Local cookbook author, newspaper columnist and cooking instructor, Mary Ellen Carter has just started Verde Specialty Foods —
a company bottling extra virgin California olive oil, hand blending spices, and carrying hard to find “heirloom” beans.
Mary Ellen Carter's new olive oil line, "Verde", means green in more ways than one. It's fresh, fragrant and fruity- and it hasn't spent months in a tanker from Europe This locally bottled oil was picked from the most flavorful first harvest of the year and pressed within 12 hours in a small, Northern California olive grove. Then quickly shipped to Carter's culinary kitchen. They are labeled with the
freshness date.
"I like to say it's reducing our dependence on foreign oils," laughs Carter. "Light, heat and time are the enemy of the olive oil. The oil we import from overseas takes a long time to get to our shelves, and in my opinion, they don't send us their best. I think they keep it for themselves."
"This is the lowest carbon footprint you can get for olive oil. The grove we buy from has the California Oil Council Seal of Quality. Only a few groves have that. It means they bottle it under very high standards."
Tastings are available for "Verde" olive oils at:
Old World Deli, 1140 N State St, Bellingham, May 23rd, 2009 - from 3-5 pm
Joe’s Garden, 32nd and Taylor, Bellingham, May 30th, 2009 - from 10- noon
Gretchen’s Cook Shop, Mt. Vernon, 501 1st St., May 2nd, 2009 - from 1-3 pm
"Verde" offers two olive oils, Extra Virgin for $18.95 500 ml. a perfect “finishing” oil for vegetables, salads, and dipping, and a blend of 80% Canola and 20% Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for frying and cooking for $14.95. Carter will also be selling hand-blended spices.
For more information, and locations to purchase "Verde" products, visit http://www.cookwithmaryellen.com or call (360) 820-8448.
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