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Ask Matt Caputo: Will Bitters Help With Over-Eating?

by Matt Caputo on December 17, 2015

“Ask Matt Caputo” is a new, ongoing feature where Matt answers commonly asked questions from the market. This week, he discusses bitters as a cure for a distressed stomach.

Q: I over-ate this Thanksgiving. And with holiday parties and Christmas coming up, I’m wondering if I should look into aromatic bitters to ease my pain. Will they make a difference?

A: Well, I actually have quite a bit of experience with eating too much. If there is one thing I love it is food, and during the holidays, I can’t stand the thought of not having each and every one of my old favorites. On top of that, how could I pass up a new gastronomic experience. Shun a new dish just because I am full? Pah! No chance.

As the years go by, it is slowly but surely getting more difficult to put up with the physical aftermath, though. Over the past year, I have had more opportunities than I am proud to admit to test the curative powers of aromatic cocktail bitters.

As one would learn in our Intro to Bitters class, the history of these elixirs includes wild claims from the producers, purportedly curing everything from flatulence to impotence and absolutely everything in between. Luckily, the FDA cracked down on the “snake oil” side of bitters a long time ago.

However, from my experience, there is certainly truth to bitters ability to aid in digestion. Anytime I have overeaten or I am not feeling tip top in the tummy, I have a nice big glass of sparkling water with a healthy dose of Peychaud’s. Within a few minutes, I feel notably better. It almost never fails. Put 10 to 12 dashes in a small white wine glass, and that ought to do. Yeah, I take it in a wine glass. Why not? It smells incredible.

Obviously, I am no doctor, scientist, or herbalist, so I will leave it to them to tell you exactly which ingredient in these bitters is doing exactly what. But this practice should not seem that strange. Monks, apothecaries, and even grandmas from all around the world have long known the digestive value of things with bitter flavors.

Disclaimer: While Matt Caputo is a Certified Cheese Professional and specialty food fanatic, he is not a medical professional, doctor, or certified nutritionist. Please consult with your doctor or other qualified health care professional before making any healthcare decisions, diagnostics or treatment decisions based on Matt’s answers.

Caputo Gifting Made Easy

by Adrianna Pachelli on December 14, 2015

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. My name is Adri, and I am the queen of procrastinated gifting. Try as I might, I have yet to finish my to-do list for gifts on time. Each holiday season is the same for me: I realize my gift list is 30% accomplished and 9% wrapped, I run all over the city looking for gifts at picked-over stores and pop-up shops (arms flailing above my head the whole time), and then I go back to home base: Caputo’s.

Here’s what I know: Everyone likes to eat. Call me crazy, but food is the perfect gift, time crunch or not. Everyone has to eat, so why not let your friends and family eat the very best and most delicious treats available? Here’s your guide to the very best last-minute gifts. One gift for each of the 12 days of Christmas, a la Caputo’s:
1. Utah Dark Chocolate Collection – You can never go wrong gifting chocolate, especially in Utah. The Beehive State is internationally recognized as a well known hub for fine chocolate, in both sales and creation. Utah is home to five bean-to-bar chocolate companies that are putting themselves on the fine-chocolate map with their artisan bars and dedication to creating the best chocolate possible. Give your pals a taste of Utah with this perfect collection of fine dark chocolate, all made in Utah.

Caputos Local Gift Basket 2. Local Standouts Gift Collection – This is the ideal choice for the locavore in your life. We’ve hand selected seven items that are not only made locally, but they’re world-class artisan products. From bean-to-bar chocolate to smoky and savory chili oil, this is sure to please you local-lovin’ pals.

Alba White Truffles1 (1) 3. White Truffles – I’m quite sure that I would prefer truffles to diamonds, and I know I’m not the only one. This is it. The most luxurious and ultimately wonderful gift for your foodie friend, or you can use it as the focal point of you holiday meal. Just the aroma knocks you off your feet, so imagine what your finished entree will do.

