Meet Kaniwa, The New Quinoa
Lauren Salkeld
Quinoa has been the hot health food for the last few years. It's so popular that even your grandmother knows how to properly pronounce its name and she's likely eating it several times a week. But there's a new seed (yes, quinoa is a seed not a grain) in town and it just may steal some of quinoa's spotlight.
Kaniwa (pronounced ka-nyi-wa) is about half the size of quinoa but otherwise quite similar. It's high in protein, fiber, iron, and calcium; has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor; and comes from South America (primarily from the Andes Mountain region of Southern Peru and Bolivia). It's also gluten-free like quinoa and just as versatile; use it in salads, soups, and stir-fries, or eat it for breakfast.
One way that kaniwa is different from quinoa is that it doesn't contain the saponins that give quinoa that soapy, bitter flavor (the saponins get washed away when you rinse quinoa, which is why you really shouldn't skip that step). This makes kaniwa slightly less fussy and perhaps just a touch faster to prepare than quinoa. Otherwise the cooking process is pretty much the same, though it's common to toast kaniwa in a dry pan to bring out its flavor before cooking.
While quinoa is just about everywhere, kaniwa is less widely available. Some health food stores carry it and it can be found online. La Tienda offers both kaniwa and kaniwa flour from the Zocalo brand, while Roland sells their own kaniwa on their ecommerce site.
Read more
Quinoa has been the hot health food for the last few years. It's so popular that even your grandmother knows how to properly pronounce its name and she's likely eating it several times a week. But there's a new seed (yes, quinoa is a seed not a grain) in town and it just may steal some of quinoa's spotlight.
Kaniwa (pronounced ka-nyi-wa) is about half the size of quinoa but otherwise quite similar. It's high in protein, fiber, iron, and calcium; has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor; and comes from South America (primarily from the Andes Mountain region of Southern Peru and Bolivia). It's also gluten-free like quinoa and just as versatile; use it in salads, soups, and stir-fries, or eat it for breakfast.
One way that kaniwa is different from quinoa is that it doesn't contain the saponins that give quinoa that soapy, bitter flavor (the saponins get washed away when you rinse quinoa, which is why you really shouldn't skip that step). This makes kaniwa slightly less fussy and perhaps just a touch faster to prepare than quinoa. Otherwise the cooking process is pretty much the same, though it's common to toast kaniwa in a dry pan to bring out its flavor before cooking.
While quinoa is just about everywhere, kaniwa is less widely available. Some health food stores carry it and it can be found online. La Tienda offers both kaniwa and kaniwa flour from the Zocalo brand, while Roland sells their own kaniwa on their ecommerce site.
An expat Washington Christmas: Antelope and ptarmigan can be tough to find
Steve Hendrix
For the accompanying Christmas feast, many families order Spanish ham and bonbons from La Tienda, an online vendor based in Williamsburg, Va.
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For the accompanying Christmas feast, many families order Spanish ham and bonbons from La Tienda, an online vendor based in Williamsburg, Va.
Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide
Sven Raphael Schneider
Jamón Ibérico
In the last couple of years, “foodies” have been on the rise. While we’re all aware of the American obsession with bacon, you want a more unique gift from the meat category. Consider a selection of Jamón Ibérico de Belotta. This rare Spanish cured ham is so flavorful because the pigs are on a special acorn diet which makes the meat not just darker but simply delicious. First imported to the U.S. in 2007, it pays to order from trusted sources such as Tienda. Full bone-in is $625 but 3 oz. start at $48.
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Jamón Ibérico
In the last couple of years, “foodies” have been on the rise. While we’re all aware of the American obsession with bacon, you want a more unique gift from the meat category. Consider a selection of Jamón Ibérico de Belotta. This rare Spanish cured ham is so flavorful because the pigs are on a special acorn diet which makes the meat not just darker but simply delicious. First imported to the U.S. in 2007, it pays to order from trusted sources such as Tienda. Full bone-in is $625 but 3 oz. start at $48.
