate. Each bar will be featured in a dish made by a talented local chef in a sweet or savory application, plus all proceeds will be donated to the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative (read more here).
3. Have you had Solstice? Could you pick one? Of course not, and neither could we.

Solstice is locally-made and has been blowing our minds. We’ve never seen the kind of support for a local chocolate like this. Solstice is on the menu of some of the best restaurants downtown, and it’s being used by Chocolatier Blue for its amazing chocolates. What’s more, Solstice is crafting chocolate with a no-waste and eco-friendly operation.

BAR: Beehive Spiced Orange Bitters

Bitters are the future, friends. Seriously. Local bitters are even more exciting. Imagine, little ol’ Utah making top-tier, high-quality bitters. Yeah, it’s happening.

Beehive Bitters is making a small selection of bitters that belong on the bar cart of any cocktail enthusiast. Not much for cocktails at home yet? You’ll find these bitters behind the best bars in the city, or you can add them to your personal pantry for cooking, baking, and marinading. The Beehive Spiced Orange Bitters is the perfect welcome to the cold weather. I’ll be using this in everything from plays on hot toddies to cranberry sauce. I’m even experimenting with turkey brine recipes that call this. The possibilities aren’t just endless, they’re exciting and, more often than not, quite rewarding.

I don’t consider myself a serious baker, but I enjoy baking. I also don’t consider myself a festive person, but I do enjoy getting in the spirit of things with the right people. And the right people are often kids. I will not go crazy decorating with friends, but I will with my little sister or with my friends’ children,  a number rapidly growing with each passing year. I love crafting with kids, and Matt and Yelena were gracious enough to let me steal their two darling littles for some fun Halloween-themed cake decorating.

I love cake pops. Say what you will about them, but small portions of delicious cake that don’t require utensils are always a yes in my book. Plus, it got us in the mood for the upcoming holiday. Marou’s Heart of Darkness bar is an incredible option for chocolate cake pops.

In making cake pops, the actual cake matters, but the binder matters even more. Most cake pops use icing to keep the crumb together. Here, we’re using an easy ganache that’s a real knockout. As a refresher, ganache is the magical combination of chocolate and cream. Different ratios serve different purposes—from glazes and icings to truffle fillings and beyond. The high percentage of cacao in the Heart of Darkness bar make it rich and complex, while those intriguing tasting notes shine through any kind of decorating you succumb to. Sprinkles and icing are no match for the intense flavor of this bar. You’ll have no trouble sneaking these while the kids are out trick or treating or while fast asleep after their sugar high come down.

SPOOKY MAROU CAKE POPS
Makes about 20 cake pops

• 20-25 lollipop sticks, available at any craft store
• One 8-inch chocolate cake (I love using this recipe)
• 3 Marou Heart of Darkness bars, or about 9 ounces of your favorite dark chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces
• 3 ounces heavy cream
• 6 ounces white chocolate for icing, optional
• Immersion blender, optional, but so handy

In a large mixing bowl, crumble the cake between your fingers into fine crumbs. Set aside.

Simmer a small pot of water. Set a metal or glass bowl over it, making sure there is air between the bottom of the bowl and the simmering water. Pour cream into bowl and heat until it’s warm enough to melt the chocolate. Add 3 ounces of chocolate and stir to melt. Once the chocolate is melted, immerse your blender fully, making sure there is no air stuck in the top of your blender. Blend until your ganache is fully mixed and shimmering. If you don’t have a blender, continue stirring until the ganache comes together. Set aside to cool.

Once ganache has cooled, add small amounts to your cake crumb and mix with your hands. Continue adding ganache until the crumb holds together, but isn’t totally dense and weighed down. Scoop out portions for your cake balls. Roll each into a ball on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze 5-10 minutes.

While your cake balls are chilling, begin melting the remaining chocolate over simmering water to coat your cake balls. Poke a lollipop stick into each cake ball, spoon melted chocolate over each ball until fully coated. Coat all in dark chocolate or use another bowl to melt the white chocolate and use the same process to coat. You can set these on a plate to set and have a flat bottom, or stick the bottom of each stick into styrofoam to set in a more circular ball. Allow 30 minutes to set, then decorate to your heart’s desire. Or you can just eat them—that works too!

