A Taste Of Olive

Are you the type of person that douses any vegetable in vinegar? Can drink vinegar straight? And relishes it?



If you're anything like me, you have a cabinet filled with every type of vinegar you can get at the grocery store — white, apple cider, white wine , red wine, white balsamic, balsamic, sherry, and rice vinegars.



Add ponzu (a Japanese citrus and vinegar based sauce) to the list of vinegars above, and that is my standard vinegar inventory. Well, before I was made aware of A Taste Of Olive, a specialty store featuring "the East Coast's largest selection of extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars and specialty oils and vinegars 'on tap' from all over the world!"

It all started last spring when a friend gifted me with espresso balsamic vinegar (great on berries or blue cheese), peach balsamic vinegar, jalapeno olive oil (nice way to add subtle heat to almost any thing), and Persian lime olive oil from A Taste Of Olive. I was adding these infused vinegars (and olive oils, but mostly vinegar) to everything in sight.



These vinegars and olive oils from A Taste Of Olive truly improved my life. Seriously, they have been ruling my summer, finding their way into almost every meal!

Very soon, I found myself out of Taste Of Olive's infused vinegars and olive oils, so hightailed it to the West Chester store (there are also locations in Ardmore, PA, and Haddonfield, NJ, as well as an online store) to pick out a few new vinegars and olive oils from their in-store inventory of over 50 varieties. A Taste Of Olive also sells flavored salts, salt slabs, chocolates, and pretty jars of gourmet condiments, so makes a nice store for any-occasion gifts or self-indulgences.More stainless steel drums of vinegar and olive oils than you can joyously imagine line shelves and tables of the cute, but spacious, downtown West Chester store, where you are encouraged to sample before you buy. I happily drank about a cup's worth of various vinegar before I settled on the babies that were going home with me (grapefruit, honey ginger, and pumpkin spice), as well as bottle of a Tuscan herb extra-virgin olive oil.

The friendly staff will gladly suggest vinegar and olive oil pairings, as well present you with menu sheets. They even made sure I left with a frequent buyer punch card to get a free bottle of vinegar or olive oil after the purchase of ten bottles. How did they know I was coming back soon?



A Taste Of Olive

26 South High St., West Chester, PA 19382 / 610-429-0292

22 W Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003 / 610-642-1123

106 Kings Hwy East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 / 856-795-0043

Roasted Grapes

Well, I’ve got more grapes hanging around here after the harvest last week. Besides make grape pie, I wanted to roast grapes – all new things to me. I saw an article in a newsletter that mentioned roasted grapes as an accompaniment for cheese – just toss grapes with vinegar and roast for fifteen minutes. I can do that.

Of course, I took it a bit further. I had six types of vinegar in my pantry: rice vinegar, ginger infused rice vinegar, cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, and strawberry infused balsamic vinegar. (Some cooks take hits from extract bottles, I take hits from vinegar bottles; I like vinegar so much.) It turns out that it really doesn’t matter what vinegar you use; the differences are subtle. Just use what ever vinegar you have.

After fifteen minutes of roasting in the oven, the grapes soften, release juices, and caramelize a bit. The homegrown grapes I was using were very tart, so these roasted homegrown grapes mixed with vinegar were too tangy for most people to handle.

This ain’t gonna work! I reached in the fridge and pulled out the store bought green grapes I bought before the grape harvest came in. (Yep, it’s grapey over at my house.) I tried it all over again with store bought green grapes. Much better. These grapes ended up being sweet and only slightly tangy from the vinegar. These guys can go on a cheese plate without arresting your taste buds.

Roasted Grapes

1 bunch of grapes
a few tablespoons vinegar (your choice)

• Wash and dry grapes.
• Toss grapes with vinegar in a bowl.
• Place grapes in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet, and cook in a preheated 450°oven for 15 minutes.