4. Creminelli Salami – Utah is home to not only some of the best American artisan chocophiles, but also to some of the most die-hard locavores I’ve ever met. Cristiano Creminelli started his small production in the basement of our downtown store in 2007. Now, he and his company are a national example of the Slow Food movement. The flavors are a true delight, and I love sharing a piece of Utah with my friends and family. Creminelli salamis don’t need to be refrigerated until their packaging is opened, so you can rest easy when mailing these as a gift or when you travel on long road trips to see your family this holiday season.

Copy of Omnom Dark Cherries and Almonds crop

5. OmNom Holiday Chocolate – Time for an ol’ holiday saying: When in doubt, gift chocolate. Here’s your stocking stuffer for 2015, in a sexy little package no less. Hate wrapping? No need here. OmNom is the king of packaging, and you won’t want to hide these bars for anything. Omnom’s seasonal holiday flavor this year combines dark cherries and caramel roasted almonds. This is the stocking stuffer you can give to everyone.

6. Craft Cocktail Collection – There’s something incredibly attractive about shaking a cocktail shaker around like a mad person…or like you know what you’re doing. If your loved ones are getting into the craft-cocktail movement and experimenting at home, this is the perfect gift. We’ve put together some of the most-often used and well-known products to get your home bar started. If these bitters and bar components are good enough for the best mixologists in the world, they’re perfect for your holiday gifting.

7. Cheese Cave Tasting Sampler – Our market was founded on our love of cheese, and that adoration has only grown stronger. We’re one of five retail locations in the entire country with a cheese cave program. One cave just wasn’t cutting it for us. We need more room to to add additional wheels of cheese into their ideal aging environment (it makes them as absolutely delicious as possible). Our second cheese cave is fully stocked since last holiday season with plenty of projects and affinage happening every second. Wanna know what the cave is all about, or want to share your knowledge? This is the perfect choice. Four of our favorite cave-aged cheeses come bundled and ready to eat. Hopefully they share with you!

8. Panettone – I’ve professed my own personal love for panettone from the proverbial rooftops of the world (read it here). This is a classic holiday treat and tradition that’s perfect for giving. No fruitcake here; this is entirely different. Light, sweet, transcendent, and the perfect match for coffee and digestifs alike. We have the very best Italian brands in stock. Just be sure to get yours before they’re all gone!

9. Chocolatier Blue – The ultimate in filled chocolates live right here at Caputo’s. Not only does Chocolatier Blue use locally-made Solstice Chocolate, they make products that are utterly divine. One taste will convince anyone of their superiority. The good news for you is that there are plenty of sizes to choose from. There’s a perfect size for each person depending on how naughty or nice they’ve been this year.
10. Caputo’s Gift Basket – On the go? We’ll have these made and ready to go at our downtown, Holladay, and 15th & 15th locations this month. Take the guessing and legwork out of your food gifting this year. We’ve done it for you. Classic favorites and best sellers are packaged and ready to go for you at a moment’s notice.

11. Balsamico Tradizionale – I become speechless(I know, so weird) when these babies come up in conversation. If the essence of Italy had to be squeezed into one tiny bottle, this is it. It’s the ultimate gift for your foodie pals and loved ones. Talk to your favorite mongers at your nearest Caputo’s location for our their preferred uses, but make sure you save some for summertime vanilla gelato and strawberries. ADDED BONUS: This is on sale for a HUGE discount. We’ve discounted it enough that you could buy a bottle for a gift and one for yourself as a reward for being such a fantastic gifter.

12. Class Certificates – Give the gift of food (or drink!) knowledge. It’s the perfect gift for a couple or a friend who might be new to either cooking or the Salt Lake valley. Pick up a certificate for the amount of the class, plus the optional beverage pairing, and let them choose the best class for their calendar and tastes. We’ll help you give the exact dollar amount or round up so your giftee can pick up a special little treat after the class. Choose from cheese or chocolate tastings, cooking classes, or whiskey classes. You read that right: whiskey classes! Remember that bucket list from SL Mag? Send them to the class!