“Ask Matt Caputo” is a new, ongoing feature where Matt answers commonly asked questions from the market. This week, he discusses how the shape of pastas will affect taste and texture

Q: Do various pasta shapes taste differently, or is it just about texture?

A: Different shapes of pasta, even though they might be made by the same brand with the same ingredients, will actually taste differently. Differences in texture will affect how we experience both the taste of the sauce and the pasta. 

Take two examples from the extremes: Capellini (tiny hair-like threads) and Calamaretti (thick squid-like ringlets). Both are made from two ingredients: durum semolina and water. The Capellini threads are cut into shorter and shorter threads by the tooth, but are rarely actually smashed and ground by the tooth before swallowing. The Calamaretti, however, are thick and will have a richer texture as the tooth smashes through and releases creamy textured starches, which are also rich in grain flavor. 

The heavier Calamaretti will lend a creamy, almost porridge-like flavor to the pasta dish. The ringlets are also great at catching large chunks of coarsely hand-ground tomatoes or other large particles, such as vegetable slices, cubes of pancetta, and so on. If you’ve never had it, Maestri Pastai’s Calamaretti will show you that dried pasta can be far better than most fresh pasta. 

Disclaimer: While Matt Caputo is a Certified Cheese Professional and specialty food fanatic, he is not a medical professional, doctor, or certified nutritionist. Please consult with your doctor or other qualified health care professional before making any healthcare decisions, diagnostics or treatment decisions based on Matt’s answers.

So, did September actually happen? Between the warm weather and busy schedules we’ve kept here at Caputo’s, I’m quite positive we jumped right from August to October. I’m just starting to pull my sweaters and comfy socks out of storage and see cute posts of friends getting their hands on the the season’s first pumpkins. I’m ready for cozy dinner parties, hot drinks, comforting stews, and all the wonderful traditions of autumn. We’re keeping things fun and festive this month to help you welcome the cool weather in tasty fashion. Here’s what we’ll be noshing on this month.

PANTRY: Maestri Squid Ink Spaghetti

There is really nothing better in life than a plate of high quality pasta. If the quality is there, I could not care less about the sauce accompanying it or the vessel in which it is served. I would argue that bronze dye extruded shapes and artisan style pasta is a dying art form that is giving way to slippery, cheap teflon-cut noodles. Dear friends, they are not the same. The ideal pasta is roughly textured on a molecular level, creating a sponge-like surface that holds sauce to itself rather than floating in a puddle of it. There is a toothsome texture and flavor from the grains it was made from. To have the best pasta is to have life. Seriously, this is the stuff of gods. I say you’ve earned the right to a better pasta, don’t you?

Maestri is handmade and extruded by master pasta maker Giovanni Castiello in the most attentive, dedicated fashion. Castiello has traveled across all of Italy to learn and perfect over 80 shapes of pasta. Each shape receives the same TLC and attention to detail as the next. This black—dare I say spooky—spaghetti is colored with squid ink and is the perfect base for a seafood-laden dish. Keep it simple with garlic, oil, herbs, and your shellfish of choice, or let your creative juices flow with a combination of flavors. We’re loving an ‘nduja-spiked tomato sauce with scallops, shrimp, and clams. I dig it so much, I’ll likely have to share the recipe it with you.

BAR: Bittermen’s Hellfire Habanero Shrub

More from the master of all things specialty food, Matt Caputo: “As bitters makers go, Bittermens has mastered the technical skill needed to perfectly execute consistent, quality bitters. Despite all that precision, none of the artistry is lost. In fact, these are some of the most creative concoctions found anywhere, flavors that pay homage to pre-Prohibition era cocktail culture but have a wide arc all their own. Bittermens is for the barkeep who has mastered the classics and is ready to create.”

Bittermen’s spicy little shrub is a perfect way to add a spicy kick to cocktails and food alike. I find myself adding this to everything from sauces for tacos and enchiladas, tomato sauces for pasta, tequila cocktails, and spicy brownies. This shrub is the perfect balance of acid and spice.

The hardest part of getting your hands on this bottle is then deciding whether to store it in the bar or pantry once you’ve brought it home.

CHOCOLATE: Marou Heart of Darkness

Don’t you wish Matt Caputo could narrate your entire food journey for your entire life? This is as close as we can get, but it’s pretty fantastic, right?

