We’re a crew known for themed, gourmet popcorns. So when G.H. Cretors popcorns made it across our table, we were quite intrigued. Considering the chip revolutions successful leap into gourmet, and sometimes odd, flavor profiles, it’s no wonder popcorn tried it’s hand. What is notable besides the dill pickle and jalapeno-cheddar additions is the popcorn itself. Organic kernels are the conduit that place those flavors on your tongue and then follow through with a fresh, popped crunch. These new flavors just hit the market. They might soon also hit our supperclub table.
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Dorset Maple Bourbon Syrup
Discovering a good food mashup is like that time when you were five and saw Donald Duck talking to Mickey Mouse outside the Italy pavilion at Epcot Center. Syrup is amazing on its own. Oozing out of trees during a specific time of year, Canadian’s are famous for the intricate forest plumbing systems that run the liquid gold into their sugar shacks. Equally awesome and particular is Bourbon. The heritage, process and ingredients are heralded by drinkers the world over. The guys at Dorset decided to smash these two together creating Maple Bourbon Syrup. The sweetness and viscosity of maple syrup with the barrel aged flavor of bourbon makes Sunday morning brunch a Saturday night party and that’s just once use of this glorious nectar.
Malai Ice Cream
This is what happens when an Indian woman finds a conduit in frozen cream. Thankfully this happened so we can now indulge in Pooja’s Malai Ice Cream flavors. I always explain Indian cuisine as complex because of how much prep goes into building the depth of flavor many Indian dishes so successfully share with our palettes. Taking that same development process and using ice cream base as the delivery vehicle is a brilliant idea. Not to mention the beauty in her packaging design and flavor combinations. Apparently Pooja’s been like this about flavor since she was a kid. When we met, mom was by her side to prove this true. All that said, the flavor descriptions do all the selling themselves. Rose with cinnamon roasted almonds, golden turmeric, orange fennel, of course, masala chai. My personal fav was her lemon cardamom. Two incredibly distinct flavors mixed perfectly. The list is 14 flavors deep. Each one an incredible mashup of distinct flavors. So much for our attempt to ween ourselves off of our ice cream habit.
‘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.