Revolutionary Times
It all started for our beer columnist at Harvest Moon Brewery & Café. Nostalgia and curiosity prompt an exploration of today’s craft scene throughout Middlesex County.
Morris Winter Market
Farmers and food artisans unite outdoors to create a kind of head-to-tail shopping experience for those who care about what and how they eat. Consider it a public celebration of all that’s in season and fresh – right now.
Sweet Success
Brewers experimenting with an arsenal of ingredients normally employed by pastry chefs are crafting stouts and porters layered with flavors and not overwhelmingly sweet. The result can be a grand finale – served in a glass.
Winter Warmups
Heat can come from brewing methods, added ingredients or the grip of a hand around a snifter of a chilled beer. Shawn’s picks this month guide you to the best of the wide-ranging cold-season genre.
Gert’s Snacks & Spices
Better than Zingerman’s? On the main drag of Highlands, next door to Sandy Hook, is a small shop that stocks a United Nations of ingredients designed for curious culinarians and adventurous home cooks. More, please? Its peripatetic proprietor also cooks for the takeaway crowd and educates drop-ins.
“Champagne and Caviar”
“Forever mated,” just like a favorite song says, this partnership destined for celebrations deserves to be resurrected to ring in the New Year.
Cassoulet from NJ
Learn the basics of preparing this bean-and-meats stew from its masters in Southwest France. But give it soul with key Garden State ingredients.
Jersey Girl Cheese
The cheesemaker to the country’s reigning pizzaiolo is Sal Pisani, who makes the very best fresh and aged cheeses in the Italian tradition at a small dairy farm in Sussex County.
Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers’ Market
Situated on the historic Dvoor property, this now-year-round market is home to a prestigious lineup of farmers and food vendors. Stock up this Sunday – Dec. 19 – and all winter long.
Make Someone Hoppy
A bottle or three of that special Garden State micro under the tree will prompt the beer lover on your gift list to grin like a kid on Christmas morning. Santa Shawn has several selections for you to consider.
Mitsuwa
A thrilling and practical place to gather foodstuffs year-round, and especially at holiday time, this emporium for Japanese edibles in Edgewater is a prime inspiration for the Smart Shop column. Eat at its food court, shop in its vast marketplace and be merry.
Hung Vuong
An Asian uber-market in Cherry Hill offers a bounty of ingredients to cook things Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino and Chinese. It’s the bigger, brawnier younger sibling in a mini-chain born across the Delaware, and it’s well-stocked with condiments that add a world of flavor to everyday dishes.