Nearly 500 years of tradition makes for a great tasting coffee

If you come to the Coffee Company regularly, you might well have seen a strange sort of contraption sitting off to the right of the pastry case. If you don’t know it, it seems a bit like something one might expect to find ensconced in some sort of super secret sci-fi lab. It’s a kind of crazy-looking contraption, an array of glass beakers and pipes all set into a wooden frame that’s about four and a half feet high. In fact, it’s what we use to make our Kyoto Cold Brew.

Kyoto Cold Brew is a method that dates to the early years of coffee making outside of its Ethiopian homeland. While the name would understandably lead to the conclusion that it was created in Japan, it was likely developed by 17th-century Dutch sailors! They needed a way to prepare coffee on months-long voyages. As the most common creation story goes, someone figured out that pouring cold water slowly over ground coffee beans would do the trick.

The Kyoto brewer comes with three sections: a bigger water chamber up at the top, a tube that holds coffee grounds and a filter in the middle, and last but not least, the carafe at the base where the finished coffee is collected. The brew is indeed made using cold water that’s allowed to fall, one drip at a time, over ground coffee. The low temperature and super slow extraction mean that there’s almost no oxidation of the coffee during the brewing, making for a super smooth cup that enhances a coffee’s natural fruit, takes out a lot of the bean’s bitterness, and leaves in lots of lovely caramelly notes. I drink it straight as it is, but you can add milks, syrups, and sweeteners as you do to any coffee!

Place an order for pick-up at the Coffee Company.

P.S. The Coffee Company’s decaf done in the Kyoto Cold Brew is remarkably tasty, too!

To keep up with the buzz on all of the latest happenings in the Zingerman’s Community, follow us on social media: @zingermanscommunity on Instagram and Facebook, and @zingermans on X (formerly Twitter).

The soul of the Seoul food served at Miss Kim

Sitting at a sunny summer patio table in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown I caught up with Ji Hye Kim, chef and managing partner of Miss Kim, Zingerman’s Korean restaurant. We talked about her food philosophy, approach to running a business, what’s new, and what’s not going to change. If you’ve never had the pleasure of dining at Miss Kim, read on for a primer on where to point your chopsticks first. If you’re already a big fan, read on for more of the story behind those swinging kitchen doors. 

Sara: How would you describe the experience at Miss Kim to someone who has never been before?
Ji Hye: The ambiance is nice. I think it’s comfortable and casual, without being like a quick service place. We have proper dining service that is friendly and not super formal. Our servers are very good at getting you delicious food regardless of your dietary restrictions or preferences. You came into our house—we want to make sure you have really good food and a really good time.

Sara: What sets Miss Kim apart from other Korean restaurants?
Ji Hye: I think the experience you have with the food is different from other Korean restaurants in Michigan, or the Midwest in general, because we pay a lot of attention to the tradition and culinary history. What I try to do is see the essence and story of the dish. I want to see how that translates here because Korean food has distinctive regional cuisines. Korea is smaller than most single states in the United States, but it’s regionally varied. Food travels with the people, so food in South Korea may look different than in North Korea, on the China-North Korea border, and where Korean Russians were exiled into Central Asia. So, I think it’s a continuation of the story of where Korean food lands in Michigan and our take on things. Our menu has one foot in culinary history and another foot firmly planted in the soil of Michigan. I feel each dish has a long story in Korea and I’m adding one sentence at the end because this dish landed in Michigan.

Sara: Does Miss Kim’s food focus on any one of those many Korean regional cuisines?
Ji Hye: It’s not part of our vision to specifically focus on the food of one region, but because my mother is from Gyeonggi Province (the central part of Korea where Seoul is located) and that’s the food that I grew up eating, there is an influence. When I started researching Korean food, I realized some of the dishes she was making for me were specific to that region. My friends whose moms came from a different region didn’t know what they were.