A New Caviar Service, Fresh Oysters Delivered to Your Door, and More
Florence Fabricant
To Serve: Spanish-Style Sausage Made in New York State
Alfonzo Blazques, a sausage expert from the Extremadura region of Spain, has set up shop with some partners in Gloversville, N.Y., where they are producing Spanish-style chorizo from American pork. Their chorizo has a chunky, slightly chewy texture with a full-bodied flavor that is glowing with paprika and garlic, without the slight sourness I have detected in some domestic chorizos. It is air-cured and available in original or picante. Slice it to serve with drinks, or to toss into paella or stew: Imperial Chorizo is $10.99 for 8 ounces at Fairway, $14.50 from tienda.com.
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To Serve: Spanish-Style Sausage Made in New York State
Alfonzo Blazques, a sausage expert from the Extremadura region of Spain, has set up shop with some partners in Gloversville, N.Y., where they are producing Spanish-style chorizo from American pork. Their chorizo has a chunky, slightly chewy texture with a full-bodied flavor that is glowing with paprika and garlic, without the slight sourness I have detected in some domestic chorizos. It is air-cured and available in original or picante. Slice it to serve with drinks, or to toss into paella or stew: Imperial Chorizo is $10.99 for 8 ounces at Fairway, $14.50 from tienda.com.
Meat in Motion: 10 Best Mail-Order Meat Companies
Buying Guide
Henry Phillips
Best for Spanish Ham: Importing the best Spain has to offer since 1996, La Tienda is the only company you’ll need if you’re looking for a taste of the Iberian stateside. Their hallmark Jamón Ibérico is sourced from a pig that’s only found on the Iberian peninsula and is cured for four years. The result is a fantastically tender, nutty, flavorful meat that might be the best thing on earth. Get it bone-in if you want to win the kitchen decor arms race.
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Henry Phillips
Best for Spanish Ham: Importing the best Spain has to offer since 1996, La Tienda is the only company you’ll need if you’re looking for a taste of the Iberian stateside. Their hallmark Jamón Ibérico is sourced from a pig that’s only found on the Iberian peninsula and is cured for four years. The result is a fantastically tender, nutty, flavorful meat that might be the best thing on earth. Get it bone-in if you want to win the kitchen decor arms race.
Holiday gift guide for beer lovers
Gary Dzen
Spanish chorizo
Pairing beer and food is a must this time of year. Pata Negra LLC, a New York company based at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, makes traditional Spanish-style cured meats. Their chorizo pairs well with German doppelbocks and Belgian dubbels; the spicy chorizo goes well with Scotch Ales. The product retails online for $14.95.
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Spanish chorizo
Pairing beer and food is a must this time of year. Pata Negra LLC, a New York company based at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, makes traditional Spanish-style cured meats. Their chorizo pairs well with German doppelbocks and Belgian dubbels; the spicy chorizo goes well with Scotch Ales. The product retails online for $14.95.
2013 Gift Guide: Edible Gifts
When you're buying gifts for a food lover, you can't go wrong with, well, food. From chocolate to tea to Wagyu steak, these are our top picks for edible holiday gifts.
Cinco Jotas Hand-Sliced Ibérico Ham
Nutty and rich jamón ibérico is the best of the best; it makes a gorgeous addition to any charcuterie plate.
Hand-sliced Ibérico de Bellota shoulder, $35 for a 3-oz. package at La Tienda
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Cinco Jotas Hand-Sliced Ibérico Ham
Nutty and rich jamón ibérico is the best of the best; it makes a gorgeous addition to any charcuterie plate.
Hand-sliced Ibérico de Bellota shoulder, $35 for a 3-oz. package at La Tienda
10 Ingredients That Make Great Gifts
Holiday Gift Guide from the Kitchn
What better gift to give a cook than ingredients? And not just any ingredients, but special, indulgent, add-a-whole-new-dimension-to-your-food ingredients. Here are 10 that make stellar gifts all on their own, from luxurious white truffle butter to lavender extract and a tantalizing specialty oil made from cherry seeds.
Slide #3: Castillo de Canena Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil, $34 from La Tienda: Apples, almonds, and fruit: the olive oils from this Spanish producer are always remarkable, and this bottle would be a generous gift.
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What better gift to give a cook than ingredients? And not just any ingredients, but special, indulgent, add-a-whole-new-dimension-to-your-food ingredients. Here are 10 that make stellar gifts all on their own, from luxurious white truffle butter to lavender extract and a tantalizing specialty oil made from cherry seeds.
Slide #3: Castillo de Canena Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil, $34 from La Tienda: Apples, almonds, and fruit: the olive oils from this Spanish producer are always remarkable, and this bottle would be a generous gift.
