We can’t wait till the actual Chocolate Festival for you to see what’s on the menu, because it’s just so exciting! So here it is.

At this year’s festival, five chefs and local mixologists will use one of Solstice Chocolate’s five bars to showcase sweet, savory, and boozy applications of the Salt Lake City craft-chocolate maker.

The all-star culinary lineup includes Chef Logan Crew of Current Fish & Oyster, Chef Tyler Stokes of Provisions, Pastry Chef Courtney McDowell of Pallet Bistro, Pastry Chef Amber Billingsley of 3 Cups, and Pastry Chef Alicia Pacheco of Rye Diner & Drinks. The tantalizing evening will begin with an amuse-bouche prepared by Chef Marshall Bryant of Caputo’s. Wine will be served by Francis Fecteau of Libation, Inc., beers will be poured by Avenues Proper, craft cocktails will be mixed by Beehive Bitters and Sugar House Distillery, and pour overs provided by La Barba Coffee Roasters.

Caputo’s Chocolate Week comes at the perfect time of year. Our annual Chocolate Fest puts me in the mood and mindset for the holidays and festivities, but it also gives me a chance to start testing desserts for the family dinners and fun holiday parties to come. My family has a knack for making enough food to feed an entire village, but we do our best to minimize the menu as much as we can every year. We always make the usual pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies, and these are also often accompanied by another cream-based or chocolate-based pie.

This year, I wanted to find a way to incorporate a chocolate dessert without making yet another deep-dish pie. Chocolate pies rely heavily on cocoa powder for flavor, but I like having more control of the nuances. Basically, I want a chocolate pie with a third of the volume, no cocoa powder, and to be made exclusively with chocolate bars.

Meet the chocolate tart. Thin, sweet pastry dough holds a thin layer of rich, luxurious chocolate and a dollop of bitters flavored whipped cream. My first attempt was so successful it garnered a happy dance and a phone call to the family. Solstice’s Wasatch Blend bar made an earthy, balanced tart base that was enlivened with a Beehive Bitters spiced orange whipped cream. It was festive, delicious, and a quarter of the size and effort of our usual chocolate pie.

Save this recipe for your upcoming holiday parties. You can also use your favorite chocolate bars and bitters to make this your own.

Wasatch Blend Chocolate Tart
Serves 8-12

Tart Dough

• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon Beehive Spiced Orange bitters
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients with a stand or hand mixer until there are no dry patches. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until firm. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness or until there is an excess of about 3 inches in diameter to fit an 8-inch tart shell. Press dough into the shell and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing the tart ring from the shell.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

• 10 ounces heavy cream
• 7 ounces Solstice Wasatch Blend, or two dark chocolate bars, 70% cacao or higher
• Fleur de sel sea salt

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 chocolate and stir to melt. Once the chocolate is melted, use an immersion blender or whisk to combine. Whisk until your ganache is fully blended. Stir in fleur de sel in small pinches, to taste. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes, then pour into the tart shell. Chill until ready to serve, but remove about 15-20 minutes before serving

Bitters Whipped Cream

• 10 ounces heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
• 2 teaspoons Beehive Spiced Orange bitters

In a medium bowl, whisk heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, and bitters until whipped, but still loose. We don’t want stiff peaks, but enough volume to hold cream together when we top our chocolate tart with it. Adjust sweetness and flavoring with bitters before serving.

More from Chocolate Week:

A Primer on Solstice Chocolate

Solstice Drinking Chocolate Recipe

Caputo’s Solstice Chocolate Mini-Tartlets

A Retrospect of Past Chocolate Festivals

Recipe: Adri’s Festive Wasatch Tart

The Menu for Chocolate Fest Featuring Solstice Chocolate

Ask Matt Caputo: What is the Best Process to Taste Fine Chocolate?

It’s hard to believe that we’re approaching the 4th annual Caputo’s Chocolate Festival this week. What a delightfully delicious and cacao-filled fun ride it’s been!

Each year, our goal has been to highlight one craft chocolate maker—and this has varied from the best chocolate born abroad and in the United States—while also showcasing the dynamic culinary power of our local chefs. On top of that, it’s been a great way to get nerdy with the chocolate community and would-be chocolate connoisseurs.

