First of all, thanks to everyone who has stopped by the Mass A’Peel booth to taste, visit, purchase, provide feedback, etc… at the Charlottesville City Market and the Pen Park Farmer’s Market.  You are what this venture is all about!  And, frankly, you are what makes it so much fun!  I LOVE having someone approach the tasting table only to wrinkle his/her nose and proclaim “oh, I don’t like marmalade,” and then within minutes of a taste,  purchase a jar!  I love shattering preconceieved notions!

I also love creating new and fabulous concoctions.  As a tribute to a dear friend of mine who is also a self-proclaimed foodie with a passion for Campari, I decided to create a marmalade entitled “Blood Orange Sugar Magik” comprised of blood oranges and Campari.

To start.  The blood orange.  The blood orange is a variation of the sweet orange which has darker coloration in the rind and flesh because of anthocyanins – pigmentation commonly found in nature, but more often in flowers and non-citrus fruits, and loaded with antioxidants.  The degree of coloration is dependent on light, temperature and fruit variety. 

These beauties pictured above were used for our initial batch of Blood Orange Sugar Magik.  What I naively took to be merely “blood oranges” are more precisely blood oranges of the Sanguinello variety.  Who knew that there were multiple varieties of blood oranges?  Not I.  Well, now we all know that there are approximately a dozen varietals of blood oranges, however three are most common – The Sanguinello (pictured above) being among those three – and the Tarroco and the Moro being the other two.  The Sanguinello blood orange is a Spanish varietal which was discovered in the late ’20s and has a deep red flesh, and tinged peel.  It was less sweet than a traditional sweet orange, but by no means bitter.  And it produced an intense burgundy marmalade, which really is no surprise, given that its name derives from the Latin word for blood:  “sanguis.”

Flash forward several months…  when I make marmalade, sometimes I have to take what I can get when it comes to citrus.  So, when I found blood oranges, I bought them, thinking that they were going to be equivalent to the Sanguinellos that I had in the past, despite the name Tarroco blood orange on the label.  Well, I am sure that you can guess that despite being the second of the most popular blood orange varieties, the Tarroco is very different from the

Blood Orange Sugar Magik marmalade made with Sanguinello blood oranges

Sanguinello!  For starters, it is from Italy, and is in fact one fo the most popular oranges in Italy, thought to have derived from a mutation of the Sanguinello, while being the sweetest and most flavorful of the three most popular blood orange varieties.  It is also sweet, juicy, seedless and has the highest Vitamin C content of any other orange variety in the world, adding to its appeal.  And surprising to me was the fact that it is not nearly as red as the Sanguinello or Moro blood oranges. 

SO, Mass A’Peel’s Blood Orange Sugar Magik looks and tastes drastically different when made with different varieties of blood oranges!

Now – the Campari.  What exactly is Campari?  It is an Italian aperitif (an alcoholic beverage served to stimulate the appetite before a meal) which was created by Gaspare Campari in Novaro, Italy in 1860.  He called his concoction Rosa Campari, and it was an infusion of herbs, aromatic plants and fruits, mixed with alcohol and water.  There are rumored to be anywhere from 20-60 ingredients in Campari, whose recipe is a tightly held secret to this day.  (http://www.campari.com/)

vintage Capiello Campari advertising poster

 

Thanks to the amazing creative minds and collaborative efforts of Darcey Ohlin and Amanda Hughes at Watermark Design, Mass A’Peel has the best logo & labels ever!  If you want to see more of their work, check out their website:  www.designbywatermark.com (they also designed my “real” job’s corporate website:  www.medicbilling.com)

So, without further ado…  Drumroll, please….this is the logo for all products containing lime:

lemon or Meyer lemon:

orange, kumquat, tangerine, clementine, blood orange:

pink grapefruit:

Well…  after an initial bout of nerves, my mom and I pulled it together and successfully designed, assembled and manned our very first ever farmers’ market booth!  What were we nervous about?  Well, for one, whether anyone would like our marmalades!  Taste is such a subjective thing, you know!  Sure, we like the marmalades, but what will the public think?  Will it sell?