December Cravings: Help Yourself Through the Holidaze

by Adrianna Pachelli on December 2, 2015

It’s heeeeere! Let’s not pretend like most of us haven’t already been shopping and decorating for the holidays. Whether it was Black Friday or Cyber Monday, I’m sure you’ve begun to find some great deals and wonderful gifts for your loved ones. Now comes the gift wrapping, meal planning, and party attending.

It’s a beautiful time of year, but let’s get real, this stuff is exhausting. Want to know how we get through the holiday madness? Chocolate, duhhhhhh. Just kidding. It’s actually chocolate and daily hugs. And cocktails. And cheese. And charcuterie. And lots of recipe testing. These Cravings are what will get us through the holidaze with smiles on our faces. They, of course, make great gifts as well—just sayin’.

CHEESE: Grotte Caputo

This is our Cheese Cave cornerstone. Grotte Caputo was our first real success story from our first cheese cave—in case you haven’t been in in awhile, we now have two glorious cheese caves. Since then, we’ve had many successes, and, well, a few blunders. But somethings never change, namely Grotte Caputo. Unaged wheels of Asiago are handled with the utmost love and care for more than 6 months in our caves before being released for sale. The end result is a crumbly, but still moist paste that is perfect for cheese plates and cooking. The flavors are sweet and nutty: think of a blend of Parmigiano Reggiano and aged Gouda. Our Red Leicester Popover recipe is the perfect way to try your hand at baking with Grotte. Serve this at your holiday party with nuts or a pear compote, but resist the urge to eat it all before everyone arrives.

CHARCUTERIE: Avalanche Finocchiona

You may know of Avalanche’s drool-inducing chevre and other goat’s milk cheeses, butwhen it comes to artisan food, the Finocchiona raises the bar yet further. Goat and pork are blended with fennel and other spices for a truly magnificent piece of salami heaven. The flavors and aroma are both sweet and complex while still maintaining a distinctly “meaty” flavor from the high-quality pork and goat used.

I don’t say this often, but I will say it with this Craving: I don’t share Avalanche Finocchiona. I could see myself gifting a stick to my dad and maybe another worthy loved one, but I am not entirely sure I could bring this to a party. It’s just too good to share the limelight with most other party fare. I’ll be saving this for small getherings where I can ensure my pals are properly appreciating the perfection they are nibbling on. This needs only to be paired with bread, in my opinion, although a mild cheese like Pecorino Toscano would be another great item to serve alongside this lovely salami.

BAR & BITTERS: Addition Rosemary Cocktail Spice

Addition falls into our Bar & Bitters category of specialty products, but Addition is something entirely its own. Rather than a complex blend of bittering roots, herbs, and the highlighted spices or flavors, Addition creates a line of products that are more reminiscent of a tincture. This cocktail spice speaks perfectly of fresh rosemary in liquid form. There are no other flavors covering it up, and no bittering agents to hinder its potency. It’s just rosemary, in its simplest and most perfect way.

Use this in gin-based cocktails, of course. But I am more excited about its uses in cooking. Bake it into scones and cakes or add to pan sauces and gravies for roasted meats and vegetables. I’ve got a fun little sweet treat up my sleeve using this as well, so stay tuned for my favorite giftable treat.

THE ULITMATE HOLIDAY: White Truffles

This is it. The most luxurious and ultimately wonderful gift for your foodie friend, or you can use it as the focal point of you holiday meal. Behold: the white truffle!

We carry truffles year round from Italy and France, but the very best are the white truffles, which are just now coming into season. While black truffles are less expensive, and less rare, they’re also able to receive a bit of heat application through cooking. White truffles, however, are very rarely cooked, only shaved directly over your main dish as both garnish and highlight. There is nothing more luxurious and delicious than a fresh, aromatic white truffle. Shave over simple egg pasta, veal scallopine, or sunny side up eggs. If you get your hands on a white truffle and simply must cook with it, I’d recommend Marcella Hazan’s Tortino di Tartufi. Here, boiled potatoes are sliced very thinly, layered with shaved white truffle, butter, and parmigiano before being baked for about 15 minutes.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Beehive Bitters Cranberry Sauce and Cocktail

by Adrianna Pachelli on November 24, 2015

It’s time, my friends. We’re all getting ready to travel, to cook, to deal with in-laws, and to enjoy Thanksgiving. Our menus are set, our plans have been made, and I just can’t wait.