“Marou evokes many thoughts and emotions. From exhilaration, lust, fear, and back to comfort. It is an incredibly complex and exotic chocolate. It manages to be ethereal and visceral at the same time. On the one hand, it is like an exotic and mysterious woman whispering in a language you can’t remotely comprehend. On the other, it is like a musical journey from slow Asian instrumentals to death metal.

Using 100-percent Vietnamese ingredients, including shade-grown cacao from five different provinces, Marou captures aromas and flavors never before experienced by our Western palates. While it will take us much more tasting to really get to know the soul of Marou’s chocolate, one thing is perfectly clear: The two French expatriates behind Marou who live in Vietnam make chocolate that is a cousin to French cuisine, but distinctively Vietnamese. Marou makes globalization look sexy.”

It can’t get much darker than 85% without beginning to lose its palatability. Marou has mastered the art of creating a super-dark chocolate that is still super delicious. Some chocolate with this percentage of cacao content are far too bitter, and I find myself wishing for just a touch more sugar. Not here. You’ll love its deep and dark complexity and its full flavor and nuance. Plus, the nod to the eerie novel from whence its name comes makes it an ideal bar for October.

We have been thoroughly enjoying Bitters Week at Caputo’s—sharing our newest passion, talking about cocktails, and dabbling with these concoctions in the kitchen. And it all culminates with our Tasting Class: Intro to Bitters tonight, September 29. We hope we see you there to geek out on bitters and to enjoy some delicious libations!

But first, we’d like to introduce you to two local makers who we believe are crafting exceptional bitters that stand up to many across the country. After the first bitters maker in the most recent American boom launched its first product in 2005, we knew it wouldn’t be long until Utahns joined the market—and in a profound way. Whether these bitters be complex and offer a fresh spin on an old favorite or they are something wholly one-of-a-kind, we sure are glad they’re here. Get to know them, then come in and give them a sample.

BEEHIVE BITTERS

In 2015, cocktail aficionado Mike D’Amico founded Beehive Bitters Company in Utah (the Beehive State). While it seems like a new bitters producer hits the market every minute these days, Beehive is not your average homemade bitters—far from it. Each of Mike’s bitters calls for multiple tinctures and extractions, which are all handmade separately and mixed together at the end of production to create unique and consistent flavors.

Although Beehive’s flavors—Spiced Orange, Lime, and Lemon—sound straightforward, our tasting panels find them surprisingly complex, yet simultaneously clean and clear. Look forward to the upcoming Coffee bitters and Whiskey Barrel-Aged bitters.

Buy Beehive Bitters Spiced Orange

BITTERS LAB

Salt Lake City’s own Bitters Lab produces one-of-a-kind bitters. The Aromatic is even spicier and more feminine than Peychaud’s, and the Charred Cedar + Currant mimics peat and nitrous oxide on the nose. Possibly the most impressive, though, is the Habanero Lime, which offers explosive amounts of habanero flavor and almost no heat at all. It’s incredible to delve so deeply into the flavor of a pepper whose Scoville scale score normally makes such an exploration all but impossible.

Shop Bitters Lab Charred Cedar + Currant

Shop the market for bitters or attend a tasting class.

If my friends have ever been to my house, I’ve likely fed them farro. It’s my go-to for sharing ,and it fits into almost any special dietary need. Plus, it’s delicious.

I may or may not have exhausted the palettes of all my friends with this play on risotto that uses farro instead. This pushed me to find a new way to prepare farro that’s a bit more exciting. And that exciting dash lies in a bottle of Peychaud’s. Adding bitters to my dressings, marinades, and vinaigrettes has opened my eyes to all sorts of new, fun ways to gussy up some old recipes. For this one, I cooked farro like rice rather than risotto, tossed in some pan-roasted zucchini, onion, and eggplant from the farmers market, added some flare with Laziz Toum and artichoke hearts, and then left the whole mess of deliciousness to chill for a few hours.

Once chilled, I added Peychaud’s to my favorite—and incredibly simple—dijon and sherry vinaigrette and drizzled it over the salad. I am so pleased with the results that I made this twice last week for dinner. Sweet and aromatic Peychaud’s adds a floral, almost-feminine component to the dish that matches its lightness and delicate flavors. It can be served hot or cold and loves a fried egg on top for added protein. Go on, you know you want some.

