Atomiq Condiments

There are countless interesting things in the world to learn about. With good access to the Internet, a focused interest in a subject and just knowing the right combination of search words, the doors of information can swing-open! Or don’t open, not all info on what’s what is true, open or transparent.

One interesting thing I have noticed is that not too many large food companies that make edible items, talk about or offer any information regarding the provenance, the sources, or processes used to make what they make and then sell to whoever buys what they make. Maybe the info is there if you ask.

I get it, there are proprietary things people want to protect so they can benefit from their initiative, which is necessary in some cases. Small locally-oriented food businesses are usually more part of a community and depend on local support so, more transparency about what you make makes more sense.

In looking at companies that are drying and powdering food, the only information available is if it’s organic or conventionally grown. Beyond that, there’s no indication of who grew the food, what varieties were used, or anything that would tell you a little bit more about the products that the company is drying.

It must not be cost-effective to do that because the sources must be constantly changing when a company is buying fresh produce in bulk. While this is understandable, it’s not necessarily a good thing, big isn’t better if you care about quality ingredients and use what’s best from the area where you’re cooking.

Technology and growth are good in regard to trying to better feed the entire world in a more sustainable way. It’s really about education, better systems, and more efficient use of the fresh water in the dryer or dessert-like parts of the world where technological help is needed to find or redirect water.

Ideally, we should have local food systems that feed communities and large sustainable agriculture that is aimed at helping feed the world. Do feel large agricultural businesses need federal guidelines because sometimes, unfortunately, profits are put ahead of doing the right thing for people and the planet.

The local food system should take advantage of what grows best in local conditions and then grow those items. It’s what’s unique about the soil, weather, and who is growing the food that makes locations unique. This is what many people want to know when trying to find an area’s local flavor and specialties.

That is how life was for a very long time, most everybody knew what they were eating. Right up until big business started really growing and getting really large in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s as those big companies started eating smaller companies and it just made good business sense to sell out.

The big companies just offered so much money that it was very hard for small businesses to say no to that big bag of money and that’s how the middle of America was gutted by big business. The right thing to do would be for big business to go back and help rebuild the middle class… …, ha, ha, ha!

Seriously, in the long run, it would make sense to rebuild areas by encouraging people to learn how to make things, develop skills and bring back the trades that made for a healthier society. Most urban communities have built up the local food infrastructure through small local farms and farmers’ markets.

Not enough though, as a society, we stopped making common things the way we used to and have placed too much power into the hands of too few. Ideally, big businesses would collaborate with small businesses, instead of making a meal of them, absorbing their valuable parts and then dissolving the competition.

Locations are unique and have figured out what grows best in any particular area. Often unique types of food from one location don’t scale up too well, there’s only so much of some crops. So, it’s usually the smaller companies that make unique location-focused items using proprietary processes.

As a local, fine dining-oriented chef and cook with many years of buying local foods and food-related ingredients, equipment, and general stuff for restaurants and stores and I want to know exactly what I’m buying. That’s the key, to be in total control of the quality of what’s being produced and sold.

Through a lot of interest, observation, and reading, one might come to the conclusion that a substantial portion of the world’s population isn’t too concerned about where their food comes from or how the food is made. Some folks like to frequent fast-food places and grocery stores filled with processed foods.

Many people oddly trust companies and restaurants to do the right thing, which is interesting in these publically traded modern times. Aside from typically unhealthy food, all of the food sold is safe to eat in the short term because we do have laws that food businesses need to follow so people don’t get sick.

There are honest businesses that do the right thing. Knowledgeable local cooks and chefs search for these honest companies that do the right thing, offer a sustainable, quality product, and treat employees fairly. Many people want to know exactly what they’re cooking with and trust the companies they buy from.

Good businesses stay on top of things, try to improve, be more efficient, and try to lower costs when possible. It comes down to where people draw the line with quality, the best local food businesses strive to use the best locally made items that are made, grown, and raised in the general vicinity.

Knowing everything about what is used in the business you run, is a learned professional skill-set and many cooks/chefs need to know exactly what they’re using to make what they make. Where you draw the line is important. Doing the right thing and being profitable is definitely a challenge.

In reading about the food industry, the food technology aspect has progressed to a point where some of the processed items we eat and drink have been broken down and manipulated at the molecular level. That’s why knowledgeable folks recommend consuming fresh seasonal, locally grown foods.

That being said, most chefs who love what they do are going to look at all cuisines to learn from because there’s so much variation and local knowledge to each and every location in the world, that can have many many many generations of their own specific location to draw culinary experience from.

The main idea behind Atomiq is to highlight what’s unique and special in what’s grown and made here in the Bay area. Beyond this, the plan is to market Atomiq products like vintage wines with the information on the label of the vintage, what varietal it’s made with, where it was grown and any other pertinent info.

The whole point of this entry is that the idea of transparently run food businesses is a good thing, and there ought to be more of it when you’re trying to buy something edible. How things are made and what’s in them are things intelligent people want to know and it’s the right way to run a business.
So, support small food businesses and the local artisans who want to specialize in highlighting the area’s unique and delicious natural attributes!

The ongoing list of who is making good wine vinegar

Spain

O Med http://www.omedoil.com/es/13-vinagre

they use the Schutzenbach method in very large (in what looks like fiberglass fermentors or fiberglass encased stainless steel.

