They Just Keep Getting Better

Have you ever had an experience that you didn't think existed? I'm talking about you've dreamed of it but that's about as far as it got. I have to tell you I had one of those experiences on March 21st during our Gourmet Culinary Tour. Usually, I write about one or two shops we visited but, I have to tell you, they were all great. From our friends, William & Steven, at Wen Chocolates and that chocolate cake that if it wasn't so rude, I would've eaten the entire thing by myself (OK, that, and I still need to fit in my jeans). Just look at this gorgeous cake, and I assure you, it tasted as good as it looks.

We were also treated to a lesson in gelato making by the very talented Deanna Parker of Red Trolley Ice Cream Boutique - they finally got on Twitter so now I (and the rest of Denver) can find out what flavors they are putting out that day. Trust me when I tell you if they put out the Salted Carmel Gelato with the Homemade "Snicker's" Topping, just go, drop whatever you're doing and go get a pint or a gallon. If you really want a sugar buzz, you could take the gelato over to Wen Chocolates, get one of Chef William's cakes and pretty much be in heaven. (Did I mention I like chocolate?)

Our visits to Savory Spice and The Truffle always delight the senses, how could they not? We're tasting exotic spices from all over the world. Did you know that they grind most of their spices in house? And make their own blends? Just smelling the turmeric, chili powder, ginger, salt, pepper and paprika in that mixture was enough to make me want to go home and start cooking. But,

that would mean I would have missed a fantastic shop coming up. That's in the next blog, so, go grab a pint of gelato, some cake, might as well as stop by Little Raven Vineyards and have Peter Klann pick out a nice dessert wine for your chocolate treasures and make a night of it.

Spice mixture at Savory Spice

Seven Cups & Marczyk's Shine on Gourmet Culinary

Amazing! In a word, the tour on Saturday was amazing. As one guest on the tour said, "I've been to all of these stores before but I've never experienced like I did today - it was great."

We had two new additions to our tour this month; Seven Cups Tea House at Jewell and Pearl and Marczyk's Market at 17th & Clarkson.

Greg Fellman of Seven Cups Chinese Tea House hosted us as we tasted six different teas from all over China. We tasted white teas, green teas and black teas from all over China. What a wonderful experience to enjoy a Chinese tea tasting on a gorgeous Denver day.

We also went to Marczyk's Market - if you haven't been there - GO! And ask how to make the steak tar tar - unbelievable, really, it was so good. That was just one of the treats we enjoyed. Jimmy, resident butcher at Marczyk's showed us how to break down a whole segment of their dry aged beef to beautiful rib eyes. Truly it was like being a kid in a candy store, but, it was a grown up foodie in a foodie "candy" store. Pete Marczyk personally gave us a tour around his truly beautiful store - I just wish he would put one in Littleton. If I had to say one theme I walked away from Marczyk's it would be quality ingredients and products without all of the extraneous nonsense stuff manufacturer's feel necessary to put in our food.

The best part of the tour on Saturday were the people; from the guests that joined us to the wonderfully passionate people who participated on the tour - Deanna at the Red Trolley, Kate at Savory Spice, William of Wen Chocolates, Greg at Seven Cups, Rob at The Truffle Cheese Shop and Pete Marczyk's at Marczyk's Market and our guest chef this month Diane Brown and our ever present Alan Hill of http://www.alanhillphoto.com/.

Join us, we'd love to share our culinary connections with you. Our next event is April 18th - Ethnic Market - sure to be another amazing event.

Cheese, Glorious Cheese! And Prosciutto

As we were standing behind the counter at Rob & Karen Lawler's cheese shop, The Truffle, one of the tour guests and I eyed the last beautiful piece of the pinkish prosciutto laying by itself on the stark white plate. I picked it up and handed it to my newest foodie friend. She was too kind and said, let's split it. It would have been rude of me to decline, so, like two school girls, we shared.

I offered, before we tasted this lonely piece of Italian cured ham, that we should close our eyes and then enjoy the salty flavors of what was to come. I wish I could repeat what she said because it cemented our food fodder friendship forever. Suffice it to say you need to go to The Truffle and buy the Prosciutto di Parma.

I would love to have in season cantaloupe to wrap the prosciutto around. I would probably also get some manchego cheese thinly sliced and wrap this yummy ham and cheese around some prawns and grill those as I enjoyed the sweetness of the melon and the saltiness of the ham - excuse me, I need to catch a flight to the southern hemisphere.

The selection of cheeses at The Truffle are fantastic as well. Rob and company do a great job of selecting interesting cheeses from not only Europe but in our own backyard. I loved the selection of cheeses we tasted from creamy brie's to stinky blues to wonderful goat cheeses.

Rob was amazing with the information he had to offer about his little stores treasures, infusing stories about how the cheeses were made, the people who make them and what makes them special.

The Truffle is a great cheese store with owners and employees who know what they are talking about, just ask them. They'll help you pair cheese with wine, dinner, dessert; they have the knowledge and more importantly, they have the Prosciutto!