Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Findings

A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Long Branch and I found this wonderful little shop on the boardwalk called Carter & Cavero Old World Olive Oil Company. I cannot tell you how excited I was! It's not often that I see shops that reminds me of Italy quite so strongly. It specializes in different kinds of olive oil and vinegar, as well as food imports and ceramic and wooden dishware for the kitchen. It was beautifully set up and easy to find different items.  There were even sections dedicated to gift samplers and several places with recipe cards and suggestions that I truly appreciated.

Such a quaint and adorable find!

Quite honestly, I fell in love with the entire quaint atmosphere of the little shop. The manager was very helpful and pleasant. She was happy to provide information about the store, and about all of the different products. I've forgotten her name, but I really enjoyed chatting with her about the different types of olive oil and balsamic. She was very knowledgeable.

About 2 years ago while I was living in Florence, I was given a wonderful opportunity. One of my friends from Middlebury College asked me to go to VinItaly, a Wine and Food festival in Verona, Italy. It is one of the largest Slow Food festivals in Italy and has wine vendors from all 20 regions of Italy plus other regions of Europe. It also had olive oil and other artisan products from all over Italy and Europe. My friend asked me to go in her stead so I could get her samples of olive oil and I happily agreed.  It was an absolutely fantastic experience where I got to talk to a ton of people about food and wine. In the course of three days I was able to try countless types of wine, olive oil and honey. I learned so much about how the products are made and the differences in taste and quality.
Here in the United States, we don't really have too many different types of olive oil. Here we have olive oil and extra virgin olive oil but in Italy, in Europe in general, there are countless types of olive oil. Fresh olive oil is a light green color and has a deeper flavor and slightly thicker consistency than the olive oils we know and love here. It is perfect on Florentine bread (no salt involved). The virgin olive oils are lighter and great for salads but there are medium and heavier olive oils as well that are great for other dishes.  I think I should just write another posting about olive oil. For now back to Carter & Cavero.

The right corner and back of the shop are lined with cannisters of olive oil and vinegar to taste test. 

It was refreshing to see a shop set up so nicely with informative staff.  The olive oil and balsamic vinegar were set up in tasting stations on the right hand side and back wall. There were tasting cups and pieces of bread to dip. It was quite impressive to see the variety available here in New Jersey. There were simple olive oils and balsamic vinegars and there were also more interesting fruity flavors available as well.
Of the olive oils my favorite was probably the white truffle olive oil. It was smoky and strong but somehow still delicate. If you like truffles, I highly recommend this one. I would love to have this with a porcini and
truffle risotto or a mushroom crostini (essentially toasted bread). The persian lime olive oil was also quite delicious and so were a lot of the other varieties. Honestly, there were so many to try. I have to go again and try even more of them.
I was also able to try a lot of the balsamic vinegars. I hadn't even realized how many types of balsamic vinegar there could be. There are traditional dark balsamics but there are also white
balsamics. My absolute favorite was the peach white balsamic vinegar, produced in Modena which is in Northern Italy. It had kick and a delicious sweet peach flavor. I loved it so much that I bought myself a small bottle and I've already used it to make a delicous Nectarine Risotto (recipe coming sooning) and  a scumptious Nectarine Chicken (recipe also coming soon).
Sometime this week I'm going to make a fresh salad using arugula, spinach, peaches, toasted walnuts and feta using this balsamic and a light EVOO. Next time I get back down the shore I have a list of balsamics that I need to try again and buy.  Some of my other favorites were the pomegranate balsamic and the blueberry balsamic. Both are dark balsamics with beautiful fruity kicks. The pomegranate was more tart with a deep rich flavor and acidity which I think would make for great grilling and/or dipping sauces. The blueberry balsamic was a little sweeter and absolutely delicious. In Florence, at a restaurant called Acqua al 2 I had a fantastic blueberry steak that I would love to try to replicate by making a reduction with this blueberry balsamic vinegar and fresh blueberries.

Carter & Cavero also had some other fantastic artisan products. I was particularly fascinated by the Ordigno, a super spicy Calabrese vegetable spread that can be used with crackers and cheese, or pasta. The "bomb" packaging is not a joke, it is really that spicy and I could not resist buying it.  I use it on EVERYTHING. No I'm not kidding, EVERYTHING. Spicy is amazing and this is particularly fantastic. I put it on sandwiches, crackers with cheese, wraps and pasta.  Next time I go back, I'll probably even get some of the pink marbled salt to try!