With so much preparation required for such a meal, I love making as many things in advance as possible. The easiest one? Cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is my second favorite Thanksgiving meal component. It sits right behind stuffing, because, duh, stuffing. I’ve tried every kind of recipe that exists for this necessary component, and I still love the most classic ones. I don’t want my cranberries shrouded in some boozy port reduction or over-powered by spices and citrus. I want cranberry. The turkey wants cranberry, too. Just ask him.

Beehive Bitters makes my favorite bitters, Spiced Orange. The flavors are balanced, bright, and perfect for both cooking and cocktail-ing. Warm baking-spice flavors play a key role next to the bright, tangy orange note. Since both of these are classic additions to cranberry sauce, it only makes sense to add them right in to the recipe. You can make this sauce up to four days in advance before the texture becomes more jelly-like, but it will keep for over a week. Make this today, and save yourself the stress, there will be plenty of other things to worry about once Thursday rolls around.

Now, since the best part of the weekend after Thanksgiving is all the leftovers, here’s what I’m doing with my leftover cranberry sauce. I make my sauce with just a bit more water than is necessary. I’ll drain off the excess into a jar and use it as a flavored simple syrup for cocktails. For the sauce, I love to spread ricotta over freshly toasted bread and top with cranberry sauce and grated orange zest. Boom, Black Friday breakfast.

Enjoy the holiday, and enjoy your cranberry sauce!

Beehive Bitters Cranberry Sauce
Serves 4-6

Cook time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Bonus Points: Local Bitters, Make Ahead

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup water
Spiced Orange Beehive Bitters

Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add cranberries and reduce heat to medium. Continue to gently boil for about 10 minutes and remove to a serving bowl. Remove 1/3 of liquid to be used for other recipes (ahem, cocktails). Stir in 2 dashes of bitters, add more to taste. Serve at room temperature or keep refrigerated until the day of your meal.

Beehive Bitters Cranberry Cocktail
Makes 1 cocktail

Cook time: Less than 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Bonus Points: Local Bitters, Make Ahead

1 teaspoon cranberry simple syrup from cranberry sauce
1 dash Spiced Orange Beehive Bitters
6 ounces Prosecco or other sparkling wine
Spiced Orange Beehive Bitters
1 orange, for garnish

Pour prosecco over cranberry syrup and bitters in a cocktail glass. Add more to taste if desired. Garnish with an orange wheel and fresh cranberries.

Ask Matt Caputo: What is the Best Process to Taste Fine Chocolate?

by Matt Caputo on November 12, 2015

“Ask Matt Caputo” is an ongoing feature where Matt answers commonly asked questions from the market. In conjunction with Chocolate Week, he discusses how to taste chocolate like a pro and the one key component: focus.

Q: What is the Best Process to Taste Fine Chocolate?

A: I think most “experts” put so much emphasis on the methodology that it can suck the fun right out of tasting chocolate. You hear things like, “Don’t chew,” “Put the chocolate on the front of your tongue,” “…the back of your tongue,” etc. This is all crazy to me. The texture on your tooth is part of the satisfaction of eating not only chocolate, but all food. Why deprive yourself of part of the pleasure? Additionally, different parts of your tongue are for different things. You’ve all heard it: saltiness and sweet towards the front, acidity on the sides, bitterness in the back, and savory in the middle. Your palate would be very bored without any one of those tastes so why focus chocolate on just one area?

2dsc_1493 No, I say we all have the equipment to taste, and nature will take its course to allow us to get the most out of it if we just focus. Whether for a professional analysis or just pleasure, focus is the key to tasting chocolate. In our busy lives it is all too common for us to shovel food into our mouths and wolf it down without really being present enough to describe what we are experiencing.

