December 11th, 2008
For the green gourmet
They have an espresso machine, maybe, and fancy whisks in their kitchen drawers. They know how to talk about wine, they read cookbooks for recreation, and they wax poetic about chocolate, in all its incarnations. You love them, because they invite you for dinner. So let’s ingratiate ourselves a little more, with a gift basket made entirely for the environmentally conscious gourmet on your list.
Equal Exchange is an amazing little online retail store that sells coffees, teas, chocolate and nuts, supports free trade and even has environmental school projects on their Web site. We are swooning to try their Organic Hot Cocoa Mix ($8); the organic cocoa is from small farmers in the Dominican Republic, the organic sugar is from co-ops in Paraguay, and the organic milk powder is from co-ops in the U.S. But you don’t have to know all that; you just get to enjoy. Their Organic Chocolate Bars come in several varieties; we’re thinking the chef would appreciate the one with a hint of hazelnut, or maybe the one with pieces of roasted coffee beans in it ($4.25 each).
If that’s not enough of a caffeine rush, maybe you should include their Organic Love Buzz Coffee ($9, right), which is revered for its smooth flavor and unexpected finish; part of the proceeds go to farmers in Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia and South Africa, supporting reforestation, organic conversion and environmental protection efforts. Or you could just mainline and opt for Fair Trade Online’s Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans ($10 a pound), which promise organic, shade-grown, kosher Guatemalan and Mexican coffee beans surrounded by chocolate. We’re giddy just writing about it.
Seems like there’s one in every crowd. A tea-lover, that is. Add a box of Organic White Tea – either White Jasmine or White Peony – ($5) from Choice Organic Teas, and you’ll have that different drummer covered. Open a tray of Allison’s Gourmet Organic Vegan Fudge, made with organic sugar, fair-trade cocoa, coconut butter, coconut milk, vanilla and sea salt ($25), and you’ll have them eating out of your hand. And put on Putamayo’s Music from the Coffee Lands; their kitchen table will be spirited off by Latin and African music from Peru, Colombia, Uganda, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Mexico, Hawaii, Kenya, Costa Rica and Congo ($17); you can add recycled gift packaging for $4.
We want you to add just a few extra surprises to the basket for good measure, things that have nothing to do with coffee or chocolate. Your favorite cook will adore the pure ingredients, and you’ll be the beneficiary in the long run, we’re sure. A jar of Poggio all’Olmo’s Organic Acacia Honey ($18, left) from Purely Organic comes straight from the acacia forests in the mountains of central Tuscany. Principe di Gerace’s Organic Rosemary Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($11) brings its blessings from southern Italy; and a bottle of handcrafted Grand Reserve Balsamic Vinegar ($9.50) from Napa Valley Naturals will enchant any dish from salad to pasta. Add a bottle of wine to the offering – California wine, grown in the dappled sun of an organic vineyard – and you’re finished. (Get that wine at Whole Foods Market and it’s sure to be from a sustainably grown grapes.)
You’ve given a truly gourmet Christmas, and you’ve done it all in shades of green.
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