Cheese Bytes
by Norbert Wabnig

Cheese Bytes November 2004

Norbert has announced the winners of his First Annual American Artisanal Treasure Awards.  The American Artisanal Treasure Awards were created by Norbert to honor producers of handmade specialty foods in three categories:  Best Cheese, Best Olive Oil, and Best Condiment.  Each winner will receive a Certificate of Handmade Excellence signed by Norbert.  "The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills is known for carrying rare and hard to find artisanal foods and gourmet goodies.  The American Artisanal Treasure Awards are my way of saying thank you to this fine Artisans," noted Norbert upon bestowing the honors. 

THE WINNERS
Best Cheese:  Chef John Folse's Bittersweet Plantation Dairy Goat Cheese Gabriel.
Wisconsin might be known as America's dairy land, but Chef John Folse's Bittersweet Plantation Dairy is making a name for itself in  Bayou Country.  From its fresh goat cheese to its tangy Bayou Blue, this exciting new resource is sure to become the "big cheese" in the dairy industry. Click here to read Norbert's interview with Chef John Folse

Best Olive Oil:  Olea Farm Abequina from Templeton, California
Originally from Spain, Abequina olives are known for their excellent oil quality.  These small round olives produce an oil with an elegantly intense yet delicate flavor that works equally well for cooking or salad dressing.  Olea Farms Olive Oils are served in fine restaurantes in Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and San Luis County and found at select gourmet stores.

Best Condiment: Mosca's Muffelatta
Mosca's is the kind of family-run restaurant New Orleanians tend to love: it's creaky, set in its ways, and not easy to find.  The late Provino and Lisa Mosca opened Mosca's in 1946, inspired by recipes from Provino's ancestral home in the Central Italian coastal town of San  Benedetto del Tronto.  Today the restaurant is owned by their son Johnny Mosca and his wife Mary Jo.  It has employed three generations without ever bothering to produce a cookbook.  However, Mosca's Muffelatta, a zesty mixture of olives, onions, anchovies, pimientos, parsley, oregano, basil, oil, garlic and vinegar, is a legend in its own time.

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