Needless to say, such fears were wholly unwarranted.  The response to Mass A’Peel jams (ok – technically they are marmalades because they all have some form of citrus peel in them, but we like the nickname ‘jam with a twist’) has been phenomenal!  People are loving the marmalades – even self-proclaimed non-marmalade eaters!

Each week at the market, the Mass A’Peel booth will contain a variety of marmalades, fresh squeezed lemon and/or limeade, and some munchie that incorporates marmalade – a way to showcase the use of marmalades beyond the standard, albeit delicious, toast or scone!  We will post those recipes here for people to replicate.

So, what marmalades are we selling?  Currently we have the following (but as seasons progress, new flavors will be developed and sold..  look for strawberry in the coming weeks):

• I Found My Thrill (blueberry & lemon)
• The Girl From Ipeelema (raspberry, pear, lime & mint)
• Lemon Tree, Very Pretty (Meyer lemon, ginger & mint)
• Bittersweet Symphony (Seville oranges, apricot & kumquat)
• Grapefruit Juicy Fruit (pink grapefruit, ginger & mint)
• Hey Mr. Tangerine Man (tangerine, lime & pineapple)
• Pinea’peel Express (pineapple, lemon, rosemary & vanilla bean)
• Blood Orange Sugar Magik (blood orange & Campari)
• I Say A Little Pear For You (pear, ginger & lime)

Our special treats have been amazingly delicious.  Our first week, we made a citrus cheesecake with a lemon shortbread crust and topped with our Hey Mr. Tangerine Man marmalade.  It was amazing, and the perfect dessert to end an Easter feast!

Last week we featured a shortbread crumble bar layered with plum tangerine marmalade.  Equally delicious – you cannot go wrong with shortbread and marmalade, 2 of the finest exports from Britain!

Both recipes can be found in the Recipe pages of this blog (accessible from the home page, at the right side of the screen).  If any customers come up with great uses for marmalade, we’d love to hear them!

In any event, thanks to all of our family members and friends who have been so amazingly supportive of this venture, and thanks to our new Mass A’Peel friends!  See you all Saturday at the market!

Just heard the good news that we’ll be at the Charlottesville City Market this Saturday, April 10th!  We had such a blast last weekend (post to follow with details!), and are tremendously excited to do it again!   Despite the 5am wake up… 

gorgeous sunrise over the market

This week, we are going to be in a different location - across from the market masnager’s table & the musicians – so should be a jammin’-good-time  (I am so sorry – I could not resist).

Hope to see you there for some awesome marmalades, fresh squeezed lemon-limeade, and perhaps other jam-based goodies!  And remember, if you’ve bought and enjoyed our marmalades, then bring your jar back for a $.25 credit per jar on your next purchase!   Just doin’ our part to save resources!

Have you ever experienced this phenomenon:  you’ve never heard of something, and then once you learn of it, you see it everywhere?  For example (and I don’t think that I am unique in this regard), pre-law school, I floated through life relatively peacefully and oblivious to the torts and other legal issues lurking around every corner.  Fast forward to present-day:  I cannot even invite the neighborhood children to delight in the amazing homemade luge run that my husband and friends created down our 1-acre wooded hill of a back yard without joking that to their parents that they are going to have to sign a consent form and release absolving us from any liability in the event of an accident!  Seriously - that luge  is precisely what attorneys would label an “attractive nuisance” (remember that Cardozo opinion?)

OK, so perhaps my and my fellow attorneys’ legal minds which see lawsuits in all daily interactions is a tad extreme.  So, indulge me in a more pedestrian example:  Yuzu.  Although, I can’t in good conscience write yuzu and pedestrian in the same sentence with a straight face!

basket of yuzu fruit

Seriously, though… focusing on the topic du jour…  yuzu is commonly referred to as the Japanese grapefruit.  It slightly resembles a small wrinkly grapefruit in appearance.  According to descriptions that I’ve found on the internet, the yuzu is tart - similar to the grapefruit - but with mandarin orange overtones.  Clearly I have not had the privilege of eating this fruit.  But, I shan’t feel deprived…  apparently, the yuzu is rarely eaten as a straight fruit.  Rather, it’s zest and juice are used in Japanese cooking, similar to the way lemons are used here in the States.  It is a key ingredient of ponzu – the citrus-based soy sauce that I have cooked with on many occasions, but about which I never took the time to educate myself.  (c’mon Larissa — even Emeril has a yuzu ponzu recipe!!!  http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/aspen-2007-yuzu-ponzu).  It is even used as an essence in bath products.  Who knew?  I have had a bottle of Archipelago Botanicals Yuzu Body Wash (http://www.archipelago-usa.com/) sitting in my spare shower for 2 years – did I ever notice the name?  think to look up yuzu?  nope. 

