12 Gift Ideas from The Meadow

1. Oaxacan Mole Sauces – If you’ve ever eaten real mole sauce, the dazzlingly blend of spices, nuts, herbs, chocolate, and chiles, you know two things: it boasts complexity that puts the best French sauces to shame, and it is incredibly good on virtually any savory dish. The only reason we aren’t always blissed out in a mole-flavored lip-smackingly happy world that mole is also incredibly laborious to make. So our friends in Oaxaca have done the cooking for us, hand roasting and grinding the freshest and finest ingredients in their small kitchen. Que bueno!
Three varieties: Red, Black, and Coloradito.

2. Salt Sets – A salt set for eaters (and drinkers) of every stripe, for every occasion. Here are a few:

• The Starter Set – Six little try-me sized tins, includes everything you need to begin using salt to achieve great new heights of flavor in your food. The ultimate stocking stuffer!
• The Meadow Set – Know someone who likes salt but wants to go to the next level? This is the set for them.
• Salad Salt Set – Greens love salt. So does every other fruit and vegetable. The fresher and more elemental the food, the more powerful and complex the flavor gained by salting. Meat and seafood salads love Peruvian Warm Springs fleur de sel, grilled veggies and rustic recipes for Halen Môn Gold, delicate greens go for Maldon.
• Cocktail Salt Set – Your lips are the gatekeepers of all you eat and drink. A beautifully crystalline, delectably crunchy, delicately mineral, infinitely complex artisan salt with your cocktail gives your lips the primal yet sophisticated satisfaction they are due. Salt gives shape to a variety of ingredients in a cocktail.

3. 8x8x2 Himalayan Salt Block – Our most popular salt block is perfectly suited for cooking with a salty edge. This block brings dazzle and dramatic to every meal. It seems to exude a quiet, timeless intensity that effortlessly transforms every dish into something special. Unsure how to start cooking with Himalayan salt? Follow our step-by-step guide to cooking steak on a salt block. All blocks will include our complete care guide.

4. Pralus Pyramids – For the ultimate experience of single origin chocolate, choose from two sizes of Pralus Pyramids. Perfect for pure, quick, personal pleasure. 75% cocoa, so there is nothing but goodness in each bar!

• Mini Pyramids – Stocking stuffer version.
• Large Pyramids – Hostess gifts version, or the serious chocophile.

5. Alaska Smoked Flake Sea Salt – The ultimate salt smoky outdoor boldness added to seafood and meats, even when you’re cooking indoors. An aromatic, bright, balanced salt that is a perfect finishing touch whenever you crave a little fire in your flavor.

6. Miracle Mile Gingerbread Bitters – Miracle Mile’s Gingerbread Bitters are infused with warm spices like ginger, allspice, and nutmeg and sweetened with molasses and maple syrup. A fantastic pairing for bourbon drinks and perfect for holiday drinks like eggnog and hot buttered rum.

7. Acetorium Vinegars – Crafted by esteemed winemaker Joseph Reiterer of Alto Adige and German master vinegar maker Robert Bauer. Instead of using flavor infusions, Joseph and Robert judiciously select the basic ingredients for each vinegar and then vinify them before beginning the vinegarization process. These products are not currently available in New York.

• Tomato Vinegar – The aroma is a burst of Italian sunshine in a bottle. Perfect for vinaigrettes, caprese salad, or with heirloom tomatoes.
• Chestnut Honey – This pure fruit vinegar is made from chestnut honey. Mildly nutty, with a light, floral bouquet and delicate sweetness. Enjoy over ice cream, in a cream soup, root vegetables, or over prosciutto and cheese.

8. Salt Cellars and Spoons – Salt bowls and salt cellars are the classiest way to serve finishing salts. Cover the cellar with a thin layer of salt, and use a spoon to sprinkle salt over food. When using with moister salts like fleur de sel, return any remaining salt in the cellar to an air-tight container to maintain its peak quality. Alternatively, use a spoon to serve salt straight from the jar.

9. Mademoiselle de Margaux Cherries in Armagnac – La Guinette is made from a slightly tart cherry of the Prunus Cerasus Oblaginska variety, commonly known as the morello cherry. The Armagnac’s warmth is captured by the dark chocolate coating made with pure cocoa butter. The chocolate-maker watches over each step of the process until each chocolate is placed in its box. You might find a few droplets of brandy on the product, proof that they are made by hand.

10. Scrappy’s Bitters Gift Sets – For the cocktail connoisseur or those who want to dip their toes in the world of bitters, Seattle based Scrappy’s Bitters has assembled the perfect gift sets. Read more about Scrappy’s here. The set comes in two varieties:

• Set #1 – Orange, Aromatic, Lavender and Celery
• Set #2 – Lime, Chocolate, Cardamom, and Grapefruit

11. Woodblock Chocolate Bars – These chocolates by Portland’s first bean-to-bar producer make great little gifts or stocking stuffers. The bars are expertly crafted, with thick molds that give a satisfying crunch and well conched cocoa beans. Try Madagascar or Venezualan dark chocolate, dark chocolate with salt, and dark chocolate with salt and cacao nibs.

12. Meadow Gift Certificate – Not sure what they’d like? Give the power of choice! Recipients get to choose from the most carefully curated selection of salt, chocolate, and bitters available. Gift certificates are redeemable online, over the phone, and at both of our retail locations.

Happy holidays from Mark & Jennifer and the rest of the team at The Meadow!