Always educational and and brimming with tasty bites—the forthcoming festival featuring Solstice Chocolate surely won’t be any different. But before we get to carried away with excitement, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

These vignettes just so happen to get us extremely excited about chocolate. So give them a watch.

Caputo’s 1st Annual Chocolate Festival, featuring Amedei Chocolate

Caputo’s 2nd Annual Chocolate Festival, featuring Ritual Chocolate

Caputo’s 3rd Annual Chocolate Festival, featuring Dick Taylor Chocolate

Salt Lake City’s newest bean-to-bar chocolate maker Solstice Chocolate is now part of our award-winning, craft-chocolate selection. Owner Scott Querry has developed his love and passion for chocolate over the last 15 years and is now the company’s sole chocolate maker.

“Using little cocoa butter, but no vanilla, their chocolate is one of the most well executed we have,” says Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo’s Market & Deli. “From their unique and functional packaging to their flawless tempering, Solstice embodies truly incredible sophistication and depth of nuance.”

High-quality, hard-to-find, organic cacao beans are processed with organic cane sugar and organic cocoa butter in extremely small batches with a meticulous process and eye. The result is mature, full-flavored, single-origin bars that have stolen a piece of our hearts.

Here’s an added bonus: Solstice is not just delicious, there’s an incredibly pure, mindful process behind its deliciousness. The company strives to minimize its carbon footprint by eliminating waste during production and offering its chocolate in 100% biodegradable and resealable bags.

Don’t let this fool you into thinking they are just another marginal “artisan” or “craft” chocolate pop-up. You can tell this chocolate is chef-approved by looking at a number of menus around Utah. “The raw energy behind Solstice Chocolate has their vibrant chocolate popping up on the best menus around town,” Caputo says. “The restaurant industry has never shown this level of support for a Utah craft-chocolate company.”

Solstice’s skillful chocolate-making produces straightforward bars that scream the origin of the cacao beans loud and clear. Terroir is never a mystery with Solstice. “Some would call their style loud and brash,” Caputo continues. “When the notes are as clean and pure as this, I say rock on!”

Solstice Chocolate’s current lineup includes a total of five bars. One blend, titled Wasatch, and four single origins: Bolivian Palos Blancos, Madagascar Sambirano, Uganda Bundibugyo, Ecuador Camino Verde. Here’s some more information and tasting notes for each bar:

Description and Tasting Notes (provided by Solstice Chocolate):

Solstice Bolivian premium chocolate bars are handcrafted from Palos Blancos cacao beans. Palos Blancos is harvested from a damp rainy region of Bolivia. This climate gives rise to the unique qualities of this rich elegant chocolate. Tasting Notes: This deep rich chocolate has subtle notes of nuts, honey, and fresh cream.

Solstice Ecuador premium chocolate bars are handcrafted from cacao grown by Camino Verde Estate, a farm located near the southern coastline of Ecuador. This plantation uses unique fermentation methods to produce sweet decadent cacao. Tasting Notes: This aromatic sweet cacao results in a unique chocolate with delicious notes of brown sugar, caramel, banana, and cream.

Solstice Madagascar premium chocolate bars are handcrafted from Sambirano cacao beans. Sambirano beans are cultivated from a distinct tropical climate along the Sambirano River in Madagascar often referred to as “the green gold of Madagascar.” Taste Notes: This unique tangy chocolate has hints of citrus and berries believed to be a result of former fruit plantations enriching the soil during French Colonial times.

Solstice Uganda premium chocolate bars are handcrafted from fine cacao grown in Bundibugyo. This area is part of the flourishing growth of cacao farming in Uganda. Taste Notes: This dark chocolate has a subtle bitterness of cocoa powder with fresh, earthy hints of berries and tree fruit.

Solstice Wasatch Blend chocolate bars takes its name from the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the home of Solstice Chocolate. This is an original combination of cacao beans created to showcase Solstice’s love of chocolate. Taste Notes: This unique blend of cacao creates a chocolate which is both mild and exciting, with an essence of cream and subtle sweet spice.

All images provided by Solstice Chocolate

More from Chocolate Week:

A Primer on Solstice Chocolate

Solstice Drinking Chocolate Recipe

Caputo’s Solstice Chocolate Mini-Tartlets

A Retrospect of Past Chocolate Festivals

Recipe: Adri’s Festive Wasatch Tart

The Menu for Chocolate Fest Featuring Solstice Chocolate

Ask Matt Caputo: What is the Best Process to Taste Fine Chocolate?