Korea is similar to Italy in that way. Southern Italian food is a little saltier; Calabrese cuisine is a little spicier; in Liguria, in the north, they use more butter. Southern Korean food is saltier, spicier, and the seasoning is heavier. They use more fish sauce because they’re on the seaboard. North Korean food, out in the mountains, tends to be milder. They don’t use as much salt and the dishes tend to be simpler and more humble. Seoul is right in the middle so they go for balance, and maybe a touch sweeter. Also, Seoul, the capital of Korea for 600 years or so, is where all the ingredients in the supply chain ended; so Seoul food tends to be more varied in the ingredients, rather than focusing on seafood on the coast or foraged mushrooms and greens in the mountains. So I think some of our dishes reflect Seoul cuisine and the Gyeonggi region. 

Sometimes even Korean people will come in and comment that our kimchi is too mild, but that is by design. (Though sometimes they assume it’s because I don’t know how to make it.) Kimchi from the southern part of Korea is saltier, spicier, and bolder in flavor, but kimchi from the Gyeonggi area in the middle of the country tends to be milder and crunchier—they want you to taste the vegetable. So that’s why our kimchi is on the milder side.

Sara: What does your mom think about Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: [Laughing] She doesn’t think much of it. She wants to know if I’m making enough money to be comfortable and that it’s not too hard on my body. Other than that she is not relinquishing her title of the best cook in the family. 

She’s not super fond of the fact that I use some American vegetables like beets or asparagus. She’s just kind of like “eh” [waving hand up] “It’s not a Korean vegetable.” She can make a lot of food that we make very easily so she doesn’t think it should be as priced as it is. If you know how to make really good spaghetti bolognese you may not want to pay $35 for a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. It’s sort of a similar idea. She thinks I can make mushroom japchae at home. Really cheap and it’s just as delicious. Why should I pay this much money, but she’s also not paying for rent, living wages and benefits for staff, local mushrooms, and all of that stuff. So basically she’s not impressed [still laughing].

Sara: What was your inspiration for learning to cook?
Ji Hye: Sometimes you read interviews with chefs and they’re like “I knew that I wanted to be a chef when I was three and making raviolis in my Nonna’s kitchen,” or, “I’ve been working in the kitchen since I was 14 and I used to sleep on a potato sack in my mom’s restaurant.” That is not my story. My mom is the firstborn in the family and so is my father, so that meant that every holiday was spent at our house, but she didn’t really let kids cook. She had a lot of cooking to do and teaching kids to cook is a whole different job and she didn’t want to be bothered. I wasn’t gonna be that helpful. She was like, “Out of my kitchen!” One time I asked if she could show me how to make this and that and she’s like, “No, you were born a girl. You’re going to end up in the kitchen anyway cooking for a husband or a child. You don’t need to start now.” She herself didn’t learn to cook until she got married. So I didn’t learn from her. 

I learned much later from working and being self-taught. But I knew my mom was a really good cook. She made a lot of things from scratch, like gochujang fermented chili paste. When I was really young she had these crocks of what I thought were really stinky magic potions—fermented sauces—out on the balcony of our apartment complex. She would get fresh pressed sesame oil delivered from her mother who lived in the countryside. She really cared about ingredients. And I would watch her cook. I think that helped a lot when I started cooking. As I was learning Korean recipes, I just knew how to go about it a lot faster than when I was learning to make Italian or American food. I would remember how my mom did it. I had these peripheral memories, this knowledge bank I didn’t know I had, from watching her. She’s my accidental inspiration in that way.

I continued to learn about paying attention to ingredients by working at Zingerman’s. My appreciation for traditional cuisine and knowing the story behind it, that came from Zingerman’s.

Sara: If you were having someone build a Korean recipe-ready pantry what would you recommend?
Ji Hye: I would make sure that they have sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce, doenjang (fermented soy paste), gochujang (fermented chile paste), and fish sauce. The flavors are a balance between salty, sweet, and spicy.

Sara: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Korean cuisine?
Ji Hye: People tend to think that Korean food is a set of this or tastes like that. It’s not a monolith. Take kimchi for example. There are over 200 documented versions of kimchi. Every region has a different take on it and every season provides a different kind of kimchi. Somebody said there are as many types of kimchi as there are moms in Korea. I mean it sort of allows for that diversity to flourish.