Yakami Orchard's Yuzu Marmalade

So, what was it that got me to wake up and take note of the yuzu fruit?  Yuzu marmalade at the Fancy Food Show.  It was fabulous.  Seriously.  It was perhaps the one marmalade/jam product that I tasted at the show that I thought was as good as - if not, dare I say, better than - Mass A’Peel’s products.  Let’s just say that they are different.  There is absolutely no way that Mass A’Peel will ever be able to produce yuzu marmalade, so kudos to Yakami Orchards of Japan (and WA imports of Illinois for making this delicacy available to the western world).  I am not the only one enamored of this marmalade…  Just a small sampling of those singing the praises of the yuzu are the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/dining/25yuzu.html?_r=2&ref=dining, and Food & Wine:  http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/global-pantry.

I did have an “aha” moment at the Fancy Food Show after tasting this yuzu marmalade…  Among the hundreds of booths hawking their culinary wares, there were a mere dozen or so that I felt were truly amazing and unique.  Unbeknownst to me, there was a display of all those items that had won the “gold medals” in the Summer Fancy Food Show.  Upon looking at those winners, I noticed that many of them were my favorites too!  Soooo….  the fact that I like Mass A’Peel  products is hopefully not merely a function of the fact that I made them, but a sign that they are in fact good.  Perhaps even gold-medal worthy!?!  One can certainly dream…

Well.  Given that here in Charlottesville, we are in the midst of Snowmegeddon, Snowpocalypse, Snowverkill, or whatever you want to call it, I have not been able to get to my jam-kitchen to do some cookin’.  Lots else has been accomplished – shoveling, the creation of a pretty incredible luge/skeleton run down the mountain and through the trees of our backyard, cleaning, more shoveling, carting kids to the doctor for ear infections, and, alas, more shoveling. 

So, what does one do when snowbound?  Other than shovel snow?  Drink some good wine!!!  And what if you don’t drink wine (or other alcoholic beverages, for that matter)???  Well, allow me to introduce you to a couple of interesting non-alcoholic options that I tasted during my recent trip to the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco.

1. Metromint Waters.
   

   Metromint waters

2. Vignette Sodas.

Vignette sodas

refrigerator of minty goodness

According to the Metromint website, they use the pure essence of mint grown in Washington State’s Yakima Valley which, once extracted, is added to purified water, resulting in a truly refreshing beverage.  Not sweet at all, just purely refreshing and quenching…  I cannot imagine anything better on a hot summer’s day (although perhaps not the drink of choice in the Great Blizzard of 2010… unless using to make a minted hot cocoa).  

Metromint can be enjoyed in the following flavors: spearmint, peppermint, lemonmint, orangemint, chocolatemint and cherrymint.  True to my traditionalist form, I stuck to the basics – peppermint.  My mother, ever the chocolate fan, dared to try the chocolate mint.  Both were great.  Both were refreshing, clean and crisp.  Neither left a syrupy coating in our mouths, just minty delicious water.

On to Vignette (http://www.winecountrysoda.com).  This is a carbonated non-alcoholic beverage that is made from the juice of California varietal wine grapes and bottled like a soda.  Available flavors are chardonnay, pinot noir and rose, all of which are all-natural, caffeine free, contain 50% varietal juices, contain no added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, no added colors or preservatives.  Just 100% delicious.

