What I want for Christmas
Gift baskets are a great tradition during the holiday season. iGourmet is a great source for many different varieties of foods for discriminating tastes. They offer a wide variety of gift basket ideas that include ready-made gifts for mothers-to-be, BBQ enthusiasts, chocolate addicts, cheese lovers and more.
I want to put in a pitch for the custom basket idea. You can arrange to have an assortment of any of the hundreds of products that iGourmet has on offer. If you are creative, the person who receives the basket will know that you were thinking about them.
If you are reading this and you want to buy me a gift basket, here are a few suggestions…
Fair Trade Sumatran Coffee is one of my favorite things. I used to work for the largest Fair Trade Coffee roaster in Canada as their roaster. I am not going to argue that Sumatran is empirically the best coffee, but it is one of the most unique. It is also a lot less acidic than coffee from the Americas. The drying process takes place on top of farmer’s homes and outbuildings. Sumatra is not a very dry place, so there is quite a bit of fermentation. This makes for a complex and mellow flavour in the end product.
I was roasting coffee in Canada when the Tsunami struck. It was heart breaking to hear about the loss of life and the damage on Sumatra. The fair trade coffee cooperative was based in the the higher altitudes and only suffered some minor earthquake damage. The coffee warehouse was empty at that time and it was put into immediate use as an emergency shelter. Continued help in the form of helping to grow the market for fair trade Sumatran coffee will benefit the region.
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Greece is simply the best. I love to sit down with a nice chunk of bread, some salt and a generous drizzle of olive oil. This particular product is unfiltered, so it contains more nutrients and anti-oxidants.
Lastly, I would love to try some Pasilla de Oaxaca Chile Sauce. It is a great way to heat up your favorite grilled steak. Use with caution, it’s pretty hot.