Peychaud’s Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
  
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl. Drizzle over salads, greens, or roasted veggies.

Farro Salad
Serves 6

• 1 1/2 cups farro
• 1 eggplant, cut into quarters and sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon Laziz Toum
• Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, sprinkle a generous amount of salt over sliced eggplants. Toss to coat and let sit at least 20 minutes. Squeeze slices to release any excess moisture and lay out on a paper towel.

Cover farro in 4 cups of water in a small saucepan. Add a few pinches of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 20 minutes.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil and onions. Cook until onions are browned entirely. Add zucchini and Laziz Toum. Stir occasionally and cook until zucchini is tender. Remove to a bowl. Add eggplant to the skillet and cook until browned. Add eggplant, cooked farro, and any additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or chill at least one hour. Serve with Peychaud’s vinaigrette.

Shop the market for bitters 

Some ingredients serve one perfect purpose. Not bitters. As the excitement over expertly crafted cocktails continues to skyrocket, a variety of bitters are slowly making their way into my home and kitchen. If there’s an open bottle of bitters lying around, you can bet I’ll start playing with it in my food. I’ve had a few missteps in the beginning, but I can safely say I’ve got my sealegs now and am prepared to share my first bitters recipes.

Bitters are great in the kitchen. I crave complexity and depth in everything I make, so bitters are a natural addition to my pantry. Aroma and flavor—it’s all in that little bottle that packs a powerful punch. Though it’s not a new idea to introduce bitters to your cooking, it’s still sparsely used in cookbooks and cooking magazines. The easiest place to start is with Addition. Here are Matt’s words about Addition:

“Addition Cocktail Spice is just what the name implies: spice for cocktails. The company’s products are similar to bitters in terms of aromatic potency, but have no bittering agents. While most are simply single-ingredient tinctures, try hunting down better ingredients and getting a better extraction than the spice geeks at Addition.

Some of these spices, such as the Pink Pepper and Turmeric, are useful primarily as aromatics, since they have big noses but subtle flavor. Others, such as the Black Pepper and Piri Piri, offer a lot more heat and flavor than they do aromatics. Still more spices, like Cardamom, Garlic, Rosemary, and Thai Chili, have a big impact on both nose and mouth.”

Cardamom, you say? That is relevant to my interests, especially with the cold weather blowing in recently. I yearn for the comfort of warm baking spices, and cardmom is one of my favorites. Since Addition’s tinctures offer a singular, strong flavor, I wanted to add this to a tart with a perfect crust and a fun, flavored pastry cream. I settled on mixing chestnuts and cardamom, I’m calling it my Sayonara Summer Tart. We’re welcoming in the cold seasons here, friends, and this is the tastiest way to do so. Sweet tart pastry dough is the base for a lightly sweetened combination of pastry cream and chestnut cream, with a generous helping of Addition Cardamom, for comfort’s sake.

Chesnut and Cardamom Tart
Serves 8-12

Sweet tart dough:

• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix well, stirring and folding until there are no dry patches. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight, until firm. Roll dough out and press into a 10-inch tart shell pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until it begins to brown.

Chestnut pastry cream:

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chestnut cream (substitute pureed chestnuts and sugar simple syrup if unavailable)
• 1 teaspoon Addition Cardamom Cocktail Spice

Mix the sugar and egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and cornstarch to the the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.

Bring the milk just to boiling. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the chestnut cream and Addition tincture. Spread over cooled tart shell. Serve at room temperature.

Shop the market for bitters

When introduced to the flavors, the history and, of course, the applications of bitters, we could not help but fall down this new rabbit hole.

With the recent interest in craft cocktails, which has created a resurgence of bitters and an explosion in the number of brands producing them, it’s hard to imagine that, as of 2004, there were only three brands of bitters available commercially.

Originally developed as medicines, bitters are an alcoholic preparation with botanical ingredients, such as gentian, cinchona bark, cascara, cassia, and orange peel, among others. Historians can trace the origins of bitters to the ancient Egyptians and the Middle Ages’ herbal bitters and tonic preparations. During the 1800s, bitters became what we know them as now, and began to be incorporated into cocktails, because their aromatic and flavor profile gave the libations more depth and balance. Some of the early and most prominent commercial aromatic bitters during the time that are still recognizable names were Angostura Bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters.

