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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2015 n GOURMET NEWS 5 0 The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg: Welcome to Peanut Country! It all began in the back of a tiny shop in Colonial Williamsburg, carefully selecting and hand roasting the finest Virginia Peanuts available – plump, golden and gently blistered from a unique cooking process. For more than 40 years, The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg has contin- ued to do business the same way. Virginia Peanuts are one of four types of peanuts grown in the U.S. – primarily in Virginia and the Carolinas – and they represent only 15 percent of the total U.S. peanut production. While these peanuts are al- ready considered the largest kernel size of all four types, The Peanut Shop only sources the "cream of the crop" for its Handcooked Virginia Peanuts, which is the highest market grade available – Super Extra Large. Less than three percent of all Virginia peanuts meet the strictest stan- dards of this grade, ensuring the finest and largest available. Planted in early spring (and unlike most nut plants), the peanut plant nurtures its nuts (or legumes) below ground. When ready to harvest, the plants are dug up and laid in the sun to cure, the vines are separated, and off they go into the peanut wagons. From har- vest, to roast, to market – there is a legacy of Southern tradition and heritage. The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg sig- nature peanuts are prepared by a dedicated Roastmaster in small batches, using a time- honored recipe. They are handcooked in golden peanut oil with no addi- tives or preservatives to alter the natural goodness. The result: plump golden peanuts, with a very slight split and gently blistered from a unique cooking process – its "gold standard" of excellence. Promising the highest quality, stringent consistency, and worldwide brand recognition is the reason its icon brand has become the standard by which all fine peanuts are judged. Virginia Peanuts are equal to olive oil in heart healthfulness, contain the same beneficial ingredients as red wine, are naturally cho- lesterol-free, rich in Vitamin E and a pro- tein powerhouse. The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg handcooked Vir- ginia peanuts and cashews are also Kosher Certified and Non- GMO Project Verified. For four decades, the simple goodness of this homestyle hand- cooked peanut has changed very little. Not only are they simply good, they are simply healthful – something peanut lovers have suspected for years. The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg prod- ucts are available at specialty food stores na- tionwide or direct from its retail stores in Williamsburg and Smithfield, Va.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston S.C.; Sarasota, Fla.; and Knoxville, Tenn. For more information, call 800-831-1828, ext.1, visit www.thepeanutshop.com or stop by booth #988. In Faribault, Sandstone Cave-Aging Makes for Legendary Cheese Legend holds that the first blue cheese was created in the caves of France, where ideal humidity and temperature conditions al- lowed the blue-green molds in the cheese to flourish. Today, the cheese makers at Caves of Faribault are bringing the legend to life. Located on a tall sandstone bluff in Faribault, Minn., Caves of Faribault uses the unique environmental properties present in the nat- ural sandstone caves on its property to cure and age its cheeses. But what makes cave- aging so unique? Jeff Jirik, V.P. and GM of Product Innovation for Swiss Valley Farms, the parent company of Caves of Faribault, explains. "The definition of cave aging has ex- panded considerably in the last decade to in- clude almost any type of climate controlled structure designed specifically for curing and ageing cheese," said Jirik. "At Caves of Faribault, we have traditional caves hewn from sandstone rock." The rock is more specifically St. Peter's sandstone, and its properties are quite unique in and of them- selves. Within the cave, temperature is natu- rally maintained at 52°F and relative humidity is kept at 95 percent. As a skilled blue cheese maker himself, Jirik can attest to the importance of consistently stable temper- atures and humidity conditions when aging cheese. Furthermore, the pH of the rock is slightly acidic, which provides a number of unique benefits, including a natural cleansing of the cave air. Also interesting to note is that water can move both verti- cally and horizontally on these rocks, meaning the cave ceilings never drip. According to Jirik, these features greatly impact the finished product – the cheese. "The award-winning cheeses aged in Caves of Faribault offer consistently clean, delicate yet complicated flavor pro- files," said Jirik. "In addition, the caves have 'microflora memory.' This means that the caves maintain cultures of microflora dating back to the 1850s when they were first used for lagering hand crafted beer!" The cave complex consists of 13 con- nected caverns, in total, with a storage capac- ity that exceeds one million pounds. These caverns are