When I was pregnant with my kids, I didn’t drink alcohol – not only because I didn’t want to affect my yet unborn kids

move over Fre - here's a better non-alcoholic "wine" drink

(although, truth be told, this was only a real concern in my first trimester - a belief supported by many OBs today, that a glass of wine here and there in moderation is fine) – but also because I frankly did not like the taste!  So, my mocktail of choice became fruit juices mixed in equal parts with seltzer…  basically a grown up soda…  think Fizzy Izzy…  Vignette Wine Country Sodas provide just the right mix of flavor to fizz, and is packaged in a classy, mature manner….  Grape Nehi for the adult palate.

juicy Meyer lemons

Wednesday evening saw me in the throes of a new kind of jam session  (technically marmalade, but that just doesn’t sound right - ”marmalade session”)!  We’ve been at this now for several months, but seeing as this was to be my first jam-making-related post, I decided to try a new concoction from scratch:  lemon marmalade.  However, when I went to stock up on ingredients, I found not only lemons, but Meyer lemons….  hmmmm…..  I was not exactly sure what a Meyer lemon was, but something told me that it was a shi-shi version of the standard lemon, which fit the profile of Mass A’Peel perfectly.  Thus, I opted for the Meyer lemon! 

What IS a Meyer lemon, you ask?  It is generally thought to be an asian citrus fruit that is essentially a marriage of a lemon and a tangerine:  you have the tart lemon flavor accented by the fresh, sweet, aromatic zest reminiscent of a tangerine.  In appearance, the Meyer lemon looks much more like an orange than a lemon — but boy what a shock to the uninitiated palate!!!  while looking and smelling more orange/tangerine-like, the taste is definitively that of a lemon.  As my husband would say, it’ll make your pucker schmucker! 

the uncut version

The Meyer lemon was named after a USDA “agricultural explorer” (his mission was to collect samples of “new” plant species for the US government) named Frank Meyer, who brought what is now known as the Meyer lemon plant back to the United States from China in 1908.  While present in the US for over 100 years now, the Meyer lemon had a rocky start…  The Meyer lemon varietal that was initially introduced to the US was an asymptomatic carrier of a virus that kills or renders all types of citrus trees useless for fruit production.  In order to preserve the citrus industry as a whole, Meyer lemon trees were destroyed.  It was not until the 1970s that a new strain of the Meyer lemon tree was approved for use, thereby essentially re-introducing the Meyer lemon tree to the general population.  Not long thereafter, the Meyer lemon obtained more wide-spread recognition with the rise of ”celebrity chefs” and their documented use of the fruit. 

ready to can

Back to the jam-session…  I cut, sliced and seeded, and yes, the Meyer lemons are amazingly fresh and fragrant!  I added some yummy side-notes – ginger, mint and lemongrass – and began to cook.  Now, for those of you who have never made jam, jelly, preserves, conserves, marmalade, etc…  there is a definite science to the process!!!  How hot to get the concoction?  How long to cook?  When to add sugar?  To pectin or not to pectin?  And if using, when?  I am a good cook, who is still learning all of this science (come on — this should come as no surprise!!!  I went to a liberal-arts college followed by law school…  not a lot of math or science going on there!).  And, to top it off, I forgot my thermometer.  I guesstimated on the times, was nervous that I was cooking the marmalade too hot, too long (this can cause the marmalade to become grainy and/or too thick – more like a paste), feared that I added too little water, etc…  but in the end, the result was amazing!  Perfect.  I am headed out to buy more Meyer lemons.  

Now, if I could only come up with a name for it…  (“Lemon Tree Very Pretty” or “Oh I Wish I Were A Meyer Lemon Marmalade“) — the names of my marmalades are all based on songs…  puns, plays on words, etc…  and one may not get the flavor just from the name, but will need to read the subtext, a la Ben & Jerry’s.  I mean, who would EVER know that Chubby Hubby is malt-flavored ice cream with peanut butter swirl and chocolate covered pretzels???  So, if anyone in the Blogosphere has a campy, creative Meyer lemon name, let’s hear it! 

finished product

Although, as an aside, I have to admit that not everything there at the show was delicious.  In fact I had one product that was downright disgusting:  black truffle macaroons.  OK, so I guess the nausea factor is in part my fault for complicitly tasting this drek, but in my defense, I thought that it was a creative, savory macaroon…  some blend of ingredients that omitted sugar for other binding agents and herbs, etc…  needless to say I was WRONG.  It was a regular old macaroon (french style – like a puffy sandwich cookie that is a smooth crusted cookie with a chewy, slightly spongy and gooey, insanely sweet interior — like a dessert macaroon, but with black truffle!?!?!?!?!  Someone must have been on something when he/she decided to meld those flavors.  It was truly one of the more disgusting things that I have ever tasted.

