Zingerman’s Deli in downtown Ann Arbor will significantly grow in size if plans approved by the City Council on Monday are also approved by the city’s Historic District Commission.

“The Zingerman’s community businesses have shown to be excellent corporate citizens in this city,” said Council Member Sandi Smith, D-1st Ward, adding it’s one of the most sought after destinations by visitors to downtown Ann Arbor.
Council Member Stephen Kunselman, D-3rd Ward, said Zingerman’s has helped put Ann Arbor on the map nationally and perhaps internationally. He also said land values have gone up significantly in the Kerrytown area over the years due to the deli’s presence.

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I hope that you all have a chance to meet Margot in person soon! The next time you are in the Deli, please ask for her and say “howdy.” Or if you don’t live in town, send a virtual welcome to mmiller@zingermans.com. You will be hearing from her soon in the August Chocolate News and Notes, in which she will reveal the much-anticipated (and semi-top-secret) 2010 Fancy Food Show chocolate report!

As for me – It has been a joy to write to you these last few years. Your kind notes and thoughtful responses to this newsletter were always the best part of my day! And for those of you that I’ve had a chance to meet and work with in person – thank you. You better believe that the best part of this job isn’t the chocolate . . . it’s the people. Getting to know you folks has been a great, great privilege. I will miss you! I am doing one last tasting at the Deli on July 15th – it would be fun to see you there.

Wishing you continued choco-adventures! Wishing you continued choco-adventures!
Duff

