Gathering with the Caputo’s Crew is always a creative affair, inspiring each of us to bring our most thoughtful, unique, and downright delicious dishes to the fore. This holiday, take a peek behind the curtain to see what we’re serving, and perhaps make some to share between you and yours. With love!

INGREDIENTS

• 20 Whole piquillo peppers
• 1/3lb Queen of the Alps (or other Alpine style cheese), shredded
• 1lb Ricotta
• 1/4lb Speck
• Smoked Chili Flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove piquillo peppers from their jar(s) and pat dry on a towel – allow to rest and air dry
2. Combine ricotta and Queen of the Alps cheeses, preferably in a food processor to aerate the mixture
3. Tear speck by hand into a hot pan over medium heat and cook until crispy and crunchy
4. Crumble crisped speck (+chili flakes for additional spice) into cheese mixture and gently combine with a spatula
5. Transfer to a piping bag and begin filling individual piquillo peppers (have a friend help, they can be fragile)
6. Plate peppers and finish with a sprinkle of chili flakes
7. Serve with additional chili flakes for the folks who wanna sweat

Artesanos Alalunga is the epitome of what tinned fish can stand for and the depths of precision it can embody. From ultra-transparent sourcing (information on where/when every fish was caught) to Michelin-inspired cooking techniques, each tin contains a truly unique and masterfully crafted work of culinary art. “Small-scale” doesn’t capture the magnitude of work that Alvaro and Pablo Santander put into each tin that leaves their kitchen. To have access to this level of care is the true meaning of artisanal, and to taste it an ocean away is transcendent. We are thrilled and lucky to have tins from these brothers on our shelves for all to enjoy.

“Small-scale” doesn’t capture the magnitude of work that Alvaro and Pablo Santander put into each tin that leaves their kitchen.

The Santander brothers were born and raised on the Cantabrian Sea and its many maritime bounties. Access to fresh, sustainably sourced, seasonally caught fish is abundant, and the thriving canning industry has been booming for years. After many moons traveling with successful careers across the globe, both brothers felt called back by the coast of northern Spain. Their goal in coming home was to capture the unmatched excellence of Cantabria with truly remarkable seafood dishes, available at the crack of a tin.

Their first step in achieving this level of excellence is sourcing. Most tins involve months of research and investigation to find the finest catch available, and ensure their access to it as soon as the boat reaches the dock. Each selection on offer is available only because of the masterful fisherfolk who know the deep secrets of the Cantabrian Sea, who are able to share them with Alvaro and Pablo as they craft these delicacies.

Much like fresh produce from a local market or garden, these flavors will speak for themselves and do not require addition or accompaniment.

Once they have acquired the finest catch of each day, the brothers work tirelessly to break down each fish by hand. Working with mackerel, hake, and seabass, they isolate everything from the cheeks to the loins; not to mention their intricate selection of tuna (Alalunga) cuts not seen elsewhere in the world of conservas. Their cooking techniques are designed to showcase the flavor of the fish. A quick salt brine cleans and seasons the flesh before each cut is lovingly wrapped and prepared to be finished sous vide. Once cooked, each cut is placed in a tin with its sauce (from Spicy Bilbao to Savory Pesto) and sealed. Simplicity, canned.

These are tins that can truly represent a meal with no additions. Much like fresh produce from a local market or garden, these flavors will speak for themselves and do not require addition or accompaniment. Most tins warmed in hot water and served over rice will replicate a fine dining experience found in tavernas across the coast, but from the comfort and convenience of your home. We are grateful for the work that Alvaro and Pablo have dedicated to make Artesanos Alalunga a thriving cannery, and we are excited to have them on our shelves. Indulge in the luxury of Cantabria and enjoy Alalunga today.

Confessions of my voracious sweet tooth: I don’t like cake. So why am I writing a recipe for this spongy sadness if my pastry passions lie in other ovens? If you’re a Salt Lake local and you’ve experienced the inspiration for this undefinable triumph of a crumb (fine, call it a cake) from Tulie Bakery, perhaps you already understand. It turns out, when you change the focus of cake from flavorless sugar and butter to flavorful olive oil, you wind up with something far more texturally unique and deliciously satisfying.

This brings up an essentially blunt clarification: the quality of your olive oil will make (or break) this recipe. You can craft a cake bursting with subtle notes of green grass, fresh citrus, and luxurious light earthiness… or you can make it taste like burnt cardboard and sadness. The spectrum of olive oil is vast and poorly regulated (more on that here and here), and this recipe gives it absolutely nothing to hide behind. You don’t need to break the bank with our finest condiment grade olive oil, Viola Colleruita (though it would surely be delicious), but you do want to select something that craves the spotlight and knows how to put on a show.