I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions of food when people think of “ethnic food.” That is only one way. Your one trip to Thailand, or India, or Korea, and then that is your definition of that food. Or if you’re Korean American and you grew up with the food your mom made and you understand that to be the only version of Korean food. There are so many types. It expands in many ways, regionally, seasonally, by price point. It evolves. No one person’s experience represents an entire cuisine.

Sara: If you were to make a brand new customer three Miss Kim dishes, which would you pick and why?
Ji Hye: 1. Fried Tofu. I actually kind of dislike tofu, but I know that when I eat something and I don’t like it, I always leave room that maybe I just never had a good version of it. So, I leave my mind open to be changed. This dish is a converter. That’s why I picked it. I think our tofu plays a lot with texture and flavor. Externally it’s shatteringly crispy. Inside the soft tofu is custardy. I think it’s a fun dish to eat. This is what I call a mind changer. If you don’t like tofu try this dish.

Sara: I can confirm. It’s one of my favorites for the same reasons. I was once at a ZingTrain seminar and Miss Kim food was served for lunch. The first thing to run out on the buffet was the fried tofu. People were telling others to try it.

Ji Hye: 2. Tteokbokki. (For those unfamiliar, it’s a small baton-shaped, stir-fried, soft and chewy rice cake.) Our menu changes from time to time, but we always have a few different kinds of tteokbokki on the menu such as classic street style with gochujang, scallions, pork belly lardons, and poached egg. I think this dish can tell the story of Korea. It started out as sort of a luxurious dish because you take this much cooked rice [holding up both hands] and turn it into these little rice cakes [holding up the thumb and forefinger]. It used to be just street food and now there are so many iterations. Some chefs are using it like rice pasta and serving it with butter sauce, gorgonzola cream, or mozzarella cheese. It’s a fun evolution to watch and we’re looking to add more versions to our menu, like with a tomato vodka sauce. Growing up, tteokbokki was a dish I ate on the streets, sneaking it behind my mom’s back because she didn’t really approve of it, so I feel a personal connection to it.

3. Vegetable Twigim. Seasonal vegetables are quick pickled and fried in the same type of crispy rice flour batter (gluten-free) we use for our Korean fried chicken, then served with spicy mayo. Seasonality is really important in Korean cuisine (the Korean Farmers Almanac has 24 seasons!) and on our menu. We reflect the seasonality of Michigan produce in our dishes. For these fried vegetables, you might find us using cauliflower, green beans, or green tomatoes.

Sara: And a drink to go with it? What’s special about the bar at Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: We focus on traditional Korean drinks. We have plum syrup-flavored soda, cinnamon drink, banana milk, rice wine, and soju. Soju is a sweet grain-based distilled alcohol. I’d say it’s half as strong as vodka. We infuse soju with different Épice de Cru spices and Rishi teas. There’s soju infused with black tea that emulates a light whisky, it has a lot of smoky notes. We also have rose, hibiscus, black sesame, and yuzu—you can order a soju sampler. We’re hoping to bring in an artisanally made rice wine from Brooklyn this summer.

Sara: How does being located at the Kerrytown Shops benefit the restaurant?
Ji Hye: I think our proximity to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market sets the tone of the menu. I have really good relationships with the farmers I’ve been working with for 10 years, since our pop-up days. I wish we were bigger so we could buy from even more local farmers, but there are a few we are really committed to. Kerrytown is a little more neighborhood-like as opposed to being located on Main Street or South University, which I like. It’s a nice place to park and walk around for things to do and then have a cocktail and dinner.

Sara: How often do you go to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market?
Ji Hye: I try to go every farmers market day (right now that’s Wednesdays and Saturdays). The farmers know me and generally know what I am buying, so sometimes they’ll put it aside or deliver it to the restaurant. I still go to the market even if I don’t have a lot of things to buy because it’s a big inspiration to me. 