duff@zingermans.com
734-663-5282

INTERVIEW WITH CHOCOLATE LADY MARGOT MILLER

Duff: Where are you from Margot? Margot: I’m from Austin, Texas. The home of a sweet treat we carry in the Next Door: Cocoa Puro’s Kaka’wa, a.k.a. Nuggets of Joy! Some things I miss include breakfast tacos, Barton Springs Pool, sleepy East Side honky tonks, the amusingly high ratio of coffee shops to population, and the wealth of really good Thai restaurants. Duff: How did you end up at Zingerman’s? Margot: Funny you should ask. I was familiar with Zingerman’s only in the most abstract of ways after seeing their Mail Order catalog at a friend’s house in Chicago. Last summer I moved from Austin to Ann Arbor to pursue a Master’s in Architecture. After a semester, I realized that I had reached a pretty miserable state of existence. Now, please understand that I’m a pretty classic type A personality. I don’t quit things. Type As are “stress junkies.” We endure. So I started my second semester but after about 3 days into it, I realized I couldn’t keep up with it. So I quit. I’m pretty sure my best friend back home thought I had lost my mind. I took the next logical step which was to look for a job. Zingerman’s Deli was hiring runners/bussers. So I applied. Duff: What chocolate bars are you enjoying at the moment? Patric 70% with Nibs, Michel Cluizel Maralumi, Claudio Corallo 80%, Rogue Hispaniola Duff: What do you do when you aren’t at the Deli? Margot: I’m a diehard Texas Longhorn football fan, so during football season Saturdays you can more than likely find me on a couch, yelling at the television. Other hobbies include cooking (Indian food is a favorite! Check out books by Madhur Jaffrey!); some recent forays into baking; miscellaneous creative endeavors big and small (I have a degree in studio art); proofreading; reading nonfiction; and falling asleep with cookbooks on my face. Duff: Do you have any favorite accessories? Margot: I live and die by my iPhone. Other things I often have on me include my purse shaped like a rabbit which was previously my Mom’s; a necklace with a teeny coffee cup (the coffee cup is the only thing I’ve ever found with my name on it); a signet ring from the school I attended for 1st through 12th grade; and two small silver bracelets which I had stamped with ‘Have Courage’ and ‘Be of Good Cheer’ – my late Grandpa’s way of signing each and every piece of correspondence. Duff: OK this one is requisite – how about your top five music albums? Margot: This question makes me wish I was as cool as Rob Gordon in “High Fidelty.” Elliott Smith – Either/Or Big Star – #1 Record Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust Rilo Kiley – The Execution of All Things Duff: What is your favorite body of water? Margot: My mother raised me with a more than healthy fear of the creatures of the deep. We vacationed to the Texas Gulf Coast each year and my shallow dips in the ocean were punctuated by my mother screaming, “SHARKS ARE CAPABLE OF SWIMMING IN LESS THAN THREE FEET OF WATER!” So I’d say that oceans are probably not my favorite body of water. My exception to that that rule would be my favorite body of water: the Mediterranean Sea. I swam and swam and swam in a little rocky cove; the water was so crisp and clear, allowing me to reason that I’d be able to see the sea monsters before they reached me. My slightly more realistic body of water in terms of ever swimming there again would be Barton Springs in Austin; it’s a man-made pool fed by natural, underground springs. It’s home to the Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum), an endangered species Austinites fiercely protect. Duff: Do you have any pets? Margot: Presently, my parents are acting as parental guardians for my grey tabby, Cass, who is back in Texas. His full name is Cass Gilbert, named for the late 19th/early 20th century architect who designed Sutton Hall and Battle Hall at the University of Texas. He enjoys eating banana chips, jumping to the highest points he can, and riding around on people’s shoulders. My father routinely shaves his face with Cass wrapped around his neck. To be honest, I am not sure I’ll ever get the cat back from my parents. They seem awfully attached. I recently received a CD with a folder of photos of what Cass was up to in Austin. Duff: Name some sports you love, please. Margot: I’ve got lots of favorites. I’ve already mentioned my affinity for Longhorn Football. In terms of sports I played, I was the pipsqueak on the varsity basketball team and the smallest goalie in my field hockey conference. ‘Scrappy’ and ‘hustle’ were terms oft-used to describe my technique in both sports. The aforementioned qualities also, I think, ensured my success in a new sports realm: Hog Wrestling. My friend Lucy and I are the 2004 Bandera Middleweight Champions. We had been in Bandera, Texas with some friends, attending a bar-b-q festival. There was talk of hog wrestling, and ultimately, Lucy and I were badgered into signing up. I guarantee no one thought we would have a chance. The announcer called us city folk and our opponents were as country as they come. Lucy was wearing designer jeans and I had no cowboy boots to my name. To give you a general idea of hog wrestling, you’re left in a large circular pen into which a hog storms. You must catch and bag it, the latter activity being the most trying part. Once bagged, you must drag it across a line in the center of the pen. Lucy and I entered the pen, shook hands with the timekeeper, and tried not to visibly shake in fear. The whistle blew and we were off! 36 seconds later, that hog was caught, bagged, and dragged. In the words of the announcer, “What [we] lacked in size, [we] made up in speed and cunning.” My sister and I are hoping to attend the Bandera Wild Hog Explosion in the Spring of 2011 so that I may hog wrestle once again. Duff: What is your most valuable (sentimental value) possession? Margot: Oh gosh. I’m going to name two. The first is the belt buckle I received for the hog wrestling. It may be the most one of a kind thing I own. The second possession is a Syracuse China creamy colored ironstone mug with a loosely sketched blue eagle crest on it. It’s not particularly old (1978) and probably wasn’t acquired by my family until the early 1990s, but I hold it dear because it was the coffee mug my Grandpa used every day back when we used to have a little country house in East Texas. Duff: What is the best meal you’ve ever had? Margot: Outside of Las Terrenas, on the Samaná Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. While walking the shoreline, trying to find the beach the guidebook described as an absolute paradise, I came upon a little shack where a husband had just returned with a small cooler of freshly caught fish. The wife grilled it whole with a simple blend of salt and spices and served it with some beans and rice. Duff: What vegetables do you love to eat? You can name one for each season, if you want. Margot: As a vegetable fanatic since I was a baby, I both love and hate this question. So many to choose from! Radishes. Mustard greens. Peppers. Brussels sprouts. Duff: How about your top two beverages? Margot: Thanks for allowing me to gush about soda water. I leave a trail of La Croix sparkling water wherever I go. Number two, morning edition would be a short Americano with room for cream. Number two, evening edition would be a gin and tonic, always with a twist of lime. Duff: Where is your favorite vacation spot? Margot: I have a huge crush on Montreal. I’m itching to get back, especially in a month that’s not freezing cold (The maple syrup lollipops made by pouring fresh syrup into little snowbanks almost made the below freezing temperatures worth it.). I also love the food culture of New Orleans; my family visited there just about every year when I was growing up. It’s been a little too long since I feasted on beignets and café au lait at Café Du Monde. I think it’s also about time that I visited with a palm reader on the French Quarter. Duff: What else should we know about you? Margot: Well I already disclosed the hog wrestling. Let’s think… 1. I have a horrific fear of broken glass and given my track record of glass breaking in my vicinity, my mother is convinced that I emanate an energy that pulls glass objects from where they’re sitting to their shattered demise on the floor. 2. I’m pretty much living the dream right now at Zingerman’s. If I wanted to live the dream in another fashion, I’d be pining for a job with Willet Stained Glass Studios in Philadelphia. They’ve been making and restoring stained glass windows for over 100 years. One person’s job entails searching through their massive collection of glass color chips to find the right color for each part of a window’s design. This is what I’d want to do. Duff: Can you give us any chocolate sneak peeks for the holiday? Stuff you are excited to bring in later this year? Margot: Askinosie Chocolate may have a new origin bar for us by the holidays. This new bar is part of a larger project called Cocoa Honors. Since the fall of 2009, Shawn’s been meeting with 15 high schoolers and taking them through the steps involved with sourcing cocoa and developing long-term partnerships with cocoa farmers. Shawn Askinosie & crew have raised the money needed to get their high schoolers to Tanzania this August to visit the woman-run co-op that will be supplying their cacao. I urge you to read more about this remarkable program at their website: http://chocolateuniversity.org/ Vosges Haut-Chocolat continues to excite with 8 new bars! I’ll whet your appetite: Sicilian Marzipan. Just the mention of it provoked a symphony of oohs and ahhs at our most recent Next Door Team Meeting. I was recently able to taste a number of products by D. Barbero, who makes the Italian hazelnut torrone we carry. They also have a pistachio torrone that is not only a gem to look at, but maintains the same quality of flavor we love in the hazelnut. I’ll be a little bit coy now and just include a picture from the packaging of a product that pretty much illustrates my giddiness for it. Keep your ears to the ground! Duff: I’m a nickname girl so I’ve got to ask – do you have any? Margot: Have I ever. Mar, MarMar, Marge, Margs, Meer, Mkat, Shrimp, Smalls, and Goat.

