Ari’s Top 30 of 2025: Part 1
Each year when I write this holiday list, I am regrounded in gratitude! I have so much appreciation for you all, one of the kindest and most supportive communities of customers anywhere in the world. I am appreciative anew of all the incredible artisans who care so deeply about the food and drink they so diligently craft for us. And I am humbled and honored to work with the 700+ people who work in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB), AND the 400 other great folks who come on board this time of year to help us make all of your amazing holiday orders happen! As we enter our 43rd holiday season, thank you! In these challenging times in which we are working, gratitude, love, dignity, and appreciation have become more important than ever. As author Brother David Steindl-Rast writes,
You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful, you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take, and you say, “yes,” to that belonging. This “yes” is the essence of love.
Thank you for saying yes so often.
I hope the foods on the list below will give you as much joy as they have brought me.
All the best,
Ari Weinzweig
Co-founding Partner
Zingerman’s Community of Businesses
1. Wild Harvested Purple Mulberries from Afghanistan
Delicate, hard-to-find fruit is super fine for snacks, salads, and sauces
In the remote regions of Afghanistan, there are a plethora of wild mulberry trees. The trees are, as they were hundreds of years ago, growing essentially unmanaged—unhindered by pesticides or commercial farming methods. That we have them now here in Ann Arbor is a rather remarkable feat. The ripe berries are carefully hand-picked each summer and then gently dried to protect the fragile fruit. Thanks to all that work, we have access to one of the tastiest dried fruits I’ve tried in a long time. The mulberries come to us through the good work of the folks at Ziba. They pay the over 250 farmers and foragers they work with higher prices for their harvests, and Ziba directly employs about 25 Afghan women full-time.
The dried purple Afghan mulberries are smaller and sweeter than most and are recognized as some of the best in the world. Naturally sweet (no sugar is added) and crunchy, they’re great as a snack, baked into granola, or added to yogurt or desserts. You can also sprinkle some onto cereal, oatmeal, salads, or, really, anywhere you’d usually use raisins or currants. I like them out of hand, where I can appreciate their complex, natural sweetness. The size of a small raspberry, they have a lovely, delicate honey-like flavor with a brilliant, crunchy mouthfeel.
Available at the Candy Store and the Deli.
2. Pantaleo Cheese from Sardinia
Aged goat’s milk cheese from Italy
A great new arrival from the island of Sardinia in the western Mediterranean. Today, Sardinia is one of the autonomous regions of Italy, but it has been ruled by nearly every historical Mediterranean part over the years and was also an independent monarchy for many years. Both Sardinian and Italian are recognized as official languages. The topography varies from town to town, with dozens of magical microclimates making up the island—so many that it is sometimes referred to as a mini-continent! In the early part of the 19th century, much of the island’s once-abundant forest land was cut down to provide wood for building in Piedmont and other parts of northern Italy as industrialization took hold.
Pantaleo is made in the small (3,500 people) town of Santadi, by the dairy that bears the village’s name. The name “Pantaleo” comes from the name of the nearby forest, the largest in the south of Sardinia. Since most of the cheeses we see here from Sardinia are made with sheep’s milk, it’s great to get ahold of this wonderfully delicious, aged goat’s milk cheese. Andrea, the maker, works with the milk of his own herd of about 250 goats, along with milk from 22 other small producers. The goats are the ancient Sarda breed (one of eight registered indigenous goat breeds in Italy) and only produce milk for six months out of the year. Semi-firm in texture, sort of, say, like maybe a young Manchego. Smooth full flavor, nutty, some say lemony, with a really fine clean finish that even folks who think they don’t like goat cheese could well be drawn to. Wonderful on a salad, grilled cheese, or pasta, or served with a bit of honey after the main course.
Available at the Deli and Mail Order.
3. west~bourne’s Extra Virgin Avocado Oil Arrives in Ann Arbor
Extraordinary organic oil from California
The folks at west~bourne have set a whole new standard for me of what avocado oil can be—it really does redefine the class! Each bottle is filled with a beautiful green-gold, cold-pressed oil that’s really the essence of what makes the best avocados so special. The flavor, like any of the great extra virgin oils we sell, is complex, beautifully balanced, and has a lovely, long, lingering finish. It tastes, as you would expect, intensely of what you would expect from the best ripe avocados (which, to be clear, we rarely get around these parts)—buttery, subtly sweet, amazingly aromatic with a little hint of licorice and a titch of tarragon! Food & Wine journalist Kyle Beechey says west~bourne’s is the best avocado oil she’s ever had.
