It’s been a total sausage fest at Eastern District this month, as we’ve added lots of new meats to our selection!
MEAT
We’re lucky to be among the first East Coast shops to carry salami from Portland, OR’s Olympic Provisions. These are probably the tastiest, most tender salamis we’ve ever tasted. They literally melt in your mouth! We’ll feature a variety of flavors from Olympic, and right now our favorites are Salami Nola (Italian style with black pepper, chili and allspice), Chorizo Navarre (Spanish style with paprika, garlic and cayenne) and Loukanika (Greek style with cumin, garlic and a touch of orange zest).
From closer to home, we’ve now got fresh sausages from Brooklyn Cured: Hot Italian, Bratwurst, and coming this weekend, Duck with Fennel. Now we REALLY have everything you need for a night with the grill! We also have Brooklyn Cured pastrami for sale, and we’re featuring it in a special sandwich this week along with Calkins Creamery’s tangy 1841 Havarti, spicy Dijon mustard and horseradish.
Also in the deli meat department, we’ve added Mortadella from Berkeley, California’s Fra’ Mani. Mortadella is the Italian godfather of American bologna, rich and full of natural pork flavor.
BEER
In the beer department, we’re especially excited to bring you four different bottles from Germany’s Freigeist. All are inspired by traditional German beer recipes, but refined to the point of utter awesomeness. Pimock is a Rhineland-style wheat beer; Ottekolong is a hoppy, unfiltered kolsch; Hoppeditz is a strong altbier; and Abraxas is a lightly smoked, sour Berlinerweisse.
Another exciting new beer with a touch of sourness is Hops N’ Roses, from Elmsford, NY’s Captain Lawrence. This golden ale was aged in oak barrels with brettanomyces yeast as well as rose hips, elderflowers and hibiscus, for a tangy flavor balanced by a floral aroma.
Also in the growing sour beer category, Sierra Nevada has teamed up with Russian River to produce Brux, which they’re calling a “domesticated wild ale.” Drier than the Hops N’ Roses, we recommend buying one bottle to drink now, and one to age for a year or so. Russian River, famous for their excellent sour beers, isn’t otherwise available in New York, so this is a great opportunity to check them out.
CHEESE
Speaking of West Coast producers named after rivers: Rogue River Creamery is an outstanding maker of blue cheeses. Their newest creation is Flora Nelle, designed to have the complex flavors of a long-aged blue, but at a lower price point. It’s nutty, milky and slightly sharp with a good dose of blue spiciness.
New to our shelves is Halloumi, a fresh cow’s milk cheese from Cyprus. It’s used throughout Middle Eastern cooking, fried or stuffed into pies. But in the summer we like it best for grilling: with its low water content you can throw it right on the grill without making a gooey mess! Add herbs, toss it into a salad, or just anoint it with olive oil and salt for a satisfying treat.
Several of our favorite seasonal cheeses have just made a comeback, like Consider Bardwell’s Manchester, a smooth, firm, aged goat’s milk cheese with a salty, tangy flavor. Cowgirl Creamery’s Pierce Pt. is back too: a soft, buttery cow’s milk cheese dusted with wild herbs for a taste of Northern California in the summertime.
ALSO…
Greenpoint local honey is back! Yellow Queen’s fresh harvest from July 21 is on the shelves now, but in limited supply. It’s rich, sweet and earthy – great for serving with a nutty cheese or fruit.