Best Gifts Under $100
Cult Pork
The famous jamón ibérico from Cinco Jotas now comes in a handy pre-sliced pack. $45 for 3 oz; tienda.com
Holiday 2013 Gift Guide
What Atlantic writers and editors have on their wishlists
Conor Friedersdorf
Goatskin Wine Bag ($99)
Conor Friedersdorf, Staff Writer (Politics)
Per the custom of my country, I typically pour my wine from a glass bottle into a stemmed glass. I thus ignore one of the most obvious lessons contained in Ernest Hemingway's literature: that it is far more grand to drink wine from a leather bag of hand-crafted goat hide. If you're not yet persuaded, I suggest revisiting a scene from The Sun Also Rises. A Basque man with a leather wine bag in his lap takes the opportunity of a bus ride to offer a sip to his traveling companions. One raises the wine skin to his lips, tilts his head back, lets a stream of wine spurt into his mouth, and dribbles a few drops down his chin.
No, no, several men tell him, not like that! "One snatched the bottle away from the owner, who was himself about to give a demonstration," Hemingway writes. "He was a young fellow and he held the wine-bottle at full arms’ length and raised it high up, squeezing the leather bag with his hand so the stream of wine hissed into his mouth. He held the bag out there, the wine making a flat, hard trajectory into his mouth, and he kept on swallowing smoothly and regularly … Then he bit the stream off sharp, made a quick lift with the wine-bag."
Do you aspire to sip your wine? Or to stream wine through the air, so that it makes a flat, hard trajectory toward your mouth as you drink your fill and dexterously bite off the stream?
The better choice requires a bota of your own, and Las Tres Z.Z.Z. of Pamplona hand-sews theirs. Some are lined with latex. The ones lined with pitch are more authentic, but require curing: "First, warm it in the sun so that the pitch within will distribute evenly. Next, blow into the opening of the bota to inflate it, separating the sides; the warmer the pitch the easier it will be to inflate the bota. Add cold water and set the bota aside to cure. After a few days, replace the water with inexpensive wine and let it cure for as long as you can. When you finally discard the wine your bota will be ready for use."
Doesn't that sound like the better option?
¡Salud!
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Conor Friedersdorf
Goatskin Wine Bag ($99)
Conor Friedersdorf, Staff Writer (Politics)
Per the custom of my country, I typically pour my wine from a glass bottle into a stemmed glass. I thus ignore one of the most obvious lessons contained in Ernest Hemingway's literature: that it is far more grand to drink wine from a leather bag of hand-crafted goat hide. If you're not yet persuaded, I suggest revisiting a scene from The Sun Also Rises. A Basque man with a leather wine bag in his lap takes the opportunity of a bus ride to offer a sip to his traveling companions. One raises the wine skin to his lips, tilts his head back, lets a stream of wine spurt into his mouth, and dribbles a few drops down his chin.
No, no, several men tell him, not like that! "One snatched the bottle away from the owner, who was himself about to give a demonstration," Hemingway writes. "He was a young fellow and he held the wine-bottle at full arms’ length and raised it high up, squeezing the leather bag with his hand so the stream of wine hissed into his mouth. He held the bag out there, the wine making a flat, hard trajectory into his mouth, and he kept on swallowing smoothly and regularly … Then he bit the stream off sharp, made a quick lift with the wine-bag."
Do you aspire to sip your wine? Or to stream wine through the air, so that it makes a flat, hard trajectory toward your mouth as you drink your fill and dexterously bite off the stream?
The better choice requires a bota of your own, and Las Tres Z.Z.Z. of Pamplona hand-sews theirs. Some are lined with latex. The ones lined with pitch are more authentic, but require curing: "First, warm it in the sun so that the pitch within will distribute evenly. Next, blow into the opening of the bota to inflate it, separating the sides; the warmer the pitch the easier it will be to inflate the bota. Add cold water and set the bota aside to cure. After a few days, replace the water with inexpensive wine and let it cure for as long as you can. When you finally discard the wine your bota will be ready for use."
Doesn't that sound like the better option?
¡Salud!