OK.  enough negativity – just wanted to inject some realism, so that you all don’t think that I am one of those people who gives everything a 10!

Bubbies Mochi - balls of yum!

Back to my stroll through Little Italy….  Next to the Rao’s booth (which was in fact 5 booths), there was this small unassuming ice cream cart full of delicious little nuggets that I have never seen before:  mochi.  Now, one would have thought that I’d know what mochi are, having visited Hawaii twice, and having a girlfriend-in-law of something like 7 years who is a Kona native.  But, I must admit that I have never seen, let alone tasted, mochi.

What is mochi?   Technically it is “decimated sticky rice” – or, sticky rice that has been ground up so that it no longer resembles rice at all, but more of a thick paste – like poi (a taro root paste indigenous to Hawaii), for anyone who has had that. 

Mochi ice cream is a slightly-smaller-than-ping-pong ball sized dollop of ice cream encased by this sweetened rice paste confection, and then frozen. 

The mochi ice cream that I encountered at the Fancy Food Show was the product of Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream Deserts of Hawaii.    

cross-section of Bubbies mochi ice cream treats

And they were great.  The mochi virgin has no idea what to expect, and will be pleasantly surprised by the chewy outer mochi shell (which could be compared in texture to marzipan, or fondant icing), which keeps the sinfully creamy scrumptious ice cream inside cold and firm.  

And another thing.  Each ball is a mere 1.25 ounce, so it is a 2-3 bite treat (or a one-bite treat for the glutton who is not daunted by brain-freeze), so it is even acceptable for those of us counting Weight Watchers points!  Just be sure to have enough restraint to only eat one!

So.  Some details regarding Bubbies.  Funny name for a Hawaiian company, right?  The founder, born and raised in New York state, named it for his grandmother, who introduced him to his love of ice cream.  He moved to Hawaii for school, and remained, introducing the 50th state to his amazing creamy treats. 

As for Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream, we are lucky enough to have access to nineteen flavors (give or take, depending on specials):  azuki bean, blueberry , chocolate coconut , chocolate espresso, chocolate mint, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate vanilla, green tea, guava, lychee, mango, passion fruit, pistachio, raspberry white chocolate, sakura (cherry blossom flavored mochi paste), strawberry, strawberry dark chocolate chip, tiramisu and vanilla.  I can vouch for the flavors that we tasted:  green tea, azuki bean, lychee and chocolate espresso, the last of which was my unexpected fave…  I can only assume that the excellence of these 4 flavors is carried through to the other 15!

Oh, and by the way, not only did these make my “L List” – I learned as I was writing this that these treats made Oprah’s O List in June of 2006!  Get some sent to you today:  http://bubbiesicecream.gourmetfoodmall.com/

inspiration

I need to take a break from the Fancy Food Faves…  this blog is totally all about food, and I have more stuff to share regarding the Fancy Food Show, however, that was not the purpose of starting this blog.  And by now, people may be wondering when I am going to get to that point…  So, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself…

I am a upper-30ish attorney (former corporate civil defense litigator, turned general counsel & compliance officer specializing in medical law) who has a passion for food.  I love to eat food.  I love to cook food.  I love to look at food, smell food.  The only thing I don’t do is grow food…  I have a self-diagnosed black thumb!  As my husband jokes, my family will be sitting at a meal, planning our next meal!  And, I don’t like just any food…  I like good food. 

This passion has existed as long as I can remember.  For example, I remember as a kid getting imported marinated artichoke hearts in my Easter basket — seriously.  I remember eating steamed artichokes when my 2 upper front teeth had fallen out, so every leaf that I scraped/ate had a strip of delicious earthy artichoke flesh left behind just waiting for my dad to finish off with some salty drawn butter.   Don’t get me wrong, I also remember the first time I had a Slurpee, and a Twinky, too (that should clue you in to the fact that those processed indulgences were so infrequent that actually DO I remember them).  But the lion’s share of food eaten in my family was freshly prepared, and relatively gourmet.

kumquat tree

So, having established that I love food, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I have always wanted to be involved in the food industry — some way, some how.  I had waitressed in my younger days, so I knew that I did not want to own a sit-down restaurant — way too consuming of nights and weekends (i.e., not conducive to having a family – my other passion).  So, that meant that I needed to make and sell food at retail.  However life takes over, time is consumed by existing obligations, children arrive on the scene, and needless to say, I never did anything to promote my food-related-aspirations.  Enter the kumquat.