Use west~bourne’s extra virgin avocado oil to dress salad as you do olive oil. Make bruschetta with it—toast some Bakehouse bread, and, while it’s hot, pour on some avocado oil, then sprinkle a pinch of good sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper on top. (I love the top-grade Tellicherry at the Deli, and also at the Roadhouse, where it’s on all the tables and those incredible Pepper Fries.) Drizzle it on avocado toast, and you’ll take your usual favorite to new culinary heights. Great on a tin of high-quality tuna—try Salade Nicoise with avocado oil. Superfine on a salad with fresh fennel and oranges, and, if you want, slices of ripe avocado as well. Great on pasta with grated Parmigiano Reggiano (the Valserena is tasting particularly great right now) or Pecorino, a bunch of freshly ground black pepper, and avocado oil.
Available at the Deli and Mail Order.
4. Traditional German Challah at the Bakehouse
An integral element of Central European Jewish culinary culture
If you haven’t yet tried this new addition to the Bakehouse’s already wonderful repertoire, now’s the time! It’s terrific! Challah of this sort has actually been the norm in the German Jewish community for hundreds of years. What most German Jews will know as berches is made without eggs, and it’s only subtly sweet, so much so that savory food lovers like me might not even notice the small bit of honey we use in the recipe.
Culinary historians say that while eating special bread for the Sabbath dates back to biblical times, the origins of berches are pretty surely a product of the 15th century, when Jews in Austria and Southern Germany began modeling their Shabbat bread on a popular German braided loaf. The beautiful braided berches (sometimes called “water challah” since they don’t include eggs) became the bread of choice. Whether you want a new way to celebrate the Sabbath or experience a bit of Jewish cultural diversity, or whether, like me, you just like to eat good bread, swing by and grab a loaf or two of the German Challah soon!
It’s terrific torn into chunks right from the loaf. I love it toasted—the aroma of the whole grains is wonderful. Lovely spread with a bit of Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter (at room temperature!) and some American Spoon Early Glow Strawberry jam. On the savory side, it’s terrific for sandwiches, especially for chopped liver!
5. Traditional Artisan Cheese from Sweden Arrives at the Deli
Wrångebäck brings full flavor and 150 years of history to town
Wrångebäck is a farmstead cheese made at Almnäs Bruk, on the west bank of Sweden’s second-largest lake, Vättern. About four hours southwest of Stockholm, the estate was founded by monks in August 1225. While cheese likely has been made there in some form since the beginning, the estate began producing what we now know as Wrångebäck formally in the spring of 1889.
Sweden’s oldest known cheese by name, Wrångebäck, has a European PDO—in other words, its traditional production methods are legally protected. The cheese is made only with milk from the organic farm’s own 180-cow herd, and the cheeses are matured on the same wooden planks that have been in use for 150 years. Like a sourdough starter, the wood becomes enriched with natural cultures over time, passing them on to the wheels placed on it and contributing in unique ways to the cheese’s flavor development.
The final cheese has a firm texture and a lovely combination of mountain cheese and washed-rind character. The wheels of Wrångebäck we have right now, matured for nearly a year, are some of the best I’ve ever tasted—full, clean flavor with hints of mushrooms or caramelized onions, with a beautiful, long finish. Excellent on its own, or on some of the Bakehouse’s Vollkornbrot, Dinkelbrot, or Caraway Rye—better still if you spread a little of that great Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter on first. A truly traditional taste of Scandinavia!
6. Zingerman’s Artwork on Some Special Skis and Snowboards
A cool artisan collab to add a bit of Zing to the slopes
Most snowboards and skis start by sending American lumber all the way to Asia, where they are produced en masse, and then shipped back to the U.S. to be sold in giant stores. Gilson, on the other hand, is small, local, and handmade. Their workshop is located in the small Central Pennsylvania town of Selinsgrove (population a bit shy of 6,000 people) on the Susquehanna River in the foothills of the Appalachians. There, they work with Pennsylvania poplar, which, as they describe it, is “the lightest and lowest density hardwood out there, it grows fast and can be sustainably harvested, and it arrives on the back of our Gilson pickup truck,” adding, “It couldn’t be more local.” And they have a series of design innovations that are over my head, but apparently make for some very special snowboarding and skiing! Above and beyond all that, the amazing Zingerman’s graphics by our Ian Nagy are sure to turn heads, and they’ll likely put you in a good mood every time you head out in the snow! Check them out!
7. Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter Takes ZCoB Flavors to the Next Level
Top quality Vermont cream is carefully cultured the old-fashioned way
When I spoke to a group of business leaders at MIT in Boston late last summer, one of them asked me, “How can you keep improving products that are already so great?” For him, it seemed like something that would be exceptionally hard to do. In my mind, it’s actually easy! “Everything can always be made better!” I shared with heartfelt enthusiasm based on 44 years of real-life practice. When he asked for an example, Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter was what came quickly to mind! There’s more about it on page 11, but I didn’t want to leave it off this list! Made much as great butter would have been made 150 years ago, allowing super high-quality local Vermont cream to ripen and develop natural bacterial cultures, the flavor is far, far better than anything around. Honestly, I think everyone who tries it loves it! (Be sure to serve at room temperature—it makes a BIG difference!).
