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Supplier News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2020 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 0 Steve's Mediterranean Chef Introduces Traditional Hummus Steve's Mediterranean Chef, known for its handcrafted Mediterranean recipes, is expanding its product lineup with the introduction of a line of hummus based on a longstanding Lebanese family recipe. The line features four traditional flavors including Original, Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic and Jalapeno. The new products can be found in select retailers throughout the Midwest and are located near the refrigerated dips in the deli section. Each flavor has a suggested retail price of $3.69 to $4.99 and is available in 10 ounce or 12-ounce containers. duBreton Recognized by Whole Foods Market North Country Smokehouse owner and pork supplier, Les Viandes du Breton, received the National Supplier of the Year and Organic Commitment awards from Whole Foods Market at a ceremony held in Austin, Texas, on February 18. The awards spotlight suppliers that exemplify the grocer's mission and core values through commitments to quality, environmental stewardship, organic integrity, innovation, purpose and partnership. duBreton products are sold at Whole Foods Market locations in Canada and the United States. Compliance with the GAP 5-Step standard assures consumers that animals are raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones, are fed vegetable grains and no animal by-products, have twice as much space to move in a cage-free environment, and suffer no physical alterations such as tail and tooth trimming, contrary to standard industry practice. Each of duBreton's farms is visited by an external auditor to ensure that the specifications are followed to the letter. Other certifications are based only on a sample of producers. Golden West Food Group Unveils Butcher-Crafted Premium Burgers Golden West Food Group unveils Meat District – a new line of butcher-crafted premium meats, featuring premium burgers made with gourmet blends of Angus, brisket, short rib, tri tip and chuck. Meat District is sold at supermarkets nationwide. With 11 varieties including The O.G., Steak House, The Pitmaster and All American, Meat District butcher-crafted burgers offer the perfect burger for every kind of burger lover. Joolies Announces New Snack Pack Joolies, grower of organic California medjool dates, is launching the Snack Packs that the company introduced at the Winter Fancy Food Show. Each Snack Pack contains three pitted dates or three whole dates and retails for $2.49, making each pack a tasty, healthy and quick whole food snack to go. For maximum quality, each date is hand- picked and packaged at peak ripeness and never dried or rehydrated. Because of Joolies dedication to organic living and sustainability, harmful pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are never used during the growing process. But What About the Tea? And What Do We Drink Now? BY LORRIE BAUMANN The crime committed on December 16, 1773 by the Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams, divided those who learned about it into opposing camps. There were those who came out in favor of law and order; there were those who sided with the Sons of Liberty and their revul- sion against paying taxes to support a government with which they had fun- damental disagreements. Those were, of course, the two parties who ended up fighting a war over their differences of opinion that ultimately gave birth to a nation "conceived in Lib- erty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." And then there were undoubtedly those less tendentious types who, having read about it in their newspapers, merely pursed their lips and speculated that the rowdies who'd committed the act were probably more accustomed to seeking their refresh- ment in the public house rather than the parlor – and then wondered, What about the tea? And what are we supposed to drink now? Two hundred years later, Kyle Brown also wondered about the tea. What was it, ex- actly, that went into the Boston Harbor that night, and what did the Sons of Liberty drink afterwards? He did some research into the matter, and, as it turns out, there are things we can know about those matters today, because the tea that went overboard that night was listed on the ships' manifests. We can even know how it would have tasted, properly brewed in a civilized China teapot, because the company he founded, Oliver Pluff & Co., is selling today those same varieties, imported from the same region in China. The Sons of Liberty drowned five vari- eties of tea in their casks that night in 1773, according to Darren Hartford, who bought the company from Brown in 2018. Those five vari- eties included Bohea, Lapsang souchong, Con- gou, Singlo and Young Hyson, he said. Bohea was a black tea so popu- lar in colonial America that colonists used "Bohea" and "tea" interchangeably, much as today, we might say "Coke" to signify any carbonated cola beverage. It fell out of favor by the 1820s and disappeared into obscurity. Lapsang souchong is a smoked black tea that outlived Bohea in public favor and went on to become Winston Churchill's favorite tea. Young Hyson was a green tea popular in colonial days. "There are journal entries of John Adams going to visit someone and drinking this tea, which he thoroughly enjoyed," Hart- ford said. "Singlo was another blend of green tea that's a little heavier than Young Hyson." You'll recall, along with anyone else who ever attended an American elementary school, that the reason that all that tea got dumped overboard was that the British government had decided to levy a tax on tea. Once the Sons of Liberty had reg- istered their dis- pleasure, though, there was still the matter of that other question proffered by the pursed- lipped, What were the colonists going to drink when alco- holic beverages weren't appropriate to the occasion, particularly since it wasn't the tea itself that was at issue, but the tax? There's an answer to that question too. "The most popular tea in colonial America was really smuggled tea," Hartford said. Colonial Americans drank coffee in ad- dition to their illicit tea, although the tea remained their hot beverage of choice for some time to come. "Coffee didn't really become popu- lar in America until the Civil War era – that's when coffee re- ally took off," Hart- ford said. Coffee blends au- thentic to that Revolutionary War period of American history are among the products that Oliver Pluff & Company purveys today, along with teas sourced from tea gar- dens in Fujian Province in China, the same area from which teas were harvested in the 18th century and transported to the docks for shipment to America. Oliver Pluff also offers spice mixtures for mulling wines and for flavoring whiskey for hot toddies. The coffee blends include Colonial and Green Dragon Tavern, named for the Boston tavern where the Sons of Liberty embarked on their careers as political activists. The hot toddy spices originally came to us by way of Dutch mer- chants rather than the English, ac- cording to Hartford. "As the Dutch explorers found the people of India, they discovered that India had rich and beautiful spices," he said. "The Dutch and Scottish brought back toddies, which is spice in boiled water plus honey plus a spirit, and it just becomes a wonderful evening drink with a great aroma to it." Oliver Pluff & Company offers its teas both as loose leaves and in tea bags, which may be less intimidating to consumers who are interested in trying a new tea without com- mitting to the paraphernalia and the ritual of brewing the bev- erage from loose leaves. "It's easy for stores to introduce a product with tea bags," Hartford said. "Then they connect with the product and want to try more and discover the true joy and peace that you can get with a cup of tea." Oliver Pluff & Co. teas, coffee blends and spice blends for beverages are sold in specialty grocers and gift shops across the country. Among more than 500 other retail locations, they're sold in gift shops in Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks and at other historic sites, including the Biltmore Mansion and at Mount Ver- non. The teas retail for $13.50 to $15.00 for a 3-ounce tin of loose tea, while the coffee blends retail for $15 for a 5-ounce package. A variety of package sizes and gift packs are available. The tins are labeled with infor- mation about the historic significance of the product inside. "We try and tell the sto- ries of these products and try to reconnect modern America with these historic teas," Hartford said. "People want to connect with the teas and what they're consuming. People enjoy the story." For more information, visit www .oliverpluff.com. GN

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