Slow down. Look first. The eyes take the first bite. What tints of color do the chocolate exhibit? Then before you eat, smell. Over 90% of what we consider taste is actually our sense of smell, so prime the pump. Chew, but don’t wolf it down. Use your teeth to get the satisfaction of snap but don’t just let your reflexes swallow too fast. Let it melt on your tongue by working it all around your tongue and roof of your mouth. Suck air in through your mouth and out through your nose.

Now, you can swallow, but it does not end there. The flavor will continue to develop. A lot of our taste is experienced after swallowing—little particles coming up through your throat and continuing to titillate your senses via this retronasal taste. So despite the fact that “eating” is over once you swallow, the experience continues, so by all means continue to be present. Don’t let the mind wander. See how the flavor continues to evolve and change. Then, do it all again. And again. And again. This is how to taste chocolate. Or anything for that matter.

Chocolate Week: Adri’s Festive Wasatch Tart

by Adrianna Pachelli on November 11, 2015

Caputo’s Chocolate Week comes at the perfect time of year. Our annual Chocolate Fest puts me in the mood and mindset for the holidays and festivities, but it also gives me a chance to start testing desserts for the family dinners and fun holiday parties to come. My family has a knack for making enough food to feed an entire village, but we do our best to minimize the menu as much as we can every year. We always make the usual pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies, and these are also often accompanied by another cream-based or chocolate-based pie.

2img_4877 This year, I wanted to find a way to incorporate a chocolate dessert without making yet another deep-dish pie. Chocolate pies rely heavily on cocoa powder for flavor, but I like having more control of the nuances. Basically, I want a chocolate pie with a third of the volume, no cocoa powder, and to be made exclusively with chocolate bars.

Meet the chocolate tart. Thin, sweet pastry dough holds a thin layer of rich, luxurious chocolate and a dollop of bitters flavored whipped cream. My first attempt was so successful it garnered a happy dance and a phone call to the family. Solstice’s Wasatch Blend bar made an earthy, balanced tart base that was enlivened with a Beehive Bitters spiced orange whipped cream. It was festive, delicious, and a quarter of the size and effort of our usual chocolate pie.

Save this recipe for your upcoming holiday parties. You can also use your favorite chocolate bars and bitters to make this your own.

Wasatch Blend Chocolate Tart
Serves 8-12

Tart Dough

8 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Beehive Spiced Orange bitters
2 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients with a stand or hand mixer until there are no dry patches. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until firm. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness or until there is an excess of about 3 inches in diameter to fit an 8-inch tart shell. Press dough into the shell and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing the tart ring from the shell.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

10 ounces heavy cream
7 ounces Solstice Wasatch Blend, or two dark chocolate bars, 70% cacao or higher
Fleur de sel sea salt

Simmer a small pot of water. Set a metal or glass bowl over it, making sure there is air between the bottom of the bowl and the simmering water. Pour cream into bowl and heat until it’s warm enough to melt the chocolate. Add chocolate and stir to melt. Once the chocolate is melted, use an immersion blender or whisk to combine. Whisk until your ganache is fully blended. Stir in fleur de sel in small pinches, to taste. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes, then pour into the tart shell. Chill until ready to serve, but remove about 15-20 minutes before serving

Bitters Whipped Cream

10 ounces heavy cream
3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons Beehive Spiced Orange bitters

In a medium bowl, whisk heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, and bitters until whipped, but still loose. We don’t want stiff peaks, but enough volume to hold cream together when we top our chocolate tart with it. Adjust sweetness and flavoring with bitters before serving.

More from Chocolate Week:

A Primer on Solstice Chocolate

Solstice Drinking Chocolate Recipe

Caputo’s Solstice Chocolate Mini-Tartlets

A Retrospect of Past Chocolate Festivals

Recipe: Adri’s Festive Wasatch Tart

The Menu for Chocolate Fest Featuring Solstice Chocolate

Ask Matt Caputo: What is the Best Process to Taste Fine Chocolate?