Indeed, some 150 years ago, bitters were booming and countless makers offered their concoctions to support the uniquely American cocktail culture. With Prohibition, however, it all came to a screeching halt, and cocktails became sugary to cover up sub-par booze. Not so any longer.

We are thrilled to participate in the resurrection of bitters and a dawning of a new era in cocktail culture. With the help of our heavyweight mixologist friends, and lots of blind tasting, we have cultivated our palates to recognize these values in the bitters collection you can find at our market. Come in for a sample, and then go home and try your hand at mixology in your home bar.

Shop the market for bitters

Holy cow, this was such a wet week for us in SLC! I’ve been cozied up in all my favorite sweaters and boots all week, and I’m so surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed the cool weather and rain puddles. I had spent last weekend and the beginning of this week preparing for our Eat Local Cooking Class. Eat Local Week began this past Saturday, and our class was part of the festivities taking place all over the valley in celebration of our fabulous local food farmers and artisans. I had the menu set weeks in advance, local produce purchased, and a hoard of local products from the Caputo’s shelves that I couldn’t wait to share. Then, the rain came, and it changed the whole menu.

One of my favorite recipes comes from one of my favorite women, Marcella Hazan. I don’t think there will ever be another person or collection of recipes that I will admire more than her and hers. Smothered cabbage—it may sound bland or boring, but this is the base to the most comforting soup I’ve ever made. Caramelized onions, browned garlic, shredded cabbage, and light seasoning slowly cook over low heat for hours. This transforms the cabbage into a sweetened, complex, and totally craveable dish. On its own, it is the perfect side for roasted and braised meats. When I’m sick, however, this is the foundation for the soup that has entirely replaced the ol’ standby, chicken noodle.

I make a double batch of smothered cabbage as soon as I begin to feel a cold coming on. The cabbage will last for about two weeks in the refrigerator, and it only takes 25 minutes to make a new bowl of soup to snuggle up to. Cabbage is just beginning to make its fall debut at our local farmers markets, and this is the perfect recipe to add to your wintertime arsenal.

Marcella Hazan’s Smothered Cabbage, Venetian Style
Serves 4-6

• 2 pounds green, red, or Savoy cabbage
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Salt
• Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar, white or red (I use sherry vinegar)

Detach and discard the first few outer leaves of the cabbage. The remaining head of leaves must be shredded very fine. If you are going to do it by hand, cut the leaves into fine shreds, slicing them off the whole head. Turn the head after you have sliced a section of it until gradually you expose the entire core, which must be discarded. If you want to use the food processor, cut the leaves off from the core in sections, discard the core and process the leaves through a shredding attachment.

Put the onion and olive oil into a large sauté pan, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a deep gold, then add the garlic. When you have cooked the garlic until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the shredded cabbage. Turn the cabbage over 2 or 3 times to coat it well, and cook it until it is wilted.

Add salt, pepper, and the vinegar. Turn the cabbage over once completely, lower the heat to minimum, and cover the pan tightly. Cook for at least 1 1/2 hours, or until it is very tender, turning it from time to time. If while it is cooking, the liquid in the pan should become insufficient, add 2 tablespoons water as needed. When done, taste and correct for salt and pepper. Allow it to settle off the heat for a few minutes before serving.

Marcella Hazan’s Rice and Smothered Cabbage Soup
Serves 4

• 3 cups homemade meat broth or 1 cup canned beef broth diluted with 2 cups of water, or 1 1/2 bouillon cubes dissolved in 3 cups of water
• 2/3 cup Arborio rice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Put the cabbage and broth into a soup pot, and turn on the heat to medium. When the broth comes to a boil, add the rice. Cook uncovered, adjusting the heat so that the soup bubbles at a slow but steady boil, stirring from time to time until the rice is done. It must be tender, but firm to the bite, and should take around 20 minutes. If while the rice is cooking, you find the soup becoming too thick, dilute it with a ladleful of homemade broth or water. The soup should be on the dense-ish side when finished.

When the rice is done, before turning off the heat, stir in the butter and the grated cheese. Taste and correct for salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into individual plates and allow it to settle a few minutes before serving.

