Things in my kitchen:
Oaktown spices. I get them at the shop on Solano in Albany. They have a wide range of interesting spices and blends. The Penja Black peppercorns from Cameroon are our favorite black pepper. Many interesting chili pepper varieties and other unusual spices including heirloom turmeric and wild mountain cumin. We like their togarashi too.
Cheeseboard pita bread. Available on Thursdays only at the cheeseboard in Berkeley. We freeze it in ziplocks and pull them out to eat with hummus or other dips or have for breakfast with eggs.
Pasture 42 eggs. Usually available on Wednesday and Friday at the Food Coop in Davis. Availability lately has been spotty, call the coop to confirm they have them. They are my favorite eggs. Worth shlepping to Davis for.
Viks chat pickles. Viks chat is a long time east bay institution and they are as good if not better than ever. This year we started getting their Indian pickles and chutneys available at the market adjacent to the restaurant. Our favorite is the ginger garlic pickle. Very intense and assertive it is a crave-able kick to your taste buds. Also their tamarind sauce is very good.
Straus family Greek yogurt. Always a carton or two in my fridge. It’s fantastic stuff. We mix some with chili sauce and serve it with eggs for breakfast. Mixed with fresh fruit or with a drizzle of honey or good quality maple syrup it makes a quick lunch. Or mixed with some spicy pickles from Viks and Viks tamarind sauce for a different quick lunch. Mixed with sautéed spiced ground meat it makes an amazing pasta sauce.
Alexandre milk. The best!
Partanna olive oil. Not local but from Sicily. Available at several Bay Area markets including one of the markets in the Ferry Building (I forget the name of the market) Berkeley bowl and Monterey market. Makes everything taste good - salad, pasta hummus etc.
Bisou chocolate. Chocolate nirvana. There is lots of high end chocolate in the Bay Area but this one is my favorite. Expensive but a notch above the rest. The dark chocolate bars are intensely chocolaty but elegant at the same time. Definitely not everyday because of the price, but a weekend special chocolate treat. http://www.bisouchocolate.com/