Sara: What are you most looking forward to coming back in season at the market this summer?
Ji Hye: Corn and tomatoes [said with zero hesitation]. We’ll bring back dishes like miso corn with scallops; tomato salad with soft tofu and wasabi dressing; tomato salad with peaches, hot peppers, and mustard dressing; or pickled and fried green tomatoes. 

Personally, I buy nettles. I can never find enough nettles for me to put them on the menu for the restaurant. But every time I see nettles, I buy them. I blanch them, squeeze out the water, and keep them in the freezer. Sometimes I dress them in sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame seeds and eat them as a side dish. Or I might use it as a topping on bibimbap. Or I zip them with a little water and maple syrup and drink it as green juice.

Sara: What is different about Miss Kim today than when it opened eight years ago?
Ji Hye: I think the biggest difference is that we have way more vegetables and vegetarian dishes on the menu. I knew before opening I wanted to have more than ribs and fried chicken. We didn’t start with many vegetarian items, but it was always a goal. Now we’re getting to a good balance. I actually just crunched the numbers and 56% of the dishes on the menu are vegetable-focused. It may not be vegetarian, like the roasted broccolini with fish sauce caramel, but it is really the broccoli we are showcasing.

Sara: What is different about you eight years after opening a restaurant?
Ji Hye: I sweat the small stuff a little less. Everything felt important and urgent then, but when you work that way it doesn’t give you room to breathe and doesn’t make you the best manager. I am better about prioritizing and I am a better leader now.

Sara: What’s been the most surprising thing for you about owning a business?
Ji Hye: How much work I would do telling our story—the story of the food, the restaurant, how we pay people, and how we do things. I didn’t realize how much telling of the story was involved in running a small business.

Sara: Who are you telling the story to?
Ji Hye: Customers dining with us, our staff, media interviews, community non-profits, and local students. I speak to students at Huron High School in the culinary program, at Ross School of Business in marketing, at the University of Michigan in nutrition, and others. I am very open with them about all of our information so they invite me back.

Sara: What’s most rewarding for you about owning a business?
Ji Hye: When the team does well. One thing I think nobody tells you when you start a business is how long it takes to build a culture. When I worked at Zingerman’s Deli, the culture was already established, so onboarding a new employee and having them buy-in is a little easier. But when you’re starting from scratch, there’s no culture established yet, and you have to create it as you go with every single person including yourself, I think that takes three to four years.

But by our third year in business, we were dealing with the pandemic. That time forced us to pay more attention to building our team and culture. We’re definitely a Zingerman’s business, but I think we have our own distinctive personality. We work as one team because we are a tip-share restaurant—we get paid as a team. We talk about money a lot precisely because it has a monetary consequence. 

Sara: Why did you decide to open your restaurant as a Zingerman’s business?
Ji Hye: I took five years on the path to partnership to really suss out if this is what I wanted to do. People ask me why I don’t have Zingerman’s name on my awning, assuming I am not getting the benefit of Zingerman’s if I don’t. I actually think that’s not true. To me, the biggest benefit of being a Zingerman’s business is the community. So when big things like the pandemic happen, or even if you’re just having a frustrating day, you always have someone who can be your sounding board. I think that’s incredibly important if you’re running a small business. Because it can feel like you’re working in a vacuum. Somedays I do feel that way, but then I remember I have a community to go to.

I think in practical terms, Zingerman’s Service Network is really important. Having that support system allows me to not worry about those things, the specialties that are not in my wheelhouse. I don’t want to be dealing with payroll for example. I know many restaurateurs who spend hours and days doing these things or they have HR issues and no one to go to. Then you have a trained fine dining chef ending up as the house accountant and they’re not looking at the food. I don’t want to create my own marketing posters. I’m not going to do a good job and it’s going to take me longer. Having our Service Network experts to do that frees me up to do other stuff. They take those things off my plate so I can do the things only I can do—researching recipes because I read the Korean language, or telling the story of our food, or being in the front as the chef representing the restaurant. Being part of Zingerman’s and having the support allows me to do those things better. 