Note: The smothered cabbage can be prepared 2 or 3 days ahead of the soup, or served as a side dish from here. It also freezes well.

“Ask Matt Caputo” is a new, ongoing feature where Matt answers commonly asked questions from the market. This week, he clarifies a few misconceptions about nitrates.

Q: I’ve heard that I should avoid nitrates in food, but I noticed that some of Caputo’s meats don’t claim to be nitrate-free. Why not? Are nitrates really that bad for me?

A: Many of our meats are nitrate free, but that doesn’t mean they are any better for you. Even all the “uncured” salami out there uses nitrates—even if it’s not on the label. Nitrates can come from natural sources, such as celery powder, rosemary extract, etc. These natural sources of nitrates convert in your gut to nitrites just like sodium nitrate from pink curing salt. However, they can be listed as “natural flavorings,” even though they contribute nitrate, not flavor. 

Unlike pink salt, these “natural flavorings” and the exact amount of nitrates are not regulated by the USDA or FDA, unfortunately. So in unlabeled salami, the actual dosage of nitrates you are getting is often much, much higher than if you just ate the stuff with sodium nitrate listed on the label. The key is balance. Eat some fresh veggies with a few bites of salami and cheese, and you’ll be fine. Everything in moderation! 

Disclaimer: While Matt Caputo is a Certified Cheese Professional and specialty food fanatic, he is not a medical professional, doctor, or certified nutritionist. Please consult with your doctor or other qualified health care professional before making any healthcare decisions, diagnostics or treatment decisions based on Matt’s answers.

It’s here: the last moments of summer. As we say goodbye to the sunshine-filled days of summer and welcome a new school year, we want to make sure to savor the flavors of the harvest season with the most delicious, new, and craveable treats from Caputo’s. Take a peek at our latest obsessions here:
CHEESE: Mesa Feta

Mesa Farm in Torrey, Utah, is home to a local artisan very near and dear to our hearts. Randy Ramsley is at the helm of Mesa, which is home to about 40 goats near the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park. Here, Randy raises his small herd along the banks of the Fremont River and creates a small collection of world-class cheeses. Our current favorite is his 100-percent local goat’s milk feta. Aged about four month to achieve optimal flavor, Mesa Feta is tangy, briny, and delicious. This cheese is the perfect pair for our local bounty of fruits and vegetables. Toss it into Greek-inspired salads, over seasoned watermelon or stone fruit, and top your grilled burgers, mushrooms, and other veggies with it. You’ll be glad you did, and we’ll be glad to have you in full support of this fantastic local product.

***In 2023, Randy of Mesa Farm entered his beautifully earned retirement. The farm and its singular cheeses will live on in our hearts and stories for years to come.***

SAVORY: Piquillo Peppers

There are many piquillo copycats out there, and for darn good reason. Piquillo peppers, which translate to ‘little beak’ in Spanish, are a cornerstone of Spanish cooking and tapas culture. Piquillo peppers—grown in Northern Spain, near Lodosa—offer a sweet flavor with no spiciness, and a sturdy, meaty texture. Piquillo peppers are roasted, seeded, and de-stemmed before canning. Your piquillos should be whole when they come out of the jar. Stuff them with high quality Spanish tuna, a mixture of cheese and herbs (cough, like the Mesa feta above, cough, cough), or chop and toss into frittatas, casseroles, stews, and more. Use these instead of other roasted peppers for amplified flavor, and they’ll make your dish even tastier.

BAR: Peychaud’s Bitters

We’ve got another traditional cornerstone for you here. This Craving is one part Creole magic and one part cocktail king. Created by New Orleans apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud in the 1830s, this bitters has withstood not just the test of time, but it was one of the only bitters to survive Prohibition. Light, sweet, and floral, this is an absolute must-have for home cocktail enthusiasts and professional mixologists alike. You can’t make a proper Sazerac without it, and you deserve a Sazerac after that first week of getting the kids through school.