In the 18 months since we started using it, the Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter has improved the flavors of a number of dishes at the Roadhouse: the Bakehouse Bread Service, Butterscotch Pudding (also on this list!), Anson Mills grits, Buttermilk Biscuits, Biscuit Bread Pudding, and Mashed Potatoes. As of this fall, we’ve been weaving into some of our favorite baked goods at the Bakehouse, too! And, the Bakehouse, Roadhouse, and Deli all have the 86% butterfat Cultured Butter for sale for folks like you and me to take home—it became a regular item at our house!
8. Really Fine Papillon Roquefort at the Deli
Baking bread to make blue mold, as it’s been done for centuries
Papillon was founded by Paul Alric in 1906, in the village of Villefranche-de-Panat, about 45 minutes northwest of Roquefort. It has always been one of the smaller firms in the region. Still family-owned, the firm has nearly 200 farms producing milk for its cheese. Even with that, it accounts for only about 10 percent of Roquefort. Like Gilson, Papillon today is an interesting blend of modern technology with a devotion to tradition. Its cheeses are made at a neat new facility. They use mechanized stirring of rennet and starters, and have developed a machine to cut curd, which they say they designed to “carry out human gestures.”
Today in 2025, Papillon is proudly the only producer still making its own mold from the traditional loaves of rye bread—all the others buy prepared mold from labs. They employ a baker year-round to make bread and keep the mother mold alive. The Alrics are adamant that this more traditional mold leads to a creamier texture, and my experience bears that out. I’m seduced by its softness—at room temperature, it’s almost velvety smooth; it will literally melt on your tongue, like a perfect chocolate truffle. Most of all, I love the flavor—it’s often described as “nutty,” but I’ll add bold, with a hint of butterscotch; the finish is substantial, long, and lingering.
I love the Roquefort—always at room temperature—spread onto toasted Country Miche or a hunk of fresh French baguette. Great on salads, or with fresh pears or apples. Delicious with the dates from Rancho Meladuco, red walnuts, or our Spiced Pecans.
9. Zingerman’s Spiced Pecans
An annual holiday classic handcrafted across the ZCoB
After making these for nearly 30 years now, I am comfortable saying that they have become a Zingerman’s classic. About 15 years ago, we started buying nuts for the Spiced Pecans from the South Georgia Pecan Company in the town of Valdosta. Today, the firm is owned and run by the Work family, who bought it in 1983, a year after we opened the Deli, but for historical context, the company was started in 1913 by one of the first Jewish families in town, the Pearlmans. The pecans are pretty darned delicious—fresher tasting, and a small, but meaningfully, bit more flavorful than what we’d been getting. After being toasted with butter, the pecans get tossed—while still warm—with lots of freshly ground Tellicherry black pepper, Jamaican allspice, ginger, Indian cloves, and other enticing spices.
The spiced pecans are delicious, just as they are. Try them chopped, then tossed onto gelato, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted carrots, or green salads. They pair particularly well with blue cheese—I love them with the Roquefort—and also with fresh slices of pear or apple. Coarsely chop some and toss them on top of rice pudding or noodle kugel. Or try sprinkling some atop your holiday stuffing. In the spirit of how we have long defined “full flavor” here at Zingerman’s (see my pamphlet “A Taste of Zingerman’s Food Philosophy” for more on this), the Spiced Pecans have a wonderful complexity. They are nicely balanced so that the flavor of all the spices, butter, and nuts comes together as you eat.
Available at the Deli, the Candy Store, and Mail Order.
10. Pfeffernüsse from the Bakehouse
One of my favorite small tastes of the holiday season
If you were to walk into a German bakery a thousand or so years ago, in, say, the year 1123, pfeffernüsse would probably have been one of the most prized—and most expensive—offerings in the shop. Back in those days, black pepper was one of the most expensive products you could find. Black pepper, at times, traded for the price of gold, which means that a package of these innocent little cookies could have cost someone the 12th-century equivalent of a sumptuous meal. In ancient times, pepper and assorted other spices were used as often in sweets as in savories. Spices imported from afar at great expense were a way to show honor for one’s guests and to demonstrate abundance. Nearly every traditional Christmas sweet in Europe is evidence of this tradition. Pfeffernüsse are right there in the tradition of using—and in this case, being named for—pepper.
At the Bakehouse, we’re supporting the black pepper with a bit of nutmeg, cloves, anise, Indonesian cinnamon, and some muscovado sugar. A touch of sea salt brings the flavors out beautifully. If you’re serving them on a platter, I recommend a fresh bonus-grinding of black pepper over the top—looks good, adds a nice little aroma, and adds a bit more pepper to the flavor. Lovely balance of sweet and spicy, with a wonderful, palate-awakening complexity, and a really fine long finish. It makes a great stocking stuffer or surprise gift to enliven someone’s afternoon. This cookie is great with coffee, tea, or just about anything else! Terrific with the 2025 Holiday Blend or a shot of Espresso Blend #1.
