What? Not done with your holiday shopping? Yeah, neither are we. But we've been making lists -- and checking them twice -- and we've got some suggestions for the nice people on your list. Today, Chow Bella's Gift Guide for the Foodie.
They've been to all the new restaurants, know the difference between a beefsteak tomato and an heirloom tomato (and are happy to tell you about it), and fetishize big city food scenes with zero guilt. They're foodies. And if you've got one on your holiday list this year, here are five gifts that will satisfy even the pickiest of them.
See also: - Chow Bella's Gift Guide for the Food Geek - Chow Bella's Gift Guide for the Beer Lover
- Shopping Spree at the Phoenix Knife House
If your foodie is also a cook, or even an aspiring one, chances are they know a good set of knives are the most important tools in the kitchen. And whether they're in the market for new knives or simply need to get their current ones in tip-top shape, a shopping spree at the Phoenix Knife House in Arcadia is a fun (and functional), holiday treat.
Specializing in Japanese and custom professional kitchen cutlery, hand sharpening, and repairs, Phoenix Knife House carries around 300 knives in addition to knife rolls, sharpening stones, chef jackets, utensils, and books. As beloved as his shop is proprietor and ex-chef Eytan Zias who's happy to help customers with what they need and, more importantly, steer them away from what they don't.
- Adopt a Truffle Tree in Gascony, France
For the foodie who has everything, there's truffles -- and not just truffles, their own truffle tree in Gascony, France -- all through the adopt a truffle tree program.
For an initial adoption payment of around $225, your foodie gets a truffle tree planted in their name (choice of an evergreen Holm Oak or white, deciduous Downy Oak), a color photograph of their tree, an adoption certificate, and care for the first year. When the first harvests start to come in (5 to 9 years from planting), your foodie will own all the truffles harvested in their plot and can elect to have them mailed to them or sold at market on their behalf with a check sent at the end of the season.
And if you're foodie wants check on their gift, they're invited to travel to Le Gers, France, stay at the the truffière B&B, and picnic right beside their tree. For details, go to the Food52 Shop website.
- In Season Cookbook
Any foodie worth their artisan salt knows how popular local and seasonal eating has become. And thanks to your gift of the new book, In Season: More Than 150 Fresh and Simple Recipes from New York Magazine Inspired by Farmers' Market Ingredients, they can indulge in over 150 recipes from the country's best chefs and restaurants using the freshest ingredients.
Plus, bonus, one of those chefs is FnB's Charleen Badman, who offers up her recipe for concord grape ketchup.
Based on the popular column by New York magazine food editors Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, In Season also includes essays by Mario Batali, David Chang, Anita Lo, and more.
In Season can be purchased at Changing Hands Bookstore.
- Homemade Goodies from Muñeca Mexicana
The Valley is flush with Mexican cuisine, but when it comes to packaging its authentic flavors, finding the good stuff isn't easy. That's why your foodie will appreciate an exquisite, home made creation or two from Muñeca Mexicana.
Courtesy of Minerva Orduño Rincón, who researches and tests generations-old Mexican recipes as foundations for her exclusive selection of products, gift selections can be savory or sweet. Choose from exceptional Mexican delights such as cajeta de Celaya using goat milk sourced from a small goat farm in Buckeye, Arizona, to piloncillo-stuffed pastries known as coyotas made with heritage wheat flours locally grown and milled by Hayden Flour Mills, to a stellar mole poblano sauce using over 25 ingredients.
Muñeca Mexicana products can be purchased at Bodega or through Rincón's website.
- A Trip to Aravaipa Farms
Has your foodie been extra good this year? If so, you'll want to send them to Aravaipa Farms, a truly unique experience of travel and culinary delights.
Located in Winkelman, Arizona, (two-and-a-half hours southeast of Phoenix) and next to the Aravaipa Wilderness Preserve, this exclusive, out-of-the-way escape is owned by Phoenix food legend Carol Steele, a 1992 inductee into the Phoenix-Scottsdale Culinary Hall of Fame and former owner of a gourmet cheese and coffee shop in Scottsdale.
Along with savoring Steele's memorable farm-to-table meals, your foodie can enjoy a relaxing stay complete with bird watching, hiking, or simply taking in the scenery of the 300-acre property.
Read more about Carol Steele here. For details on the property or to make a reservation, go to the Aravaipa Farms website.
