Masala Mama Simmer Sauce

I love Indian food almost as much as Italian food. The difference in cooking them couldn’t be further from each other. Italian cooking usually includes three main ingredients cooked together for a short period of time. Indian cooking is the exact opposite. The husband and wife team behind Masala Mama Simmer Sauce decided to jar up their Calcutta food education to combat this very problem. Creating Indian sauces from scratch takes a long time. Many times, two full days. They have successfully captured three of the most popular sauces of India. Vindaloo, Tikka Masala and Goan Curry. That’s three quarters of the cooking. The taste passed my mother-in-law test to round out this A+ recommendation. Now you can have butter chicken on Tuesday. Uhh, and probably lunch on Wednesday too.

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Food | Pantry

Farraday’s Tasty Wasabi & Mango Mayo

Farraday had the quintessential British welcome when I approached his booth at last month’s Fancy Food Show. With a mix of excitement and proper malaise he asked if i had ever tasted wasabi mayo as I starred at what looked like a bunch of interesting chutneys. Pre-occupied I sort of blew off the question with a yes which triggered Farraday to turn up the volume and swear I had never tasted anything as smooth and balanced as his. Focused in now on his Surinamese chutney, his increased decibels punched me into attention. I did try the unique and satisfying Surinamese chutney but the Wasabi & Mango Mayo was the show stopper. He was right about the balance and texture being the best I’ve ever tasted. The wasabi levels were just right. So perfect just some dipped veggies is the way to consume this killer product. Sad news is he doesn’t have US distribution yet so a pop over the pond is the only way to get his treats right now.

Food | Pantry

World Salt Tower

The first thing they placed on our cloud white, spotless, linen clade table at Per Se in NYC was a lidded porcelain bowl shaped like a flower. With dramatic flare, the cover was lifted to reveal six different salts. A second waiter began explaining the different flavors, regions and usages for the white gold as I fell into reverie about the efficiency of the container. My spice closet is incredibly organized and uniform but I often am hunting for all my finishing salts in order to decide which to use. The World Salt Tower both remedies this problem and reloads my stash of salts for all culinary occasions. Now I can decide between my volcanic black, Himalayan pink, Malden or French coast grey sea without freaking out that my halibut is getting cold and my guests are getting restless.

Food | Refrigerator

6 Sweet Reasons not to leave New York City

OddFellows Ice cream just dropped a NYC collab with the Bodega Boys celebrating what can only be flavors loved by die hard New Yorkers. If there was ever a reason to squash that idea of leaving the city, these pints will have you deep in thought reminding why you came here OR stayed here OR was born here. The grit, the hustle, the culture and of course the obligatory BEC. Cram all that into a 14oz paper container and the brain freeze you’re experiencing isn’t just the ice cream. We’re not sure how comedians Desus Nice and The Kid Mero met up with chef Sam Mason but with flavor names like baconeggncheese (All one word damn it, A smoked cream ice cream with candied bacon, whipped cheese cream and candied egg yolks), Budget Breakfast (A honey ice cream with chunks of homemade honey bun cake and coffee soil) and Bodega Counter Crunch (A light caramel ice cream with chocolate covered pretzels, honey roasted peanuts and crushed homemade butter crunch cookies) we are sure glad they did. To do the boroughs the way we do these days a special ice cream truck is touring for the next month, check out the schedule and hit up the traveling end of summer bodega ice cream mayhem. We all scream for it especially those of you contemplating packing your bags for less dense lands. This will have writing one more month’s rent check for sure.

Food | Refrigerator

‘Nduja Black Label Iberico de Bellot

We’ve written about ‘Nduja, the spicy, spreadable pork salame from Calabria, before. It’s a pig shoulder and belly concoction mixed with various other ingredients depending on the village you’re in. Among them besides spices could be tripe or roasted peppers. Tony gave me the low down and said theirs, aside from being a Chicago version, was spiced for the American market NOT the hot headed southern Italian man. The ‘Nduja Black Label Iberico de Bellot is the Cadillac of spreads. Rich, creamy and just the right spice made me think this could be a winner for our current recipe testing back at my day job offices. Tony slipped me a ‘Nduja bomb and waved me off as if to say, “Go ahead take some a play. Call Chicago when you’re ready.” For you, you’re going to have to order some from his website.

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