It all started with a kumquat.  Really.  This past fall, my mother & partner in crime in this venture, commented to me that she had a potted kumquat tree that had produced fruit that she did not know what to do with.  Now, anyone who has ever had a kumquat knows that they are TART!!!  So, we decided to make marmalade out of it.  My dad is a marmalade fanatic, and this was going to be a Christmas present to him. 

We made the marmalade, and it turned out fabulously (Seville Orange, Apricot and Kumquat Marmalade).  For those

beneath the peel

of you marmalade afficianados out there, this was like true British marmalade in that it has a bite — it is bitter as well as sweet all rolled into one sticky yummy concoction.  And it was so seemingly simple, that we decided to make jam every week and eventually man a booth at the Charlottesville Farmer’s Market. 

So, this blog will chronicle my mother’s and my adventures in making jam (and other food products) and in becoming entrepreneurs in the gourmet food industry, interspersed with general musings on food.  So, buckle up and enjoy this stream of consciousness culinary ride!

(As an aside, and then I promise to get back on point:  several years ago my husband and I were celebrating the purchase of our house with wine and cheese at a French café/restaurant — Ciboulette, for those of you C’ville folks.  Anyway, this place was owned by a French man who somehow acquired cheeses certainly banned by a multitude of USDA regulations.  During bottle #2, Andrew asked for a “chef’s choice” cheese, and arriving at our table was a soft rinded cheese wrapped in grape leaves and emitting a funk of monumental proportions.  But, we were on bottle #2, and thus, senses were slightly dulled.  Andrew scarfed the cheese appreciatively, but no amount of wine would get me to eat that stinky stuff (I do realize that this is somewhat sacrilegious in the world of cheese).  Since I would not partake, there were leftovers, Andrew wanted to take it home to savor the next day.  Needless to say, the next day, he opened the refrigerator and exclaimed “Dear God, there is something rotten in this fridge.”  No, dear…  that was the cheese that you ate!)

The Beehive Cheese Company's "Barely Buzzed"

Anyway, that was all precursor to the self-evident truth that I did not eat a ton of cheese while there.  There were the delicious parmesans, the stinky rind cheeses, the mozzarellas, and a bajillion types in between.  However, among those was a gem that I DID try (more than once!):  The Beehive Cheese Company‘s Barely Buzzed cheese.  This cheese is fabulous.  It is a cheddar-type cheese that has been rubbed, dusted, coated – whatever – with lavender and coffee.  Bizarre sounding, yes, but the result is a delight to the palate. 

“This is a full-bodied cheese with a nutty flavor and smooth texture. The cheese is hand rubbed with a Turkish grind of Colorado Legacy Coffee Company’s (The Cheesemakers brother) “Beehive Blend”. The blend consists of a mix of South American, Central American, and Indonesian beans roasted to different styles. French Superior Lavendar buds are ground with the coffee and the mixture is diluted with oil to suspend the dry ingredients in the rub. The rub imparts notes of butterscotch and caramel which are prevalent near the rind, but find their way to the center of the cheese. The cheese is aged on Utah Blue Spruce aging racks in our humidity controlled caves, and moved to different temperature during the aging process to develop texture and flavor.”

Like I said, this cheese is really tasty, but don’t take my word for it, it has placed first in the Flavored Cheddar category of the  American Cheese Society Annual Competition for the past three years running, and has been recognized by cheesemongers nationwide – including Murray’s Cheese Shop (not only a mainstay in the cheese world, but also my cheese shop of choice while living in the West Village during law school years).  I am thrilled to have learned that it is actually sold in Charlottesville — I will definitely be getting some soon!

The Beehive Cheese Company's "Seahive" - another cheese, this time rubbed in sea salt and honey