Sparkling wines to add to your holiday table
Dave McIntyre
Mascaró Brut Nature Cava
Penedes, Spain, $18
Cava as a category might be the best bargain bubbly available, with delicious offerings ranging from about $8. (Jaume Serra Cristalino and Segura Viudas are my favorites.) Examples costing closer to $20 often are more complex and, dare I say, more like champagne. This delicious example, with red-fruit flavors and notes of earth and minerals, could almost fool a champagne expert. (Brut nature signals that the wine is made without the “dosage” of added sugar at disgorgement.) ABV: 12 percent.
J.W. Sieg: Available in the District at Cordial Fine Wine & Spirits, Modern Liquors. Available in Virginia at Crystal City Wine Shop, La Tienda in Williamsburg, the River Market in White Stone; on the list at Commonwealth and Maya in Charlottesville, the Inn at Willow Grove in Orange.
Online business helps small Williamsburg businesses thrive against bigger competition
Steve Vaughn
WILLIAMSBURG — Some local businesses have found that an active social media presence makes for good business. And it's not just the big boys, like Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, that can benefit.
. . . La Tienda, which sells exotic imported food, does most of its business online. So, it's not surprising the business puts a special emphasis on social media. They have nearly 12,000 Facebook "likes" and are also active on Twitter, Pinterest and Flickr.
Laurie Hager, who handles social media for La Tienda, said the company's philosophy on social media has been to concentrate less on revenue and more on building relationships.
"Focus on community building and creating a real sense of relationship with each interaction," she wrote in an e-mail. "We always like comments made by others, and we always respond to questions and inquiries.
"If there is ever a negative comment made about La Tienda, we would never hide it," Hager continued. "It's an opportunity for us to grow a relationship. It's important for people to see that when we respond, we do so with grace, courtesy and a can-do/will-fix attitude."
Social media can be time-consuming.
"Be prepared to respond to any and all posts and in a 'real-time' way with respect, warmth and kindness. This means a commitment to manning the Facebook page at least hourly throughout the day and on weekends," Hager wrote. "Fans are regularly astonished by our personal replies, engagement, and rapid assistance. There is a perception out there that many Facebook pages are simply automatically posting and no one is actively monitoring. We are striving to set a new standard."
It's also important to focus on the topics that your social media fans are interested in, she said.
"Keep posts relevant - we see the most responses to posts that are nostalgic for the culture and cuisine Spain, with beautiful visual content or helpful advice. Additionally, we've made a policy decision to hardly ever post about sales or promos on Facebook," she said."It can come across as tone-deaf and insensitive, especially when your mission is to build a relationship with the public."
. . . "Social media is a way to connect and engage, and it's an absolute joy for us to watch it continue to blossom," Hager said.
Read more
WILLIAMSBURG — Some local businesses have found that an active social media presence makes for good business. And it's not just the big boys, like Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, that can benefit.
. . . La Tienda, which sells exotic imported food, does most of its business online. So, it's not surprising the business puts a special emphasis on social media. They have nearly 12,000 Facebook "likes" and are also active on Twitter, Pinterest and Flickr.
Laurie Hager, who handles social media for La Tienda, said the company's philosophy on social media has been to concentrate less on revenue and more on building relationships.
"Focus on community building and creating a real sense of relationship with each interaction," she wrote in an e-mail. "We always like comments made by others, and we always respond to questions and inquiries.
"If there is ever a negative comment made about La Tienda, we would never hide it," Hager continued. "It's an opportunity for us to grow a relationship. It's important for people to see that when we respond, we do so with grace, courtesy and a can-do/will-fix attitude."
Social media can be time-consuming.
"Be prepared to respond to any and all posts and in a 'real-time' way with respect, warmth and kindness. This means a commitment to manning the Facebook page at least hourly throughout the day and on weekends," Hager wrote. "Fans are regularly astonished by our personal replies, engagement, and rapid assistance. There is a perception out there that many Facebook pages are simply automatically posting and no one is actively monitoring. We are striving to set a new standard."
It's also important to focus on the topics that your social media fans are interested in, she said.
"Keep posts relevant - we see the most responses to posts that are nostalgic for the culture and cuisine Spain, with beautiful visual content or helpful advice. Additionally, we've made a policy decision to hardly ever post about sales or promos on Facebook," she said."It can come across as tone-deaf and insensitive, especially when your mission is to build a relationship with the public."
. . . "Social media is a way to connect and engage, and it's an absolute joy for us to watch it continue to blossom," Hager said.
