Gustare Oils and Vinegars (or better living through chemistry)

You may think you have experienced raspberry vinegar and, indeed, you may have. But I was under a seriously mistaken belief that I had. That is until I tried the raspberry vinegar from Gustare, 425 Main Street, Chatham, MA 02633 Tel: 508-945-4505. We were assured that the website would be up an running soon but several weeks after the visit, it is not. Trust me, their product more than makes up for this lapse. As we were wondering around downtown Chatham, we walked into this little piece of heaven. Wall to wall olive oil and vinegars in every imaginable flavor and samples are the name of the game here. All of the large metal containers have spouts and tiny plastic cups next to them. The bottle are beneath the containers. Friendly but unobtrusive staff explains the process and encourages you to try as much as you want. It is almost impossible to decide as we make our way around the store that is full of customers. Porcini Olive Oil is the first thing we try and it's a winner (and later purchased). In inquire and are told that the saleswoman has used it on pasta, when cooking eggs, on bread. I used it with pasta, assortment of mushrooms and chicken - cooked everything has I normally would then put it all in a pan over a low flame and drizzled a little oil on it. My side was a salad with the raspberry vinegar and oil dressing. So simple, so delicious. The saleswoman also told us that she used some of the vinegars as marinade and as a flavor in sparkling water. I'm thinking proseco but haven't tried it yet. What I did try with the pear cardamon vinegar was to put a bit in a gin martini. It sinks to the bottom as you measure it in the shaker but stays separated after shaking. I'm not saying this was the best drink I've ever had but it was interesting and might just need some experimenting with ratios.