]]> http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/07/july-chocolate-news-and-notes/feed/ 1 http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/07/july-features-celebrate-american-foods-from-coast-to-coast/ http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/07/july-features-celebrate-american-foods-from-coast-to-coast/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:01:09 +0000 admin http://www.zingermansdeli.com/?p=2044 Surryano Virginia Country Ham

Really flavorful country ham aged 12 months for us by the Edwards folks in Surry, Virginia. From peanut fed Berkshire hogs, we’ll slice it to order just how you like it, thin for tapas, of thicker for ham steaks.

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Fantastic American Cheddar cheese matured in cloth, in the traditional English farmhouse style. Aged 12 months in the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, VT. With sweet, caramelly flavors and some nice crystallization, this cheese might give the English a run for their money!

Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese One of our all-time favorite American cheeses. We select only the most exceptional batches of this alpine style raw cow’s milk cheese from Wisconsin to sell year round, and we especially like them at the age they are now: 15 months!

Bayley Hazen Blue One of our best American Blue cheeses, made from raw cow’s milk at Jasper Hill in Vermont, in the style of English Stilton, dense and fudgy texture and a great, balanced blue cheese flavor!

La Quercia Acorn Edition Prosciutto Americano Spectacular dry cured ham from one of our favorite American producers, made using happy, acorn-fed, heirloom hogs. Sliced to order by our skilled slicers. We’re only one of two retailers in this country selling this superb ham!

Hillstone Arbequina Olive Oil A small batch artisan olive oil with a flavor full of personality. It’s pungent in a good way, with notes of artichoke, apple and green herbs. Grown and harvested on a small family farm in Yolo County, CA- see for yourself why it was awarded ‘Best in Show’ at the LA County olive oil competition.

Jaeger Family Olive Oil The Jaegers are one of the founding families of small batch Californian olive oils. The 2009 harvest is arguably one of the best in years, with a thick, rich mouth-feel and flavors of spicy wild greens. It’ll leave you craving for more….

Katz Rockhill Ranch Olive Oil With bold aromas of fresh cut grass and artichoke, Katz’s Rockhill Ranch olive oil is a harmony of pleasant green, herbaceous flavors and almonds with a lingering sweet finish. It ends with a pleasant peppery punch that announces its freshness. We think you’ll agree.

Katz Late Harvest Zinfandel Vinegar ‘AgroDolce’ in Italian translates to ‘sweet and sour,’ which is exactly what the Katz family was aiming for with this garnet colored wine vinegar. Plum and fresh berry overtones give way to a pleasant, crisp finish that will be endlessly versatile in your kitchen. They suggest the following uses: • on all things tomato- caponata, ratatouille, etc • as a marinade for lamb with rosemary and garlic • reduce it in a pan and spoon it over fresh figs wrapped in Proscuitto

Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar Gravenstein apples were only recently saved from the brink of extinction, and we’re glad for it. They make a mouth-wateringly delicious vinegar that has become a popular favorite in many peoples kitchens- and no doubt, you’ll love it too.

