The Maine Foodie Tours blog has posted a article about Vervacious.
I was most intrigued by her Basque Piri-Piri Table sauce and Harissa spice blends. Piri-Piri and Harissa are both blends of spices that can vary widely depending on the region of the world. Vervacious’ Piri-Piri is spicy, but light, a well-balanced blend of vinegar and chilies.
According to The Forecaster, AdvancePierre, an Ohio firm, has bought Barber Foods.
The acquisition is expected to significantly increase AdvancePierre’s retail business along the East Coast and in Canada, while maintaining the Barber Foods brand and local operations.
Bill Toler, AdvancePierre Foods chief executive officer, said in a written statement that the acquisition is part of the company’s strategy of buying high-quality companies that compliment AdvanceFoods’s mission.
For additional reporting see the Press Herald and the Portland Daily Sun.
Natalie Ladd at the Portland Daily Sun has offered some advice on The Art of Dining on a First Date.
No matter how well planned or thought out they may be, first dates can be painful. They can be excruciating to actually be part of, and after the fact often require a giggle-hiding, sympathetic ear from a close friend who is listening to the train wreck of a recantation. Occasionally, it is just as painful to be an unwilling party to the real-life event as it unfolds by serving the first date couple in a restaurant or bar setting.
The front page of today’s Press Herald Food & Dining section reports on efforts by Marada and Leah Cook to start up Northern Girl. The new firm will process and package Maine-grown vegetables into convenient formats such as baby carrots and frozen broccoli. The article also looks at the state of food packaging in Maine in general.
“How many of us have had a rutabaga in the fridge forever?” Marada asked. “But a bag of peeled, cut root vegetables wouldn’t last more than a week in the fridge.”
The desire to make the bounty of Maine’s vegetable farms more accessible is one of the motivations for this endeavor.
The 10 eateries looked up most often in May on Portland Food Map were:
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month
I’ve recently been updating the PFM lists of ethnic markets and variety stores and there have been several changes and additions:
The Spiced Plate has published a review of Local 188.
The star of the night, however, was this dish: A squash roasted to perfection and filled with saucy garbanzo beans, spiced in a mix of Indian-style spices with Italian-style tomato flavor, served with the garnish of coconut-cilantro chutney. I couldn’t talk while I was eating this. Every bite I ate with concentration on the flavors and textures of the dish. I couldn’t get over the sauce, the softness of the squash, or how the chickpeas were just so darn lovely.
Cobblestones is now open for business. They’re serving a selection of soups, salads and sandwiches from the former Henry VIII’s space in Monument Square.
Two other new additions to the Food Map are Ariel’s Hummus and Bengi’s Port City Dogs. Ariel’s makes a weekly appearance on Tuesdays at the Public Market House and Benji’s is a food cart that today is operating on Commercial Street.
Today’s Press Herald includes a profile of two Scarborough River oyster farmers,
[Nate] Perry and Abigail Carroll, another fledgling farmer, are among the first to try oyster aquaculture in the Scarborough River. The location, with its tidal currents and particular nutrients, creates oysters that they try to describe with such adjectives as briny, sweet, creamy and grassy.
“That’s what an oyster is — it’s the taste of the sea where it came from,” Perry said.
and a reprise of the recent activities in Willard Square that led to a 3-month building moratorium and two entrepreneurs reevaluating their plans to open a market in the Square.
Encouraged by the city’s planning office and zoning that calls for up to six more businesses at Willard Square, the partners envisioned a small market that would be built next to Perry’s two-story apartment house.
What they didn’t foresee was the opposition.
Monday — Memorial Day.
Wednesday — there will be a wine tasting at the Old Port Wine Merchants, Grace is holding their monthly wine tasting event, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — The Cheese Iron is teaching a class on Spring & Summer cheeses.
Friday — Maine Foodie Tours is running an island progressive dinner, there will be a wine tasting at the West End Deli and First Friday Art Walk is taking place so make your reservation soon.
Saturday — Local Sprouts is celebrating their 1-year anniversary, LeRoux Kitchen is holding a wine tasting, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.
Sunday — it’s Maine Lemonade Day and kids across the state will be stting up their lemonade stands, Joe Ricchio is hosting Blood into Wine a wine dinner and movie screening at One Longfellow Square.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.