structurally self-supporting so navigating through them is easy as no inter- nal supports within the caves are needed. In fact, working in the caves is often equated to a day at the beach, figura- tively speaking. Many workers note the smell inside the caves is reminis- cent of fresh beach sand. It is in these cave walls that one can find the handcrafted blue cheeses that make up the company's flagship line of blue cheeses, namely Am- aBlu ® , AmaGorg ® and St. Pete's Se- lect ® (aptly named after the St. Peter's sandstone.) Caves of Faribault also ages Fini™ Cheddar, St. Mary's ® Grass-Fed Gouda, Jeffs' Select Gouda and Verdant ® Grass-Fed Blue cheese. These cheeses are available for sampling at booth #5115 at the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show. For more information about Caves of Farib- ault (a subsidiary of Swiss Valley Farms), visit www.cavesoffaribault.com or stop by booth #5115. Heartland Gourmet LLC Gluten-Free, Gourmet and Organic Expansion a Success Heartland Gourmet LLC, a family operated Nebraska-based gourmet, organic and gluten-free manufacturer, is excited to be op- erating in its new 29,000 sq. ft. production facility. The expansion allows it to have seg- regated production for its different categories as well being GFSI and GFCP (gluten-free) and USDA Organic Certified. Heartland Gourmet manufactures frozen dough – cookie dough, bread dough, etc. – in both the gluten-free and gluten forms. Some of its specialties are baked off gluten- free muffins, cupcakes, cakes and cookies. Its line currently has 12 exquisite, baked off gluten-free items rich with flavor available for retail and foodservice customers, such as sour cream apple crumb cake, lemon cup- cakes, pumpkin quickbread, etc. On the dry mix side of its business, it manufactures or- ganic mixes, gourmet mixes and gluten-free mixes for retail and foodservice. Heartland Gourmet currently has 15 gluten-free dry mix items for retail and foodservice, includ- ing its own blend of gluten-free flour. One of the things it does best is private label and co-packing. Its product develop- ment team has more than 90 years combined experience in recipe development and for- mulation. Customized recipes are a cinch with this much experience. It can work with a customer's recipe or develop one from scratch. It has the capacity, knowledge and expertise to work with both national chains and smaller customers as well. It offers packaging development assistance if required. Its goal is to provide the best taste and texture that ulti- mately helps you provide the best products to your customers. This is accom- plished by producing high quality products using the finest ingredients. For more information, call 402-423-1234, email susan@heartlandgourmet.com or visit www.heartlandgourmet.com. Urban Oven Presents a New Snack-Size Cracker Pack At the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show, gour- met cracker and cookie baker Urban Oven is unveiling its new, convenient 3.5-ounce snack-size cracker package. Gene Williams, Urban Oven's Founder, said of the new packaging, "We were getting many requests for a smaller, more conven- ient portion size of our cracker line, so we are bringing out this new package to ensure that our consumers can enjoy our artisan- made crackers everywhere they want." The new snack size pack will feature Urban Oven's most popular flavors, includ- ing Olive Oil, Asiago Cheese and Three Seed. Olive Oil, made with cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and farm-fresh butter, com- plements sharp cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda or Gorgonzola. Asiago Cheese, infused with the subtle and elegant flavor of Asiago, matches well with fruit, red wine or creamy cheeses like Port Salut, Edam and Gruyere. Three Seed, baked with a rich, nutty blend of black sesame, white sesame and golden flax seeds and a dash of sea salt, accents tangy Swiss or Cheddar cheeses. Buyers, brokers and bloggers can see this new packaging and taste Urban Oven's full line of all-natural crackers and cookies at booth #782 at the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show. About Urban Oven Founded in 2008 in Chandler, Ariz., Urban Oven makes only the finest all-natural, never-processed crackers and cookies that are perfect every time and for every occa- sion. Urban Oven's hand-crafted crackers and cookies are baked in small batches, using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients, like extra virgin olive oil and farm-fresh milk. Gene Williams, the Founder of Urban Oven, believes that every product needs a personal touch to ensure extraordi- nary attention to quality and detail, so each box is packed and weighed by hand. Because Urban Oven feels strongly about supporting local suppliers and giving back to the com- munity and to the earth, it uses local ingre- dients whenever possible. Uncompromising quality is a promise Urban Oven makes in every perfectly crisp and utterly delicious cracker. For more information, visit www.urban oven.com or call 480-921-2476 or 866-770- OVEN (6836) or stop by booth #782.

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