Sara: You work shifts at Miss Kim in a variety of jobs. What’s your favorite thing to do?
Ji Hye: My favorite thing to do is either hosting or expediting. To me, those two positions are similar and really important for the same reason. They both set the tone and the pace for the service of the food. The host is the first person you see when you walk into the restaurant. They set the tone for the guests and the pacing for the servers. Their communication is important and they can start the experience off on a good foot. The expeditor decides who gets the appetizer first and which entrée is going out when. When I do it, I know things like we aren’t late with these tickets now but we will be in 10 minutes so we can go and take care of the guest. I can do a lot from that spot. I sometimes pour water like Ari does when I am a food runner, so that way I can see every dish and touch every single table.

Sara: What’s next on the calendar for you and Miss Kim?
Ji Hye: We have a collaboration dinner with guest food writer and new cookbook author Khushbu Shah at Miss Kim in July. While it’s a different cuisine, Indian food, her approach is similar to what we do in that she makes traditional Indian food with her own Michigan spin. I’m also doing a pop-up at Seoul Salon in Manhattan in August. I’m excited to compare the Korean food they have created for a New York audience with what we make at Miss Kim. 

If you’re like me, you might find yourself appreciating the nuances of Korean cuisine, feeling inspired to try new things with an open mind, and very (very) hungry right about now. Say hello to Chef Ji Hye for me when you get to Miss Kim!

Sara Hudson
Zingerman’s Creative Services Director

This interview originally appeared in the May / June edition of Zingerman’s News.

Download July-August 2024 Newsletter PDF (6.4 mb)

March-April2024 by ZCOB

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Find deep discounts during the Summer Sale at Mail Order and the Deli

Every July, at Mail Order and the Delicatessen, we drastically discount dozens of products (nearly one for every day of summer) and savvy shoppers gather their go-tos like preserves and olive oil. The Summer Sale is an annual tradition that folks look forward to all year, for stockpiling staples (like Ortiz tuna from Spain, the perennial best-seller) to be sure, but also to plan ahead for future gift-giving. (Did you know? When you shop online at zingermans.com, you can purchase items during the sale and schedule to ship them at a later date!)

With so many items on sale, it can be hard to know where to begin. Start with these 10 Summer Sale highlights:

1. Lemon Olive Oil – Look for Colona Lemon Oil at the Deli or Agrumato Lemon Olive Oil at Mail Order. In both cases, the artisans actually press olives and citrus together—no citrus-flavoring or infusing here. Brush it on top of almost any just-broiled fresh fish. Wonderful in vinaigrettes, marinades, or drizzled over simple pasta or good bread. Lynn O. shares, “The lemon oil elevates everything I put it on from salad to popcorn.”

2. Zingerman’s Peranzana Olive Oil – Made by Marina Colonna on her ancient estate a little over 100 miles due east of Rome in Italy’s Molise region from hand-picked Peranzana olives pressed the same day they’re taken from the tree.

3. Col. Pabst Worcestershire Sauce – This sauce recipe was created by Colonel Gustave Pabst, son of Pabst brewery founder Captain Fredrick Pabst. Kate Quartaro, Gustave’s great-granddaughter, has used the recipe to create a small batch Worcestershire sauce. It has more than 20 ingredients, including malt amber lager from Milwaukee’s own Lakefront Brewery. Guest Jean T. dubbed it “delicious” and admitted to enjoying it “just by the spoonful standing at my kitchen counter.”

4. Brooklyn Delhi Achaars – These plant-based, small-batch sauces are rooted in time-honored Indian culinary traditions and layered with a modern spin, like using less salt, so the flavor of the produce is really able to shine through.
   
   
5. Koeze Peanut Butter – Made on the other side of the state in Grand Rapids, Jeff Koeze sources great Virginia peanuts, blanches and roasts them, adds a touch of sea salt, and then grinds them. The result is an intensely flavorful traditional peanut butter with far more personality than the commercial stuff. Guest Robert D. declared, “The Koeze Peanut Butter is the best out there. It is the platonic ideal of peanut butter.”