One of our favorite new olives from Tunisia. The folks at Les Moulins Mahjoub pick these olives half-ripe, and crack them for quicker curing resulting in a crunchy texture and a fresh olive-y bitterness we love!
$12.99/lb

Creamery Cheese of the Month! Fresh Goat Cheese This dense, log-shaped cheese is about four inches in diameter and is covered with a thin, white mold. It has a very rich texture with hints of citrus, a mild goat flavor and a touch of mushroom finish. $24.99/lb

Bread of the Month! Better than San Francisco Sourdough bread Classic American bread with a beautifully blistered crust, pleasant sour tang and chewy texture. $4.50/ea (regular $6.25/ea) Special Bakes! Cranberry Pecan bread -every weekend in July It’s like Christmas in July! Bread fans everywhere wait all year long for this bread! When we sample it, there’s a phenomenon of customers who grab a piece as they’re leaving and come back a few minutes later asking “what did i just eat? that’s amazing!”. This bread is a magic combination of our San Francisco Sourdough, toasty pecans, and dried New England cranberries. Get your fill and stock the freezer, this bread won’t be back until November!

Sandwich of the Month! The Leonidas 5000 This custom BLT is the favorite sandwich of Deli veteran Leonidas (Leo) Vasquez, who holds the honor of being the best bread slicer we’ve ever had on the Sandwich Line. In fact, Leo loves slicing bread so much that we’ve nicknamed him “The Leonidas 5000” – our bread-slicing machine. Strips of crispy bacon, thick slices of American cheese, crunchy cucumber, lettuce and tomato piled on buttered and toasted Rustic Italian bread. $11.99/ea

Cake of the Month! Buttermilk cake Buttery yellow cake filled with raspberry butter cream and covered in smooth vanilla swiss butter cream. Please enjoy our cakes at room temperature, your patience will be rewarded! 20% off!

Zingerman’s Coffee Company, Roaster’s Pick! Mysore Nuggets (Ossoor Estates) We’ve been a big fan of Indian coffees since we started roasting. This coffee is from the Ossoor Estates in Manjarabad and is a new find for us. This crop is the best Indian coffee we’ve had in 5 years. It has a wonderfully rich body; hints of sweet and warming spices (think cardamom); and a long clean finish. It is grown between 3,000 and 3,250 feet elevation on a 120 year old farm. The term “nugget” is believed to come from the gold mining that once took place in this region. $16.99/bag

]]> http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/07/july-specials/feed/ 2 http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/06/july-2010/ http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/06/july-2010/#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:00:04 +0000 admin http://www.zingermansdeli.com/?p=2057

It’s American month at the Deli, come and taste great food all month long!

July Featured Foods
July Tastings and Events
Staff Favorites

Grace Singleton, a managing partner of Zingerman’s Deli, sits next to Zingerman’s co-founder Paul Saginaw as the planning commission deliberates on a proposed expansion of the deli, which was ultimately approved. Behind Saginaw is Michael Quinn of Quinn Evans Architects, who is working on the project. (Photos by the writer.)
The farmers market has no further steps to take – it opens on June 3, from 3-7 p.m. But the approval process for the deli expansion is far from over. After seeking approval from city council for its plans, deli partners will need to circle back to the city’s historic district commission – the site is located in the Old Fourth Ward historic district. The Chronicle has previously reported on their earlier efforts down this path: “Zingerman’s: Making It Right for the HDC.”

Pending approvals, Zingerman’s hopes to break ground on the project early next year.

Also at last week’s meeting, commissioners reviewed the site plan for the Windsong affordable housing project off of Stone School Road, north of Ellsworth. They ultimately approved plans for building 32 townhomes financed in part by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. But concerns were raised over problems that some residents in the site’s existing 12 townhomes are causing for their neighbors. Three of those neighbors spoke at a public hearing, saying they’d like a higher fence around the property, at the least, to deal better with harassment, fighting, graffiti and other issues.

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The scene outside Zingerman’s today. The line was so long inside the cramped deli, customers had to wait outside.

