11 To-Die-For Products You HAVE To Try From Gil's Gourmet
If you’ve been on our Old Monterey Food Tour, you’ll know we try out a lot of local products at our first stop, the Joseph Boston Store. We know it can be overwhelming to remember everything you’ve tried, so we’ve compiled a list of the best products from our partner, Gil’s Gourmet.
If you haven’t been on the tour, these options are still available in the Joseph Boston Store, or at the Gil’s Gourmet shop in Sand City. Regardless, any of the following products are sure to be a hit at your next hosted party.
Olives and Garlic
Zesty Lemon Stuffed Olives
These jumbo green olives are all hand-stuffed with lemon zest, which allows the savory flavor of the olives to balance out the citrusy flavor. They’re served in ten ounce jars, and we’re still trying to figure out if we like them better in martinis or lemon drops.
Sun-Baked Olive Oil Cured Olives
Unlike olives that are cured in a brine, these sun-baked olives dry out in the sun before they’re cured in olive oil. This removes a lot of the bitter flavor, leaving behind an earthy, sweet flavor.
Chardonnay Garlic Stuffed Olives
These olives had us at “chardonnay,” but by the time we got to the hand-stuffed pickled garlic in the center, we were totally sold. The chardonnay flavor tops off the brine in these ten ounce jars.
Riesling Lemon Dill Marinated Garlic
Whoever knew white wine and garlic would make such a great combination? These whole cloves of garlic marinate in a semi-sweet Riesling with a lemon dill seasoning. As with traditional white wine pairings, we’ve found these go great with white fish dishes.
Sauces
Artichoke and Olive Tapenade
If you’ve been on our Old Monterey Food Tour, this tapenade is probably still hanging around on your flavor palette. With a mixture of green olives and artichoke, this tapenade goes great on any bread, but we recommend something with spinach like their Spinach, Artichoke, and Olive Tart recipe.
Roasted Garlic Champagne Mustard
This award-winning mustard bursts with garlic flavor in every bite. While you may think of putting in on your everyday deli sandwich, this mustard actually pairs well with bratwurst or even as a supporting figure to a rack of lamb.
Spices
Big Sur Gourmet Bread Dipper
As well as olives, sauces, and sweets, Gil’s Gourmet also serves dipping spices, such as the Big Sur Gourmet Bread Dipper. This blend of seasonings and sea salt goes great with one of their olive oil choices to use as a dipper, but sprinkle some of this on a piece of garlic bread and you won’t be sorry.
Big Sur Gourmet Cowboy Rub
Into cooking steaks or anything meat-related? The Big Sur Gourmet Cowboy rub is a blend of spices designed to enhance any meat, so the next time you’re trying to impress someone over a steak dinner, make sure you have some of this handy.
Big Sur Gourmet Seafood Rub
Steaks and red meat not your thing? If you’re more of a seafood lover, try out the seafood rub instead of the cowboy. Their website lists a great tequila shrimp recipe this rub is used for, so if you can’t think of anything on your own, make sure to check out their ideas!
Sweets
Pinot Noir Chocolate Covered Cherries
Wine and chocolate? Yes please, especially when they’re made together! The Pinot Noir cherries are pitted Bing cherries that marinate in Pinot Noir before they’re dried and double-dipped in Guittard chocolate. This is a fan-favorite too, tied with the next option for “most popular candy” in the store.
Cabernet Chocolate Blueberries
We can see why these two are so popular! These blueberries are dried and drizzle with Cabernet Sauvignon before they’re bathed in creamy milk chocolate. After that, they’re coated with a special Cabernet blueberry finish to give them a pleasing visual.
This hardly touches on the options you can find in GIl’s Gourmet, but we promise you won’t be disappointed in any of them! As mentioned with the seafood rub and spinach, olive and artichoke tart, check out the recipes on their website for ideas of recommended dishes.