6. Organic Portuguese Sea Salt – This delicate salt comes from the southern tip of Portugal, where sea salt has been collected and exported since the 11th century, though was waning in popularity. The folks at Belamondil have revived the traditional methods—refashioning salt pools and harvesting with centenary salt pans. This has restored the local ecosystem in the process, helping to bring birds like egrets and herons back to the area.

7. Marcona Almonds – The king of the almonds, these rich, meaty Marconas from Spain are skinned, oil-roasted, and then kissed with sea salt. Not only is Mail Order’s Brad Hedeman never without a couple of bags in his pantry, he admits to storing them at the top of the pantry so his kids don’t spot them! (Lest you think this is harsh, guest Sara S. lamented, “I should have ordered more bags of the Marcona almonds. My ten-year-old ate them all in about 15 minutes!”)

8. Pistacchiosa – Sicilian pistachios are blended with extra virgin olive oil to give this sweet spread an exceptionally smooth texture. Spoon it over cheesecake, drizzle over fresh goat cheese, or spread on warmed bread. (Or go for a spoonful straight from the jar!). At a Deli tasting event, the Bakehouse’s Corynn Coscia’s then-6-year-old rated it a 100 on a scale of 1 to 10.

9. Wild Fennel Pollen – Fennel pollen is exactly what it sounds like—pollen from the flowers of a fennel plant! Sweet, pungent, and everything best about fennel. Delightful with fresh cheeses, ripe tomatoes, and pork. Guest Alicia C. raved, “Used a little of the Wild Fennel Pollen to season my whole roast chicken and it took the flavor and aromatics to a whole new level! This truly is a magic spice that makes anything you put it on so much more wonderful! Where has this been all my life?!”
   
   
10. Moon Shine Trading Co. Tupelo Honey – This honey comes from north Florida, along the Apalachicola River basin, where bees feed on the pale green flowers of the Ogeechee tupelo, a shrubby tree that grows in the swamps. Beekeepers mount hives on 14-foot platforms, then harvest the honey on barges! The resulting honey is fruity and floral, smooth and pourable—a real treat on pancakes!

The annual Summer Sale goes through July 31 (If you like last-minute shopping, you have until midnight Eastern time.) So load up on all of these items and loads more full-flavored, deeply discounted foods and gifts. Fill the freezer. Cram the cabinet. Get ahead on gifting. 

Shop the Summer Sale in person at the Deli or online at shop.zingermansdeli.com for pick up or local delivery. Shop from Mail Order online at zingermans.com to ship an order anywhere in the country. 

Should you be reading this in August, well, mark your calendar for next year’s Summer Sale!

This originally appeared in the May / June edition of Zingerman’s News.

Surrender to the Sweet Spell of Allison Schraf and Zingerman’s Candy Store

I was thrilled to meet Candy Store manager Allison Schraf at Zingerman’s Coffee Company for some morning caffeine and a chat about what she’s been up to. Like so many Zingerman’s passionate food professionals, Allison’s career path began elsewhere. In her case, with a degree in Equestrian Studies followed by training horses and managing horse farms. Uncovering a zeal for cooking and moving from New York City to Ann Arbor (with several stops in between) led her to a career in specialty food shops. Thus far, her 19-year Zingerman’s career includes product specialist and staff supervisor for Zingerman’s Delicatessen from 1998 to 2006, wholesale sales manager for Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory from 2012 to 2017, and Candy Manufactory retail manager from 2017 to the present.

Although we have worked together for decades and I’m a regular at the Zingerman’s Candy Store, I learned many new things and was really energized by our talk. Her love of what she does, enthusiasm for customer service and a guided shopping experience (aka a confection consultation), and the joy that comes with being around candy is simply inexhaustible. I hope you have the pleasure of experiencing it for yourself, and very soon!

Sara Hudson
Zingerman’s Creative Services Director

Sara: How would you describe the feel of Zingerman’s Candy Store in a few words?
Allison: Magic. Warmth. Abundance. Joy. Fun.

