Hello! Special edition of Fawn's Finds, focusing on Pacific NW food purveyors. I realize a lot of you won't find this particularly useful as you might not live in the region. I encourage you, however, to do one of the following: on your next trip to Seattle (which will be soon, right?), pay a visit to one or two of these vendors; or seek out similar options in your area of the world. I think it's vastly important to support your local people. You know the deal, I won't give you the long-story shtick: eating close to home is just a great idea.
Shellfish! Fresh, sweet oysters, mussels, clams, crabs, canned and smoked oysters, oh, beauty galore! The products are fantastic and also very reasonably priced (expect about $10/dozen oysters and $6/# clams). The service is abundantly friendly. Really, there is not a reason if you are able that you shouldn't stop by a Seattle Farmer's Market and grab a bag of shellfish. An example: I picked up a bag of little, less-polished looking mussels a few months ago. They took a little loving (scrubbing, soaking in salty water) but ended up producing the most scrumptious broth with fennel and mushrooms. I could have drank the sauce straight. Actually, I might have.
To the left of the salmon and to the right of the tea, cheese, and mini-donuts is Don and Joe's. Always reliable. If I'm feeling not up to making my own sausage or bacon, this is a great place to grab some. I'm a fan of their very reasonably priced "bacon ends" which essentially means, the odd-shaped pieces of cured bacon trimmed away. I made a great lentil soup with some of those bacon ends and pieces...that's the perfect use.
These guys do so many things so well. Dairy, charcuterie, wine, meats...I've bought raw milk, wine, and sausage from them. Best of all, an overseas work colleague delivered a huge picnic basket of their goods to my office around Christmas, which included fabulous aged cheeses, wine, and a huge variety of pork products: pork belly rillettes, duck rilletes, pate de campagne (my favorite), and other meats in aspic. Lovely, lovely food. A little strange to be consuming such rich food at work, I will say. The moral of the story: having had the chance to sample their products has absolutely made me more adventurous and confident in my own kitchen. Don't you love it when that happens?
Let's be frank. There is a lot of lovely produce at markets in Seattle. It's not like we are hurting for good fruits and vegetables. Nash's is the cream of the crop: their vegetable displays could drive a chef wild. Everything is glossy (but not in a waxy sort of way) and arranged beautifully. I could have just bought something around the corner and be drawn into Nash's. My favorite: big bags of carrots. Earthy, crisp, and oh-so-sweet, these bags keep for 1-2 months absolutely perfectly in the crisper. That, you might notice, is not how most supermarket carrots act. I was blown away by their staying power, and have been coming back to buy more and more carrots. Call it my winter staple vegetable, perhaps!
5.
Tails & Trotters, partnered with a farm in Ephrata, WA and finished in Newberg, OR. Can be found in Eugene, Portland, and Seattle.
Hazelnut pigs. Seriously people, this is some amazing meat. I first tried some of their bacon when I lived in Portland, and it may have been a life-altering moment. Sweet, creamy, earthy, and rich. This is bacon for real bacon-lovers. Not the bacon-lovers who think "bacon makes everything better." This, friends, is for those lovers who think "good bacon makes life better." I'll leave you with that. If you can find them (they have a lot of vendors and restaurants who serve their products now), absolutely try some. You will not be sorry.
Have you tried these products? Shopped at these vendors? Let me know what you think!
