All About Our Tastemaker Series + Our Latest Collaborator—Anna Hezel!
Launched last summer, our Tastemaker Series spotlights influential culinary voices through highly personal product collections that reflect how they cook, eat, and gather. Every few months, a new individual collaborates with us and individually curates a special Zingerman’s Mail Order gift box. If, like me, you love knowing what foods fellow foodies are into, these collaborations will be right up your alley. Past tastemakers have included Jon Kung (Ortiz tuna), Dan Pashman (Zingerman’s Sea Salt Potato Chips), Matt Rodbard (Zingerman’s Pimento Cheese), and Abra Berens (Sour Cream Coffee Cake).
Each time we collaborate with a tastemaker, they get to hand-pick an armful of their favorite foods from our shelves—it needs to fit into a box so we can ship it to you after all. The lineup is always different, we all like different things after all, but they always reflect a shared passion for seriously flavorful food. Each Tastemaker Gift Box is around for a limited time (like our newest one with Anna Hezel!), so you’ll want to make sure to catch each one while you can.
Anna Hezel x Zingerman’s Tastemaker Box
Anna Hezel is a Buffalo-born, Brooklyn-based food and culture writer, and a big fan of fancy snacks that come together in no time, but make any meal feel special. That’s actually the theme of her latest cookbook, Party Tricks, and of this special collaboration. As Anna explains:
“When I set out to write my latest cookbook, Party Tricks, I wanted to create a cookbook for the modern host—someone who has access to an ever-expanding array of international ingredients packed with flavor and character. I realized that stores like Zingerman’s (famous for its cheese, conserves, and cured meats) have changed the way we cook and host parties.
People who love to entertain can rely on this one-stop shop for all of the ingredients that do the heaviest lifting for a party. This selection of goodies is my ideal party in a box, where someone else has done all of the work of catching, cooking, and marinating the sardines, or curing and smoking the meat, or skinning the hazelnuts.”
Not only does Anna’s box include a plethora of party-ready nibbles, but it also includes two of her recipes! Ready for a sneak peek? Here’s everything you’ll find inside, along with why Anna’s so smitten with them:
- Broadbent Prosciutto: “I love prosciutto, Serrano, and Iberico hams, and I think it’s so cool that Broadbent is doing their own take on this cured pork in Kentucky, incorporating their smoking technique.”
- Portuguese Sardines: “A classic tin of Portuguese sardines can become a rice bowl, a buttery pâté, or just a fortifying snack with a pile of crackers and some pickles.”
- Tempesta ‘Nduja: “This spicy, silky-textured sausage can do so many tricks in the kitchen. Melt it into a tomato sauce, use it to tinge a brothy soup red, or spread it on toast. In my book, I toast oyster crackers in melted ’Nduja for a peppery party snack.”
- Pistacchiosa Cream: “All summer long, I’m either spooning this into chia pudding or turning it into a magic shell ice cream topping by melting it with a spoonful of coconut oil.”
- Piedmontese Hazelnuts: “Toast these lightly in some butter to serve with the Broadbent Prosciutto (or your cured ham of choice). The next morning, your oatmeal will be happy to have any of the leftover butter-toasted hazelnuts.”
- Spanish Red Wine Vinegar: “Red wine vinegar may seem like the most basic pantry staple, but once you start to cook with a good one, like this one, you can’t believe you ever made vinaigrettes any other way.”
- Taralli Olive Oil Crackers: “Not too salty or rich, taralli can fit in at any party. Even when I’m just ordering pizza with friends, I love to set out a bowl of olives and a bowl of taralli, nestled among shards of Parmesan.”
- Zzang!® Candy Bar from Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory: “Every time I buy a candy bar at a gas station or pharmacy, this is what I’m actually craving.”
Ready for a snack-tastic experience? Ship yourself (or someone special) a shindig.