For this version, I selected our (no longer available) Special Reserve Caputo’s Cretan EVOO; the unfiltered version of our house classic. Notes of bright citrus and sharp pepper played perfectly with the Cayenne Veracruz Orange white chocolate from Jcoco that I used for a glaze. Would I recommend sticking to the script that I wrote here? Definitely. Would I encourage you to experiment and get creative with your own cravings? Without a single doubt. Maybe just mail me a slice so I can play too?

Best of all, this recipe is (for lack of a better phrase) easy as cake. Actually a bit easier than most cakes I’ve ever tried to make. The batter comes together in a single bowl, and the ganache whips up while the cake takes its time in the oven. Best left to sit overnight, but perfectly delicious spooned out of the pan (animalistic… who would do that?). Have your cake and eat it however you damn please!

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 Cups EVOO (high quality/condiment grade recommended)
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1.25 Cups Whole Milk (room temperature)
• 1 Large Lemon (zest and juice)
• 1 Large Orange (zest)
• 1.5 Cups Sugar
• 2 Cups AP Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 6oz (2 full bars) Jcoco Cayenne Veracruz Orange White Chocolate (or other white chocolate)
• 3oz Heavy Cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Generously grease (with EVOO!) a 9 or 10 inch springform pan on the bottom and sides
3. Line bottom and sides of springform pan with parchment paper and grease again
4. Whisk olive oil and eggs together until smooth (stand mixer helpful, but not required)
5. Add milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange zest, sugar, and whisk until smooth
6. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda all at once and whisk until barely incorporated; do not overmix!
7. Gently scrape all sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to fully incorporate
8. Place prepared springform pan on a baking sheet (catch any mess) and fill with batter
9. Bake in preheated oven for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted and removed from the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are OK here)
10. If necessary, continue baking for 5-minute intervals until the toothpick comes out clean
11. While cake is cooling, make the ganache
12. Set up a double boiler (or use the microwave, we won’t judge you) and melt heavy cream with the white chocolate, stirring continuously until combined
13. Allow to cool slightly, until ganache can coat the back of a spoon, but drip off easily
14. Spoon ganache along the edges of the cooled cake, slowly working to the center (spread with an icing spatula if desired or needed)
15. Tastes best the next day! But I almost never wait that long… Enjoy!

Tinned fish is already easy to use. Pop a tin, pair with your favorite hearty bread and a quick salad, and you have a fully balanced, simply delicious meal. Craving that simplicity, but want to indulge in a different cultural palate? Look to the culinary masters of Japan for one of our personal favorite ways to utilize your tins: Japanese rice balls known as Onigiri. Any quality tin of fish will do (the simplicity will let the flavor of your tin shine), but traditional preparations rely on tuna, or more recently, salmon. We’re lucky enough to still have a few tins of Wildfish Cannery’s Smoked Salmon Belly sitting on the shelves, and we couldn’t hesitate to let those take center stage.

Reading this while salmon belly is out of season? Try the recipe with one of these tins instead:

• Ramon Pena Yellowfin Tuna Belly in EVOO
• FANGST Salmon w/Sea Buckthorn & Lemon Verbena
• JOSE Gourmet Mackerel Fillets in Curry
• Gueyu Mar Chargrilled Sardine Tails in EVOO

INGREDIENTS

• Rice (short grain will stick together better – Calrose is available in most grocery stores)
• Salt
• Tinned Fish (we used Wildfish Cannery Smoked Salmon Belly)
• Barnacle Furikake and/or Kelp Flakes (we used both)
• Nori (optional, and best used as a tool to pick Onigiri up without rice sticking to your hands)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare rice (according to package directions, an online tutorial, or your Bachan/Nona/Grandma’s old world wisdom) and allow to cool to a workable (with your hands) temperature
2. Season rice (some recipes call for vinegar, but we recommend only using salt) to taste
3. Fill and form the rice balls
   • Prepare a bowl of water to wet your hands before and in between each rice ball (prevents sticking)
   • Scoop ~1/2 cup of rice into the palm of your hand and form a divot in the middle
   • Scoop 2 tablespoons of fish into divot and cover with just enough rice to enclose
   • Roll rice into a well formed ball before shaping
4. Shape rice balls into Onigiri triangles
   • Flatten one side of your rice ball with the palm of one hand
   • Use your other hand, with fingers bent ~90 degrees from your palm, to shape remaining two flat edges
   • Flatten both faces of the Onigiri and repeat until desired shape is achieved
5. Season your Onigiri (we used a mix of Barnacle Furikake and Kelp Flakes)
6. Enjoy! (some recipes wrap finished Onigiri with nori, which we find dries the rice out, so we leave it off)

– Thanks to Chase Pinkney for the recipe –

Fu Wan is a taste of southeast Asia like no other. Crafting chocolate grown, fermented, and entirely produced on the island nation of Taiwan, these nerds (said with admiration, always) take terroir seriously. While planning the menu for Fu Wan Resort, Warren Hsu became acquainted with a collection of local cacao farms and fell deeply in love with the fruit. Chocolate quickly revealed itself as Hsu’s true passion, prompting him to found Fu Wan Chocolate, an independent team and workshop dedicated to the care and craft of this unique and beautiful cacao.