A chocolate and caramel tart created by Caputo’s Executive Chef Marshall Bryant, using one of the best local chocolates Caputo’s carries, this recipe serves a large group (or a smaller, voracious one). For a smaller batch, simply cut amounts in half.

CAPUTO’S SOLSTICE CHOCOLATE MINI TARTLETS
Makes 75 mini-tarts, or few, larger shells

COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR TOTAL

You’ll need:

• 12 oz. of Solstice Wasatch Chocolate
• 1 quart, plus 4 oz. of cream
• 1 lb., plus 2 oz. unsalted butter
• 1 lb. sugar
• Pre-made tart shells (we’re using the mini bite-size shells)

THE CHOCOLATE:

Melt the chocolate over low heat until all chunks disappear, then add 2 oz. of butter. Stir until the butter is completely incorporated into the chocolate, then add 4 oz. of cream, and stir until smooth.

THE CARAMEL:

Melt sugar until it is golden brown (approximately 315 degrees). Remove from heat. Stir in 1 lb. of butter, then slowly add in 1 quart of cream. Stir until smooth.

THE FINALE:

First, fill the tart shell about half of the way with caramel. Add chocolate mix until tart shell is filled to almost capacity. Finish off the tarts with a very light sprinkle of fleur de sel. Serve to guests. Accept compliments graciously. Save a large number for yourself.

Guys, IT SNOWED! Never mind that it lasted 15 minutes, and never mind that none of it stuck around. The important fact here is that frozen precipitation fell from the sky the first week of November. I began dreaming of all the hot drinks in my near future as I watched those big, fluffy flakes fall gracefully to the wet ground. Cider, hot toddies, tea, but most importantly, drinking chocolate. Not the powdered milk and cocoa with weird dried marshmallows, but real drinking chocolate.

The key to this recipe is high-quality chocolate. Any low quality bars won’t create the right consistency or flavor that you and your loved ones deserve. With so few ingredients, we rely heavily on the flavor of our chocolate to make this drink shine. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Solstice Bolivia bar. Notes of honey, cream, and very subtle warm baking spices are the perfect flavor I want when I’m craving drinking chocolate.

We made chocolate cake pops just a few weeks ago with a special focus on ganache. For cake pops, the ganache served as a binder to keep the cake crumb together and on the pop sticks. Here, we’re making what I like to call a “loosey-goosey ganache” that is the perfect consistency for drinking. This is the same process as making a thick ganache, we’re just using more cream than chocolate. The very nature of drinking chocolate is luxuriously
thick, so a little goes a long way here. I only need about 1/4 cup when I make this on special occasions with friends, so let’s not lose our marbles over the use of heavy cream. However, should you feel that your marbles are still in jeopardy of being lost, use whole milk or half and half.

This is a fun, easy, and quick recipe that comes together in less than 10 minutes. Make this with your kids, your friends, or your family. This is my favorite and most decadent way to welcome the cold weather. Blankets, thick socks, and a fire make it the perfect early winter evening.

SOLSTICE DRINKING CHOCOLATE
Serves 4

• 14 ounces heavy cream
• 5 ounces or two dark chocolate bars, 70% cacao or higher, preferably Solstice Bolivia
• Fleur de sel sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk 4 ounces of heavy cream until whipped, but still loose. We don’t want stiff peaks, but enough volume to hold cream together when we top our chocolate with it. 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 10 ounces of cream into bowl and heat until it’s warm enough to melt the chocolate. Add 5 ounces of chocolate and stir to melt. Once the chocolate is melted, use and immersion blender or whisk to combine. Whisk until your ganache is fully blended. Stir in vanilla, then add fleur de sel in small pinches, to taste.
Pour into small espresso cups, Mason jars, or other small glasses. Spoon whipped cream on top and serve immediately.

This is an easy recipe to add your own unique twist. Here are a few easy ways to make it your own:

• Steep the cream ahead of time with your favorite spices
• Add a cinnamon stir stick upon serving
• Add a dash of cayenne for a spicy kick
• Add booze. Any booze. I’m a personal fan of whiskey or Bailey’s
• Mix equal parts drinking chocolate with coffee
• Top with marshmallows or whipped cream
• Substitute your favorite bitters for half of the vanilla extract

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