Even if the project receives the necessary next approval from the Ann Arbor City Council, it still requires a notice to proceed from the city’s Historic District Commission. The HDC already denied the deli’s previous plans to expand two years ago.
The project is located in the Old Fourth Ward Historic District, so tampering with buildings there — let alone demolishing a house — is a sensitive matter.
But from the discussion Tuesday night, it appears Zingerman’s has made headway with the HDC.
“We’ve been working on developing this plan for almost four years now,” said Grace Singleton, one of four managing partners at Zingerman’s Deli. “There’s been a lot of time spent planning and investment into getting to where it is now. We feel it’s really good to be at this stage of the process.”

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More than that, like so many of my favorite items at the deli, the Alziari oil has a transportive quality. The initial sensation is light and bright with fresh and sweet notes of spring grasses and clover. It quickly conjures up mental imagery of Provence: warming sunshine, vast stretches of lavender and field upon field of sunflowers. Next I imagine relaxing with friends in a shady olive grove dining on salad nicoise drizzled with olive oil and loaves of crusty french bread and plates pooled with olive oil for dipping. The colorful, floral tins (reminscent of the beautiful provincal table linens) in which Alziari packages their oil visually completes this fantasy of the French countryside. Ahhhhhhhhhh…

And it’s that time of year again! Believe it or not, a little later this month I’ll be headed to the Fancy Food Show in NYC to scout great chocolates and confections for the Deli. You can be sure I will publish a full report of my findings upon my return, giving you a sneak peek of things to come later this fall and into the holidays! Next month’s chocolate newsletter will also be the last one written from my desk, as I’m leaving the Deli at the start of August to pursue other adventures. Next month, I’ll formally introduce you to your new Chocolate Lady – Deli superstar Margot Miller — and bid farewell! But for now, let’s get down to business: What are you getting for the dad in your life this Father’s Day? And don’t even think of saying socks or golf balls . . . I’m talking about chocolate here! Special thanks to Margot for her help with this list and for the great tasting notes!

Chocolate Lady Duff

duff@zingermans.com
734-663-5282

1. Vosges Bacon+ Chocolate Bars

This is the bar that deserves a spot in every Dad’s desk drawer. Zingerman’s own Mo Frechette (the fella behind the Mail Order Catalog) was a big inspiration for this bar, ultimately convincing Katrina and her team that – indeed – everything is better with bacon! How fitting that Mo just became a new daddy (congratulations!) and that this bar is on the top of my Father’s Day list. Let’s not over-think this: if chocolate bars had a gender, the bacon bars would most likely be boys. Crispy crumbles of applewood smoked bacon and smoked salt play nicely together in both the milk chocolate and the dark chocolate version of this uber-popular bar. Don’t say we didn’t warn you – you might be committing yourself to years and years of bacon bar purchases after dad takes a bite of this.

2. Rabitos Royale Spanish Figs

For the Dad who savors an after-dinner cordial, look no further than these! Tender, seedy little Spanish figs, stuffed with a brandy-spiked ganache and dunked in dark chocolate. One of our most popular confections, these figs have already won the hearts of many – why not introduce them to dad? Each fig is individually wrapped – the perfect nightcap to the end of a busy Father’s Day.

3. Mindo Cocoa Powder

Who says cocoa powder is just for baking? You may remember Joe and Barbara of Mindo Chocolate Makers, who we welcomed to the Next Door last month to demo their cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate discs (they made a decadent flourless chocolate cake!) This dual-hemisphere dwelling pair – half the year in Ecuador, half the year right down the street in Dexter, MI! — has got another winner up their sleeve with their Cocoa Rub for grilled meats. Dad will love experimenting with this on the grill! Mindo Cocoa and Espresso Rub 1/2 cup of full bodied coffee, finely ground (espresso grind) 1/4 cup of Mindo 100% Natural Cocoa Powder 1/2 tsp of mustard powder 1 tbsp of ground ginger 1 tbsp of paprika 1 tbsp of ground cloves 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar 1 tbsp of ground cumin 1 tbsp of garlic powder 2 tbsp of Sea salt 1 tbsp of cracked black pepper Instructions: Mix all ingredients together well. This can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator and keeps for several weeks. Brush meat with olive oil and dredge the steaks, chops or chicken in the rub and grill to your desired temperature. Enough rub to cover 4-8oz portions of beef, pork or chicken. Modified recipe from the Hershey Lodge Culinary team, Hershey Lodge

4. Taza Guajillo Mexicano

These hockey puck-sized chocolate discs feature organic, stone-ground chocolate. Taza’s minimal processing allows the chocolate’s aroma to shine and lends a fun, coarse texture that dances on the tongue. Guajillo chile packs a little heat, which is tempered by the sugar crystals and is great for nibbling or chopping up for chocolatey drinks (hmmm, try an iced cocoa with this one!)

