November 2007

I've always hated November. November was always cold and dreary, cloudy and dark. The trees stood barren and my tomatoes crumpled over, dead in the frost. The brown muddy ground begged for green grass or white snow — anything to cover it up. My belly grumbled for the vegetables recently departed from the Farmer's market.

This year is different though. Maybe it's because the trees mysteriously still have their leaves. That might be it, but I think working at Zingerman's Deli has more to do with it.

November at Zingerman's is actually something to look forward to, not something to brace for. November is the perfect time to come to the Deli. November is that long indrawn breath before the holiday season arrives. November still allows time to sit in the cafe and sip tea or slowly browse the cheese counter and taste Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin. Up until the week before Thanksgiving, November is the month for all of us to take time to relax for a minute, maybe even sneak a day or two to ourselves.

Here at the Deli, November is not just peaceful, it also delivers a cornucopia of great food. November at the Deli is all about American food. In homage to Thanksgiving, it is about the American foods we are thankful for. As the Farmer's Market slows down (although there is still plenty of squash, cider, onions, garlic and kale) we, at the Deli, bring in a ton of great foods from across the country. We make hearty soups from Really Wild Wild Rice from Minnesota. We take deep comforting breaths when the kitchen fries Arkansas bacon at dawn. And we know, there is enough great food to keep us happy.

Pasolivo Olive Oil
Instead of a stiff drink to warm you on a cold day, I'd recommend some Pasolivo olive oil. This oil comes to us from Paso Robles, California, where one family freshly presses five Tuscan varietals of olives into maybe the most potent, greenest taste you'll find in an oil. A drop on your bread will warm your mouth with a nice pepperiness; a good pour on your salad will warm your soul. Probably the greenest thing I've ever seen in November.

And I'm not even referring to the Pasolivo Olio Nuovo, the fresh pressing of this year's harvest, which will come to us some time in December. That is an experience in and of itself.

November. When in comes to the first bitter cold days of the year, and they will come, my food desires turn to rich hearty flavors. On days like that, I make the following sandwich:

Long Pepper bacon
First I heat up my cast-iron pan and throw in a couple of slices of our exclusive Long Pepper bacon. Bacon always cheers me up. Warm and crispy and a little chewy and pure savor. This bacon is coated and cured with Long Pepper. Long Pepper is an Indonesian spice that we discovered and hopefully sent off to Ham I Am, our bacon curers in Arkansas. And they made us Long Pepper bacon! Long Pepper has a flavor reminiscent of peppercorns, yet it is fruitier and more subtle. It doesn't overwhelm you, but slowly whispers through your head, increasing flavor sensations everywhere.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve
While the Long Pepper bacon is frying, I cut up some good grainy bread, like our Roadhouse Rye. Then I take a couple thick slices of our Pleasant Ridge Reserve. This is a cheese hand crafted at the Uplands Cheese Company by the Gingriches, in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. They focus on just making one style of cheese, and boy, are they successful. With more awards than we can keep track of, theirs is a mountain cheese style, Beaufort-like, fruity and bright, creamy and rich. We've always loved this cheese, but this is what we have to be thankful for. Each November, Mike Gingrich brings us his best four or five batches of cheese so we can have the privilege to choose the one or two we like the most. I guess that's how you pick the real winners. And we sure have some on our counter.

Lila Jaeger's Olive oil
Back to the sandwich, I layer on the Long Pepper bacon and the Pleasant Ridge Reserve, and then pour on a thin stream of Lila Jaeger's Olive oil. This is an oil that cuts to the heart of American food. It's brilliant and all American and yet it is made with a blend of Tuscan and French olive varietals grown in California by the doyen of the olive oil industry. You get that peppery Italian punch smoothed over with a little French je n' sais quoi. It reassures us of the fact that America is still the melting pot. Everything can come together in America.

All together, this sandwich will warm you, even after a hard day raking leaves.

There are other days where I want to pretend it's spring and everything is crisp and alive and light and delicate. That's when I make sandwich number two. Instead of a slice of bread, I assemble this on a big long French baguette.

Wisconsin Mountain Cheese and Finocchiona Gigante
I cut a few thin slices of Wisconsin Mountain Cheese — It's a cheese as flavorful as any gruyere on the market and made just the other side of Lake Michigan. The one we have on the counter right now is a special edition. Aged atleast two years, that's more than twice as much as the typical Wisconsin Mountain Cheese, A real treat. A little bit is all I need, just enough to add a gentle nuttiness. Then I add a few slices of Salami. Finocchiona Gigante from Columbus Salame company in San Francisco, to be precise. This is huge salami, from which we shave off thin slices of fennel-flavored goodness. So sweet and captivating you won't want much, but you'll definitely want it.

Cider Vinegar
The cheese and salami start you off well, but the key is the green. I roust out a little arugula from the Market (I think GardenWorks has the best) and toss it with two ingredients. First I add a little sprinkle of cider vinegar from the Gingras' folks in Quebec. This is cider vinegar that actually tastes like apples, not like acetic acid. They use a proprietary blend of old-fashioned apples and, like alchemists, slowly convert it into liquid gold. Toss this into the arugula along with a little Rock Hill Ranch oil from California. This olive oil is just the thing to perk up a salad. It's an unfiltered blend of three Italian olive varietals and tastes of artichoke and green vegetables. It's a great way to make a veggie sandwich without many veggies.

These two sandwiches can get me through almost any dreary November day. If I still feel a little down, I turn to the number one holiday pick-me-up: our Cranberry Pecan bread. We only make it in November and December, so I always pack my freezer full. Try it with a little of the Creamery's double-cream, cow's milk Manchester, and you've got something goin' on.

As I write this it's 6:30 pm and it's dark outside. Time for a sandwich.

Jess Piskor
Retail Scribe