Sara: What do guests say when they step inside for the first time?
Allison: I have found people in America have a complicated relationship with candy, or maybe more accurately, with treating themselves. Some common comments are: “This is a dangerous place,” “This is so sinful,” and “I don’t eat this stuff, it’s for my grandmother.” Others who happily give in to the joy say: “This is magical,” “I want to eat all of it,” or “You have so many things I’ve never seen before!”

One woman recently came in with great urgency and said “I heard you have calissons!” (a traditional French confection made of almond marzipan and candied orange melon). With tears in her eyes, she shared that they remind her of her family and childhood. Candy pulls on people’s memories of special times and special people. We get to watch them access those memories when they are in the store.

Sara: What would you tell someone about Zingerman’s Candy Store who’s never been?
Allison: There is something for everyone! Craft chocolate for every taste, hand-made candy bars and nut brittles, flavorful gummies and fruit jellies, locally-made bonbons, imported Scandinavian licorice, Italian marzipan, Spanish nougat, nostalgic hard candies, vegan milk chocolate, and more! Our staff is here to help you choose the right treat for yourself or gift for someone else.

Sara: What’s the best part of your job as Candy Store manager?
Allison: The very best part of my job is curating the product mix. It is endlessly exciting to learn about and explore the enormous world of confections and then bring them to the store to delight our guests.

Sara: What is your philosophy when sourcing a new confection?
Allison: We love updated nostalgia, when your inner child meets your grown-up palate and they have a good time together! A great example is the Askinosie chocolate-covered malt balls. You probably grew up with a version of chocolate malt balls as a kid, but maybe now you would love them to be made with better quality ingredients and more flavorful dark chocolate. The Askinosie version pleases your childhood memory and your adult palate.

Like all Zingerman’s businesses, we are guided by seeking out traditionally made foods. Some traditions are disappearing, so we try to champion these things, make them available to those who are looking for them, and introduce them to new fans. For instance, I knew I wanted to import really high-quality artisan Italian marzipan, so I searched and tasted (for two years!) before finally finding the one! They’re really special.

Sara: What’s next on your search?
Allison: I would like to add more confections from India, China, and the Middle East to expand the variety of flavor profiles we have in the shop. We’re also continuing to grow our “Provisions” selections which are non-candy items like nuts, dried fruits, sauces, syrups, and snacks to round out your pantry.

Sara: How many items does the candy store offer?
Allison: We offer around 400 to 500 items year round! More than 60 of those are handmade in-house by the skilled candy cooks at Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory. You’ll find an even larger selection during the holidays when we’re stacked with seasonal exclusives.

Sara: Tell me about the “chocolate wall.”
Allison: We have about 100 different bars of craft chocolate in the candy store (that expands for the holidays) and we are looking for new and amazing craft chocolate all the time. You can find white, milk, dark, vegan, the full spectrum of cacao percentages 40-100%, and a world of flavors–from the familiar peanut butter, raspberry, and coconut to the less-common cardamom, bergamot, and hot paprika.

Sara: How does one pick from 100 bars?
Allison: I ask four questions to find out where you are in your journey with craft chocolate. (That’s Step 1 in Zingerman’s 4 Steps To Great Service, find out what the customer wants!) Based on your answers, I choose two or three recommendations and offer a taste. Typically people are surprised and delighted at the thought of samples, but also those lovely Midwest manners kick in and they say, “Oh no. Don’t go to any trouble. Not if you have to open it.” But once they taste, it’s highly likely they’re going home with a new favorite confection. Watching them as they taste and seeing their reaction, it’s just the most fun. I had the same experience at the Deli seeing people leave so happy with their choice and they found the perfect things. We’re so lucky to be able to do that.

Allison’s 4 Questions to Guide Chocolate Choices

1. Is it for you or someone else?
   (If it’s a gift you might not have answers to the rest of the questions)
2. Dark or milk?
3. If dark, what %?
   (It’s okay if you don’t have an answer, we’ll help.)
4. Stuff in it, or not?
   (The industry term is inclusions, but we think that sounds too posh. We’re aiming for easy!)

