The Artisans:
A Taste of the North Fork
What They Do:
If your home-canning didn’t go so well this time around, this East End artisan goods company has got you covered. (Though buying their goods won’t count toward our EDL Challenge.) Their small-batch jams and jellies are homemade with no preservatives — so they’ll taste just like Mom’s! — plus, they make good of organically grown fruit and flora like mint, currants, plums and hot peppers. See also: spiced preserves (like apple chutney and rhubarb relish), wine vinegars, herb-infused oils (like sweet fennel), vinaigrettes (like lemon dill peppercorn), along with dessert sauces, salts, teas, and a line of mustards. And it doesn’t stop there — really, far from. Find every imaginable spice-kicker like a shrimp boil mix, pestos, dips, even cookie mix. There’s even gourmet coffee and “Down ‘N Dirty” barbecue rubs, from a registered nutritionist. Here, just give the lists a scan.
Why We Love Them:
Owners Jeri Woodhouse (a certified organic farmer from Orient, NY) and Jayne McCahill (Riverhead) are truly resourceful innovators — evident by their insanely long and extensive inventory of preserves and cooking mixes that are literally a taste of Long Island: They use mostly fresh fruit and herbs from the area. They even carry a non-alcoholic, sugar-free, preservative-free (meaning, high-flavor, low-calorie) sparkling beverage called Pure Cool, which infuses natural flavors like pear with a kick of ginger. Jeri and Jayne are also members of the New York Farm Bureau, the NYS Small Scale Food Processors Association and Pride of New York — they’re serious about how they produce and curate their goods, and it shows.
Where To Find Them:
While the company has a private label for restaurant folk, anyone can get in on this good stuff. Find Taste of the North Fork-labled jars across Long Island’s Suffolk County (at The Bayview Shoppe, Corey Creek Vineyards, Fairview Farms at Mecox, Lucy’s Whey, and Love Lane Sweet Shoppe). Or go straight to the source — 8595A Cox Lane Unit #3, Cutchogue; (631) 734-6100 — from 11am to 5pm. You can also check in online at atasteofthenorthfork.com, or at the Lucy’s Whey branch here in Manhattan right in Chelsea Market.
From September 26th to October 6th Edible Manhattan, Edible East End and Edible Brooklyn — in conjunction with Edibles statewide and GrowNYC — present Eat Drink Local week, our celebration of the local food chain through heirloom vegetable auctions, wine tastings, DIY challenges, lectures, garden tours, farm to table dinners and countless other events. Over the next few weeks we’re highlighting a few of the restaurants, wine shops and wineries, breweries and beer bars, farms and food artisans and cultural institutions that the week is meant to celebrate.