In this new chocolate factory, Hsu and the team introduce regional inclusions and complimentary flavors to this new and special cacao. The team embraces the mad scientist archetype by experimenting with fermentation, aging, and regional tea inclusions. Very recently (January 2024), their Beer Yeast #3 bar was awarded distinction with a silver medal at the International Chocolate Awards, as well as 18 other accolades from that, their first awards show.

As you explore our selection of chocolate at Caputo’s, you know we’re familiar with innovation and novelty. Fu Wan captivates our imaginations with experiments we truly haven’t seen before, and matches them with a drive to keep creating more. We’re excited and honored to host these creative minds on our shelves, and we can’t wait to see what else they have in store.

Shorter days are here, the snow is accumulating, and it’s feeling more like winter with each passing day. Nature is encouraging us to take a reset and frankly, we’re ready for it. It’s times like these that we reach for sturdy mugs filled to the brim with rich, creamy, uniquely flavorful and expressive Drinking Chocolate. Haven’t had a sip of the goods yet? Read/Watch on to learn how to make your own!

Drinking chocolate carries a much deeper history than the humble chocolate bar. For thousands of years, ancient central American tribes have been consuming this ritualistic beverage with spices, masa, and little to no sweetening added. It wasn’t until the age of colonization when chocolate was brought over to Europe, that sugars and fats were introduced to this sacred substance. With ready access to milk and cane sugar, the advent of drinking chocolate as we know it today was born.

The first chocolate bar was produced in the 1840s and we’ve never looked back, but we’ve been drinking it all along. Take a journey with us to find out all the unique ways we can make drinking chocolate today.

Most hot, liquid chocolate can be divided into two distinct categories: Hot Cocoa and Drinking Chocolate.

Hot cocoa is what we remember from childhood. It’s made with cocoa powder, milk powder, sugar, and is by far the easiest to make. It drinks the thinnest and expresses the least terroir (a sense of place through flavor), but will always transport you back to days when the snow was regularly taller than your view of the world. Goodnow Farms makes an excellent selection of cocoas that will leave you nostalgic while sending your tastebuds around the world.

Drinking chocolate is defined in its name: chocolate broken down for ease of emulsification. Whether it’s shredded, ground, chopped, or otherwise prepared, these selections are prepared to melt and dissolve in whatever milk, water, or alternative you’re using as a base. Ritual Chocolate makes a delicious range of single origin drinking chocolates that are reflective of the same regions their bars come from.

Both styles prioritize less time whisking over your stove in favor of more time getting cozy in your PJs with a cup of the good stuff. Taste for beverages that express the same as your favorite single origin chocolate bars, dial your prep with our tips below, and let yourself slip into the indulgence.

The beauty of drinking chocolate is that with enough determination, you can make any chocolate deliciously drinkable. Purpose made mixes (hot cocoa, drinking chocolate) are easiest, coarse ground bars (think Taza, Cuna de Piedra, and Sabadi) involve a bit more labor, and with enough elbow grease, any chocolate can be whipped to liquid luxury. Whichever difficulty level you choose here, any technique below will work. With increasing levels of difficulty come richer levels of texture, flavor, and overall enjoyment.

Technique 1: Frothing
Have a milk steamer or an electric frother? You’re in luck and your drinking chocolate is almost ready. Combine your milk, water, or alternative, blitz with your magic wand until frothy and emulsified, and settle into your coziest chair to indulge. While this technique will result in a well combined drink, it may quickly lose its body and become thin again. Doubtlessly delicious, but not nearly as viscous and satisfying as the other options below.

Technique 2: Whisking
Spoons, forks, knives, whisks, or whatever other cutlery you have laying around will always work in a pinch. Simply add chocolate to your warmed milk, water, or alterative and whisk away until the mixture is thick, foamy, and no chunks remain. This may produce less foam than frothing, but the thicker body will last longer for consistently textured sips throughout.

Technique 3: Molinillo
This ancient tool has been used to make drinking chocolate for hundreds of years. It’s tried, tested, and true. You’ll need an oversized vessel to hold your chocolate and your liquid, unless you really WANT to make a big mess (we won’t yuck your yum). Twisting the molinillo between your hands will naturally froth the entire drink at once, both emulsifying and thickening the body to your desired consistency. This is the go-to technique if you’re using a chocolate bar, and can even create a drink thick enough to add a shot or two of booze without fret.

A note on alt milks: Oat mixes well, almond has more texture, soy will be watery, and water still works but won’t be as thick. Use what you’d like; it’s chocolate and it’s going to be tasty no matter how you mix it!