Sara: What are your picks for the most unusual, rare, and prized treasures on your shelves today?
Allison: 

• Unusual: Askinosie’s Sweet Potato Pie white chocolate bar (with toasted mini marshmallows!)
• Rare: Caputo’s Wild Juruá foraged Brazilian cacao, a 70% dark chocolate bar by Luisa Abram
• Prized: Ziba Shakhurbai Almonds, an ancient heirloom variety grown in Afghanistan

Sara: What are your personal top three favorites right now?
Allison: That is so hard! I am excited about these lately, in no particular order:

• Fruition’s Bolivian Wild Harvest, a 74% dark chocolate bar 
• Coloma Garcia Tender Turron with Marcona almonds and orange blossom honey
• Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory Peanut Brittle

Confection Consultation

Our interview gave me sweet daydreams of candy, so I headed back to the store to buy my usual favorites: Omnom Sea Salted Caramel Chocolate Malt Balls, J. Patrice Lime Coconut bonbons, and an Askinosie Coconut Milk Chocolate bar. Lucky me, Allison was still working and gave me my very own confection consultation. In just a few minutes, she introduced me to things I had never even noticed or tried before, especially after she zeroed in on my love for coconut, like strawberry cheesecake bonbons, fruit punch vegan gummies, and coconut hard candies. I didn’t know I needed a personal candy shopper in my life, but a confection consultation made my experience so much sweeter. I highly recommend you try it out!

This interview originally appeared in the March / April 2024 edition of Zingerman’s News. Check out the latest issue now!

Fried pies are the perfect pastry to take on the road!

Once upon a time, about 15 years ago, we started selling pimento cheese. Back then, only a handful of folks in Ann Arbor seemed to have heard of it. Anyone who grew up in the South was excited to see it on the Roadhouse menu. But most everyone else—Midwesterners like me—really had no idea what it was! Most gave the menu listing a quizzical look and very few orders ensued. That was then. Today, in 2024, pimento cheese is one of our biggest-selling items! We still serve it at the Roadhouse (where it started). But the Deli has it as well, and the Creamery ships a whole lot of it to food stores and restaurants all over the country!

Fried hand pies, I forecast, are today where pimento cheese was 15 years ago. Although hardly anyone up here has heard of them, by the time we arrive at our 2032 Vision, the fried-hand-pie business will be hoppin’! They are, without question, a special comfort food pastry with deep roots in the Mid-South. Many Southern cities have bakeries that make next to nothing other than hand pies!

Fried Pies’ Origins

Made by the Bakehouse, and sold at the Roadhouse, the fried hand pies have deep Southern roots. They could be carried more easily out to the fields, into the mines, or, in more modern times, to the factory. Fried pies worked well too in the winter months when the fresh fruit season had ended, and dried fruit was all that was available. They were already well known around the time of the American Revolution and were particularly popular in the middle of the 19th century, especially so in Appalachia. Rossi Anastopoulo writes in Saveur:

In a region where life could be hardscrabble and unforgiving, fried pies proved to be a culinary balm for busy women with a high burden of responsibility. Unlike cakes, which typically took all day to prepare and required expensive ingredients that might be hard to access, fried pies were a quick, affordable way to enjoy something sweet. 

To this day, they evoke emotional reactions in folks who grew up on them. Arkansas restaurateur Jennifer Jones shares, “These old recipes connect us to our past, help define our reality, almost tell us who we are. It’s a way to talk to each other about something tangible.” The Mountain Association says, “Every time we reference our aunt’s fried apple pie recipe that’s written on the back of an old-school credit card receipt from the service station where she used to work, we connect to our heritage—our collective past as mountain people, hewn from hard-scrabble times.”

Fried pies are caringly hand-crafted with a traditional lard crust at the Bakehouse, filled right now with tart Michigan cherries. At the Roadhouse you can get a taste of this centuries-old tradition right by ordering one hot from the fryer for dessert after dinner (add some Creamery gelato too). And, we also have them cooked ahead and ready to grab from the Roadshow for breakfast. It’s like eating a jelly donut, but far better suited to “dining” while driving. They keep well for a day or so after they’re fried. (Remember it was typical to take one with into the fields in the morning to eat for later in the day).

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