5. Hey Hey Hazelnut!

An amazing dark-chocolate hazelnut spread (aka gianduja) made from scratch by our friends at Askinosie Chocolate. They use hazelnuts (nice and sweet) from a farm in Washington, organic sugar and single-origin Davao cocoa powder and cocoa nibs to make this heavenly stuff. More than half the recipe is hazelnuts, but the nuttiness is still deep, low, subtle and in perfect harmony with the chocolate. Hey Hey can go in Dad’s coffee, on top of his favorite ice cream or on top of his world-famous weekend pancakes! We’re the first store in the country to sell this! Stop by and sample it!

6. Kakawa Cocoa Beans

Have you tried these yet? They are whole roasted cacao beans dipped not once, not twice but THREE times in white, milk and dark chocolate. Then they are dusted with cocoa powder and packed in a bright red bag. If you love the taste of cacao beans/nibs, you will feel right at home biting into these. Full flavor and an addictive crunch make these a perfect mid-afternoon power snack!

7. NEW chocolate bars from Rogue Chocolatier

From the great city of Minneapolis, MN, comes the newest addition to the Deli’s chocolate shelves – Rogue Chocolatier. Colin Gasko is making super small batches of chocolate bean-to-bar using beans from Madagascar, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. We’ve brought in the Rio Caribe (Venezuela) and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) to start and we are pretty much in love with them. Here are our tasting notes. Rio Caribe 70%: A great rainy day chocolate! Nutty/roasty aroma; low and brooding flavor profile that includes espresso, gingerbread, musky melon and dried fruit. A meaty, heavy bar with some tannins to make the flavor linger. Hispaniola 70%: A lighter, brighter bar that tickles the nose with floral and citrus then moves into higher notes of honey, grapes and tart blackberries. Super clean mouth feel, nice acidity.

8. RJ’s Licorice from New Zealand

This licorice defines the category of “soft eating” licorice for me . . . it is dense and chewy without being sticky and has a great, clean licorice-root flavor that is sure to satisfy any licorice lover! If your dad likes licorice, this stuff will boggle his mind!

9. Corallo Raisin d’Etre Bar

Sadly absent from our shelves for several months, the chocolate bar that inspired a cult following at the Deli is back and better than ever! Corallo starts with a blend of 70% chocolate– a chocolate that is, to my taste, hands-down the most compelling chocolate on the market (imagine notes of cheese, tobacco and single-malt scotch!) Then, Corallo takes raisins and soaks them in a morello cherry liquor until they become a little tipsy! He mixes the raisins into the chocolate, cools it and slices it in a rustic chunk and voila – you have a new reason for being/living.

10. Zzang! Bars

Saving these for last because, well, I just ate one and I really think they are the best confection that we have at the Deli. Whatever dad is eating these days, or whatever he loved in the past (my dad loved Baby Ruth’s) our handmade, old-fashioned American candy bars are sure to knock his socks off. The Zzang Original, Ca$hew Cow, What the Fudge and Wowza! Bars are candy making at its best. Get a bar for dad and one for mom while you are at it. Might as well pick up one for brother, too. And don’t forget yourself!

]]> http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/06/june-2010-father%e2%80%99s-day-edition/feed/ 0 http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/06/zingermans-bakehouse-french-baguettes/ http://www.zingermansdeli.com/2010/06/zingermans-bakehouse-french-baguettes/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:30:02 +0000 Claire http://www.zingermansdeli.com/?p=1729 There are certain foods that are so elemental to the way I eat that I rarely take time to really appreciate them. French baguettes from Zingerman’s Bakehouse had been one of those products for a while, until I recently had an aha! moment and realized that I seriously look forward to every single bite. Our French baguettes are so good that I always bring one to meetings as an accompaniment, even if the pairing is with another type of bread. I could eat one every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of them. They ARE my desert island food. The bakehouse has been hand-rolling them for a while now, and they’ve got it down perfectly. Bakehouse baguettes: a thin crispy crust with a good chew, a perfectly airy interior, slightly sweet, and pointy ends that you could use as a weapon in a dark alley. From 4 simple ingredients they become the backbone to any picnic, appetizer, or sandwich. It’s easy to think of as a background food, something to hold up a piece of salami or cheese, but a baguette all on its own will help you recognize it as the pillar of civilization it is. Our baguettes are so good they make me break out in extreme hyperbole.