At the southern end of Idaho’s Teton Valley, just over the pass from Jackson Hole and adjacent to some world-class fly-fishing, sits an unassuming little structure stocked floor to ceiling with delicious things. At Food Shed Idaho, specialty grocer Cecily Costa helps her customers provision their outdoor adventures. Something she’s excited about right now: petite Sweet Prince tomatoes.
They come in a tin slim enough to slip in your pocket—a game changer in itself. And vegetable quality begins with the seed. It produces a stronger, more delicious plant—and, we think, a more nutrient-dense one.
We’re working on putting some science behind that last point, but the early indications are incredible.” Row 7 seeks out innovative breeders using traditional cross-pollination and selection to develop flavorful new cultivars. Then the company partners with farmers it trusts to do justice to that breeding in the way they raise the produce, sold at Whole Foods and other grocers. Row 7 also sells its seeds in packets and, now, three of its flavor-forward varieties ready to eat, in chic little tins.
There’s that Sweet Prince, tinned at peak summer sweetness with a balancing, racy acidity. The Sweet Garleek, a garlic-leek hybrid, comes confited in extra-virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard—“like leeks vinaigrette with the volume turned up,” says Row 7 co-founder Charlotte Douglas. And I have never tasted another beet remotely like the Badger Flame.
That earthy flavor so many people don’t care for? This beet has a bright, surprising taste to match its golden color and comes in succulent little cubes you can toss into a salad, or snack on straight from the tin. Row 7’s slender tins are portable and adorable—distinct, crucially, from the shape of can we associate with lank green beans.
And the brand no doubt benefits from the cachet the format has acquired with the tinned-fish trend in recent years. But Douglas emphasizes the culinary benefits. And we do think about it like cooking, not like processing.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