Torres Parellada La Oscuridad Les Garrigues

Torres Cabernet Sauvignon Vinagre La Oscuridad 500ML

Satorni https://www.torrevella.com/

Montegrato 58 year old Amontillilado Wine Vinegar Reserva 200ML

Sanlucar de Barrameda Solera 77 http://videsan.com/

Forvm https://www.avgvstvsforvm.com/en/vinegars

Cepa Vieja

France

Pineau Des Charentes Vinegar https://www.francoisefleuriet.com/

DeLouis http://www.delouis.com/

Vilux http://en.vilux.com/

Fallot https://www.fallot.com/en/nos-produits/

Martin Pourat https://www.martin-pouret.com/en/

Huilerie-Beaujolaise https://www.huilerie-beaujolaise.com/

Cave de l’Abbé Rous Banyuls Wine Vinegar

https://www.thefrenchfarm.com/La-Cave- de-L-Abbe-Rous-s/721.htm

La Guinelle Banyuls http://levinaigre.com/nos-vinaigres/

Aigre-Doux Sud Cévennes http://www.aigredouxsudcevennes.com/accueil.html

House Gelas Floc de Gascogne armagnac flavored wine vinegar

http://www.lescavesdebaptiste.com/20-epicerie-fine https://gelas.com/en/accueil

Baume de Bouteville http://www.lebaumedebouteville.com/

Italy

Castello di Volpaia http://wine.volpaia.com/

il Boschetto http://www.ilboschetto.net/vinegar_ita.html

5 varieties of single variety wine vinegar with a broad assortment of other vinegar varieties

Pojer e Sandi https://www.pojeresandri.com/?lang=en

Classically made and blended wine vinegars from estate and locally grown grapes, fruit vinegars made from fermented fruit

Badia a Coltibuono Badia A Coltibuono

Acetaia Ducale Entense https://www.acetaiaducale.it/en

Estate grown reds cab (main grape), merlot and raboso and pinot gris for white vinegars, all aged first in a solera battery and then into oak barrels

Acetaia San Giacomo http://www.acetaiasangiacomo.com/prodotti/crudi/

uses specific single and blend wine varietals and different barrels for aging’ terracotta amphora, oak barrels, juniper barrels

Acetum Martin Albrecht (formerly Acetoria Robert Bauer)

San Giuliano Alghero Cannonau si Sardegna DOC http://www.sangiuliano.it/prodotti_det_USA.php?ID=46&Tipologia=tavola

Terre Bormane http://www.terrebormane.it/en/aceti-e-condimenti-3-2/

Lucini https://shop.lucini.com/artisan-vinegars/c/lucini@vinegars

Germany

Long Wine Vinegar https://www.langweinessig.de/

Weingut-Kaltenthaler https://weingut-kaltenthaler.de/wp/catalog/

Austria

Gegenbauer https://www.gegenbauer.at/start.aspx

An definitive inspiration for Atomiq, broad selection of single variety wine vinegars, balsamic, fruit vinegars and condiments all locally grown in their corner of Austria

Golles https://www.goelles.at/en/

Hungary

Borecet Kft Tokaji Aszu Balsamic https://borecet.hu/en/

Grapes: Furmint, Harslevelu, Sarga Muskotaly, Zeta, Koverszolo, Goher

South Africa

Rozendal http://rozendal.co.za/

Australia

Artisan Vinegar http://artisanvinegar.co.nz/

Canada

Gingras (cideria) http://www.cidervinegar.com/en/visit-us.html

du Capitaine http://lavinaigrerie.com/?lang=en

Venturi Schultze British Columbia balsamic

Robertson Estate http://www.robertsonestate.com/About_Us.html

Okanagan Vinegar Brewery https://www.bodega1117.com/vinegars

The Vinegar Works http://www.thegarden.ca/vinegarworks/ourvinegars.html

USA

Katz Farm https://katzfarm.com/

Kimberly http://www.kimberleywinevinegars.com/

Classic, Sparrow Lane https://classicwinevinegar.com/

O Vinegar https://www.ooliveoil.com/store/vinegars

Sonoma Vinegar Works

Keep Well Vinegar http://www.keepwellvinegar.com/

Mad House Vinegar https://www.goodvinegar.com/

Minus 8 Vinegar https://minus8vinegar.com/

George Paul Vinegar https://www.georgepaulvinegar.com/

Supreme Vinegar https://supremevinegar.com/

Lindera Vinegar (no wine vin) https://www.linderafarms.com/collections/our-flavors

Argentina

Malbec Products http://malbecproducts.com/

11-01-17

This is my second entry and first actual entry into the Atomiq Condiments Word Press blog and as I go, I’m learning more and more about this new direction I’m going. Until now, I haven’t had an urge to talk on social media but, now I want to be talking about the the who, what, why and where of how this has come to be. What this blog is about is the reason for being or raison d’être for Atomiq Condiments.

Aside of my general love of food and beverages, I have been into specialty foods and specialty stores since I moved to San Francisco to go to culinary school. I started attending the Fancy Food show as soon as I moved here! My original idea when I made the move from being a bartender to being a cook was to start a specialty food store that was also a restaurant.

It made total sense to have a facility that made and packaged local foods and beverages and also carried great artisan products and then served all those great foods. These days, it seems retail commingling with a restaurant is becoming more and more common! There are a lot more specialty food stores and food halls and restaurants that are making products. People are eating better and look to buy and eat foods with provenance. In these days of mass produced foods, knowing what you eating and drinking leads to a healthier existence.

Since moving to San Francisco, there is a lot of information I have gathered and learned about starting a business, about all the great specialty stores, foods and beverages from around the world as well as cooking, restaurants, farms, ranches and things of that ilk. Being a bartender, then a cook and then a chef has been an important part of growing and acquiring the skills I need to do go to the next level in my career.

My direction has changed in the last five years once I realized that I need to take a smaller bite and focus my interests on what what is attainable. What living in the Bay area has given me, is a tremendous appreciation of what is happens on the local level. People here really see how buying and staying local benefits the local community. What Atomiq Condiments is about is acquiring local seasonal ingredients grown with love and care, not adding anything extraneous and saving the season in a recyclable glass bottle!