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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2014 www.gourmetnews.com HOLIDAY UPDATE 1 6 BY LUCAS WITMAN In today's cuisine-obsessed culture, food- ies are no longer always content to stop at the local bakery for their fresh baked baguettes or pick up a log of fresh chèvre at the grocery store. Home cooks now want to have a hand in the preparation of these pantry staples. Contemporary gour- mands are delighting their friends and family with homemade breads, cheeses, ice cream, beer, wine, preserves, pickles and more. And specialty food and house- wares companies are committing them- selves to this trend as well, offering consumers make-at-home food kits that enable them to create everything from but- ter to tofu to ricotta to root beer – all in the cozy confines of one's own kitchen. There are a number of reasons why make-at-home food kits have recently be- come so popular among American shop- pers. Perhaps most importantly, consumers today are committed to knowing precisely what goes into the foods they are eating. "I think we're in this great golden age … Peo- ple really care about what they're putting in their bodies," said Joe Maiellano, co- founder of The Homemade Gin Kit. "Local small batch things are very popular, be- cause people care about where their food and drink come from. You can't get any this holiday season, there is certainly a make-at-home food gift out there to suit nearly any potential recipient from a sweets-loving child to a cocktail obsessed urbanite to a homesteading grandmother. "People are always looking for something unique and different, and these products are," said Kozupsky. "You can buy these [kits] for everyone. It's not just for women. It's not just for men. It's not just for kids. It's not just for adults. It's really crosses the board. Everyone can enjoy using them." One aspect of make-at-home food kits that makes them particularly good gifts is that unlike a finite box of candy or a basket of fruit, these kits are perennial treats that can be used over and over. In addition, the recipient can often use the kit to experi- ment with new recipes and try out his or her own ideas, developing foods and bev- erages that are truly one-of-a-kind. "We encourage our customers to experi- ment," said Maiellano. "The first time, if you want to get scientific about it, it's the control experiment. What we like about it is that we give them the first batch and we tell them what's in it. When they taste it, if they say, 'I really like that but it has too much allspice or citrus for me,' then they more local or small batch than doing it yourself in the kitchen." Maiellano's company has created a kit that allows consumers to craft their own small batch gin, safely and legally at home. The Homemade Gin Kit includes a collec- tion of spices and botanicals, as well as two glass apothecary bottles, a funnel and strainer. One simply adds an inexpensive bottle of vodka to the mix, and the result is a unique handcrafted potable. "We had no idea what the market would be. There were home brew kits and make- your-own wine kits, but nobody was doing this," said Maiellano. "[When we started in fall, 2012], we thought that if we sold 250 kits by the next Father's Day, we would be happy, but we sold 2,500 kits by Christmas." Still, a larger reason behind the growing popularity of make-at-home food kits may be that 21st century consumers simply have a greater academic interest in food and drink and a desire to learn about and create their own gourmet delicacies. According to Leslie Kozupsky, founder of Roaring Brook Dairy, this is a primary factor driving people to snatch up her company's mozzarella-, butter-, chèvre- and tofu-making kits. "I think people are really interested in learning more about food [and] about how you make it. There's something chal- lenging yet kind of romantic about mak- ing these products on their own," said Kozupsky. "I wanted to help people take ownership of these new cooking skills they were developing." A self-proclaimed less-than-stellar cook, Kozupsky said that one of the personal ap- peals of make-at-home food kits is that they enable her to easily craft products that she could never before have made on her own. "I could not believe that someone like my- self could make cheese or butter. That was huge," she said. "It's really very empower- ing for people who think they can't cook." Make-at-home food kits also reflect the inherently social nature of cooking today, as friends and family are brought together to brew a batch of beer or make a ball of mozzarella. Molecule-R, the company be- hind innovative make-at-home molecular gastronomy kits, for example, has made it their business to create a product that is supremely social in nature. The company's Cuisine R-Evolution and Cocktail R-Evo- lution kits create a fun and social cooking environment, bringing people together to create and taste science-tinged delights like spherified balsamic pearls and choco- late spaghetti. For those looking for a unique, unex- pected gift to present to friends and family Give Loved Ones the Gift of Experience This Holiday Season with Make-at-Home Specialty Food Kits Continued on PAGE 17

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