CHOCOLATE: Pump Street Hacienda Limon 85%

Pump Street has stormed on to the American market after a publicized mention at the Oscars. It has long had a cult-like following for both its baked goods and chocolate alike. Hailing from the almost-too-cute and quaint town of Orford, Suffolk, Pump Street coaxes Heirloom Cacao Preservation cacao beans into some of the most decadent bars we’ve tasted. These bars are complex, perfectly textured, and truly craveable. Pump Street offers beans from Hacienda Limon in three different cacao percentages to explore the full spectrum of flavor from these heirloom beans. The Guantupi region of Ecuador is home to cacao beans used by many artisan chocolate makers across the country, but we just can’t get enough of Pump Street lately—especially the 85% bar. This is the ultimate gift to give the most important person in your life: yourself! Go on, indulge.

My favorite resurgent food theme from the last few years is what I like to call “grandma chic.” While food writers, bloggers, chefs, and amateur food enthusiasts will claim to march to beat of their own drum, we all love to follow and comment on the latest foodie trends.

The trends of 2014 included: the Great Kale Revolution, healthy lunches for kids, all local everything, gluten-free foods, and upscale comfort food. So far, 2015 moved further away from molecular gastronomy and embraced things like biscuits, waffles, poutine, and more obscure culinary traditions.

For me,  it was “grandma chic” above all else. Everyone believes that their grandma or other kitchen matriarch makes at least one dish better than anyone else in the world. We’re all too happy to pit our sweet, shrinking, and wise elderly relatives against each other in hopes of prevailing with the most authentic and tastiest recipe.

Well guess what, both my grandmothers are Kitchen Queens. My paternal grandmother has cornered the market on eggplant parmigiano, lasagna, and peach pie. My maternal grandmother, Nonna, was the authority on fresh pasta, taralli, and seasonal cooking. She left us all too soon, but made a lasting impression on my life and forever changed my perspective in the kitchen.

Rino, of the now-closed Rino’s Italian Ristorante in the Parley’s Canyon area, is my first stop at the Saturday farmers market at Pioneer Park. His produce reminds me of my Nonna’s kitchen table.

A fresh white tablecloth was the base for the summer’s bounty, day in and day out. Tomatoes, peppers, greens, and many other veggies were piled high, tempting us grandchildren with their wafting scents. We’d sneak tomatoes and peppers all summer, but left our favorite veggies alone in hopes they’d be used for our favorite dishes. Mine included fresh orrechiette with veggies from the garden, braised beef with tomato sauce, and fried squash blossoms.

Nonna lightly fried squash blossoms in a big, cast iron pan that filled the kitchen with a sweet scent that tortured me until dinnertime. Our whole family would sit down, and I’d silently pray everyone would help themselves to the main course so I could get my grubby little hands on the blossoms. I loved the crunch at the tip of the blossom that gave way to its tender base filled with deliciousness. Sometimes, she’d fill them with herbed ricotta. Other times, she fried them plain, with no filling. I didn’t care which she chose, so long as there were blossoms to be had.

Rino has had blossoms since the market began this summer. I haven’t missed buying them—not even once. Each one is ready to be used, slightly fragrant, and cut the same way my Nonna cut them from the garden. I fry at least two of the 10 blossoms I buy from him. The others may be fried as well, or sautéed for pasta, added to farro salads, or as a simple topping on fried eggs or a frittata. No matter how they’re used, I silently thank both my Nonna for her delicious, simple way of cooking and Rino for the opportunity to cook her recipes from my childhood.

Make these squash blossoms for the people you love most. Serve them alongside pasta, poultry, or egg dishes, and manipulate this recipe so it becomes your own. Then pass it down as your family grows. Maybe someday, our grandkids will pit our recipes against each other, too.

Fried Squash Blossoms
Makes 10 blossoms

• 1 10-inch cast iron frying pan
• Olive oil, for frying
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 tablespoon fennel pollen
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces beer, lager, or pilsner (I’ve really loved using Squatters Bumper Crop this summer)
• 10 zucchini blossoms, stamens removed
• Fleur de sel sea salt

Add oil to the pan, about 1 to 2 inches deep. Heat on medium-high until oil is fragrant and shimmering. While oil is heating, remove stamens from blossoms. Mix ricotta with fennel pollen and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe 1-2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture into the center of each blossom. Don’t overfill with ricotta (I know it’s tempting, I still make this mistake. Remember, we want to taste the blossom.) In a medium bowl, whisk beer into flour and salt until only small lumps remain.

Dredge blossoms in batter and shake off any excess before laying them into the oil to fry. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan and fry each side of blossoms for about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate layered with paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and serve immediately.