Things I have been geeking out on make great gifts.
Kitchen
Stuff to eat, drink and cook with.
Panamanian Coffee
I have written about Panamanian geisha coffee and Panama City based roaster Café Unido in this newsletter. Did you realize Café Unido has a U.S. roaster in Washington D.C.? They do and it keeps expanding and many of the best geishas, as well as catuai and other varietals from the slopes of the Barú volcano are available by mail. Buy here.
Mater Chocolates
The chocolate of Mater Iniciativa (the research arm of Central in Lima, Peru) is now available in the U.S. through SIMPLi (also my preferred quinoa source). There are four types of chocolates using the long forgotten cacao chuncho from the high jungles of Quillabamba, which isn’t remotely bitter and has lovely berry notes with a touch of spice. Buy here.
Saltverk Salt
I got to know the guys from Saltverk while writing the Slippurinn book in Iceland and even made a trip up to the Westfjords to see it being produced. It comes from a pristine environment and has become my go to finishing salt. I’m also love the blend with Arctic thyme, the pink herb found only in Iceland a few other places, that makes a great rub for grilled meats and fish. Buy here.
Jiquitaia
I use this blend of spices made by Baniwa communities in the far north of Brazil (I wrote about them here) to add a little bit of heat to anything. The tiny chiles they use all have various fruity notes, yet are quite sporty. The jars are small but you just need a pinch for most uses. Jiquitaia is available through Washington State retailer Culinary Culture Connections, which also sells a variety of culinary items from the Amazonian communities, such as chocolates and tucupi. Buy here.
Masienda’s Comal x Masa Kit
One of my most used pieces of kitchen equipment in recent years has been Masienda’s comal, which is made from carbon-steel and is far more durable than most of the Comala I seen for sale elsewhere. I’ve been using it to heat all sorts of masa based items like tortillas, sopes, pupusas and arepas. I like their masa harina quite a bit too, so this kit makes sense. Buy here.
Rancho Gordo’s Mixteca Bean Pot
Beans taste better from a clay pot. They just do. From the Valley of Tehuacan, these handcrafted pots will change their patina and texture over time. When treated right they will last for years. Buy here.
Chef’s Garden Cutting Boards
I’m a big fan of the work that my fellow Ohioan Farmer Lee Jones does in northern Ohio and our conversation on the podcast is one of my favorites. They just released a limited quantity of unique cutting boards made from walnut wood that was salvaged from a devastating fire at the farm. They even have a little red bow tie entrained in them. Buy here.
Books
Aside of all of the books I mentioned in the Indigenous Cuisine in the Americas Reading List recently, here are some others that deserve your consideration:
Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado’s collection of work in the Brazilian Amazon spans many years and during that time he documented the daily life of the Yanomami, the Asháninka, the Yawanawá, the Suruwahá, the Zo’é, the Kuikuro, the Waurá, the Kamayurá, the Korubo, the Marubo, the Awá and the Macuxi. The black and white photographs in this Taschen book are a mix of majestic landscapes and insights into indigenous Amazonian life. Buy here.
Taste and Place: The Design Hotels Book
I have a story titled "On Reverence" in this beautiful coffee table book from the editorial side of Design Hotels that was published earlier in the year. It’s a broad collection of stories written and shot by some phenomenal writers and photographers that explore the relationship between food and place. Buy here.
The Latin American Cookbook
Creating this book from the team from Mater Iniciativa took five years and a lot of the stories from this newsletter are tied to research that was done in the process. There are 600 recipes from every corner of Latin America and every single one of them has a headnote. Aside of a recipe book, use it as an inspiration for traveling. Buy here.
A Gift Subscription to New Worlder
Right now subscriptions to this newsletter are 50 percent off! That's $20 for an annual subscription and likely the lowest annual subscriptions will ever be. You can also gift a subscription to someone else who you think might enjoy it. Buy here.