Who doesn’t love a good charcuterie board? Piled high with delicious cheeses, pickled vegetables, jams, and mustards; placed in the center of the table for all guests to share. But in our opinion, the highlight of a charcuterie board… is the cured meats. Today we’re thrilled to be spotlighting one of our gourmet vendors, Elevation Meats, a Denver-based company offering a full line of delicious charcuterie and salami.
Elevation Meats owner, Chad Nelan, started his career as a butcher behind the counter at Tony’s Market. online pharmacy buy premarin online best drugstore for you
After making charcuterie in his home for more than a decade, Nelan decided he wanted to offer the Colorado market high-quality variations of salami and whole muscle cures like pancetta and coppa. Using a unique blend of old country and traditional cooking methods and brainstorming new, innovative flavors, Elevation was born.
The key ingredient in all of Elevation’s products is humanely raised heritage breed pigs — they provide the tastiest, best meat available, as a result of responsible and humane stewardship. Nelan has also invested a massive amount of time and resources into ensuring that Elevation follows a strict HAACP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plan approved by the USDA. This means all of their products are produced under strict food safety standards. The salami is all hand-tied and goes through the fermenting process while hung in a temperature-controlled room, carefully watched for appropriate pH levels as it is aged to perfection.
The extra care and effort is obvious, and worth the effort, when you taste the quality and flavor of Elevation’s products. In 2018, Elevation’s Calabrese Salami won a Good Food Award. Made with imported Calabrian chiles and wine, this is one of our favorites. Nelan has crafted some of the most creative salami flavors out there, including Fennel Pollel and Mole, which are both seasoned with local spices, wine and beer.
Elevation Meats products can be enjoyed as-is – sliced and served on a charcuterie board, or added to any dish that calls for salumi, such as pizza, or sandwiches. Look no further for your cured meats solution – Elevation takes the cake, er, board.
Seattle Fish Company is proud to carry Elevation as part of our Gourmet Provisions portfolio. Ask your Seattle Fish Co. Sales Representative for a list of current Elevation products and pricing.
We’re kicking off the New Year with two sustainable Whole Boat options! Call your Seattle Fish Co. Sales Rep or our friendly Customer Service team at 303-329-9595 to place your order today.
Seattle Fish Company believes in catching, growing and sourcing our seafood responsibly in order to ensure that our oceans are healthy for generations to come. Whole Boat is our weekly sustainable product program that highlights a fish or seafood item with a unique sustainability story to tell. This item may be bycatch or a lesser-known species, but will always be affordable and consciously sourced.
GOLDEN TILE Description: Tilefish, sometimes known as “the clown of the sea,” are colorful fish. Because their diet is mainly made up of shellfish, Tilefish have a delicate, sweet flavor similar to lobster or crab. Catch Method: Long Line Caught in the Gulf of Mexico by Captain Jack MBA Rating: Yellow (Good Alternative)
YELLOWEDGE GROUPER Description: Yellowedge grouper can be identified by the bright yellow color of its eyes and fin edges. A deep-water fish, Yellowedge Grouper has a mild but very unique flavor, comparable to a cross between Bass and Halibut. Cooked Grouper meat firm with big flakes, and holds its moisture extremely well. Catch Method: Long Line Caught in the Gulf of Mexico by Captain Jack MBA Rating: Yellow (Good Alternative)
Another year of Aspen Food & Wine Classic has come and gone. Each year, after it’s over, we reflect on the whole weekend and frankly, we’re surprised that…. we’re still surprised. It seems that there is no limit, capacity or ceiling to be reached when it comes to the creativity displayed at the Classic. Each year the dishes get better – more beautiful, and more delicious. The chefs more creative and the speakers more inspirational.
But something else stuck out to us this year, and it has to do with those actually attending Food & Wine. People are asking questions – lots of them. Informed questions, probing to find out more details about what exactly they’re eating:
“Is this sustainable?”
“How was this raised and harvested?”
“Where is this from?”
“Who grew this?”
“Is this certified?”
As a supplier focused on bringing our customers sustainable, traceable food as much as possible, these questions are magic to our ears. It’s incredibly encouraging to see that people are interested in what they are consuming, and how it affects our planet’s resources. We expect (and hope) to see this trend to continue at future Food & Wine Classics and other festivals across the country.
This year, Seattle Fish Company is proud to have co-hosted and participated in several events, many of them centered around sustainability and responsibility throughout the food supply chain.
The Future of Food: Aquaculture Plated, Andrew Zimmern Luncheon
To kick off the weekend, Seattle Fish Company joined forces with Verlasso, Pacifico Aquaculture, Riverence, Island Creek, Fair Trade Seafood & Kosta Browne to co-host a luncheon with Chef Andrew Zimmern. Held on the outdoor patio of Casa Tua, the event educated attendees on the benefits and importance of aquaculture as a solution for continuing to feed our growing planet.
Zimmern spoke to the crowd about the need for immediate action in regards to sustainability efforts: “Today we are not facing a global health problem, or a global food problem, or a food insecurity problem. We don’t have a climate change issue. We’re having a humanitarian crisis on our planet. We are pushing problems that need to be solved today on to the plates of future generations. If we don’t take care of it ourselves and start advocating for the things we know to be true and right, there won’t be anything left for our children to advocate for. If you’re not for sustainability, then you’re not for caring for other human beings and you’re not for caring for our planet.”
Jennifer Bushman, Chef Andrew Zimmern and Julie Kuchepatov
Chef Andrew Zimmern (left) with Seattle Fish Company President, Derek Figueroa (right)
Along with Zimmern’s inspiring speech, attendees were fed sustainable bites from Verlasso, Pacifico, Island Creek, Riverence, Fair Trade Seafood and wines were supplied by Kosta Browne. There was ample networking among the thought leaders in attendance, and energizing conversations around how we can work together to make a positive difference in our industry, and for our future.
Poached Verlasso salmon
Island Creek Oysters
Guest being served sustainable bites
This was planned in collaboration with Jennifer Bushman. All seafood was hand-cut, packaged and delivered by Seattle Fish Company.
Kosta Browne @ The Peak (Buttermilk Mountain Event with Top Chefs)
As far as we know, there are no medals given out for the amazing views in Aspen. But if there were, the Kosta Brown @ The Peak Party would have taken home the gold. Attendees arrived at the base of Buttermilk Mountain and were greeted with caviar bumps and Island Creek oysters, before being whisked away on a chairlift and taken on a fifteen-minute ride to the top of the mountain.
Island Creek Oysters shucking fresh oysters for guests arriving at the Kosta Browne event.
Upon arrival at the top, the scenery seems to completely unfold and offer impressive, expansive views of the surrounding peaks. It was here that former Top Chef contestants prepared and were serving the crowd delicious bites.
Guests taking in the views from the top of Buttermilk Mountain.
Chef Michelle Minori’s dish: Pickled Mussels, Paprika, Black Garlic, Pine Nuts
Chef Brandon Rosen’s dish: Herb Crusted Lamb Loin, Cheery & Black Olive Glazed Swiss Chard, Potato Mousseline, Topped with Seeded Bread & Parmesan Tuile with Mustard & Chive Flowers
Chef Eddie Konrad’s dish: Verlasso salmon with Green Tomato & Cabbage “Chow Chow”
Cochon 555: Heritage Fire Snowmass
One of our favorite events of the weekend, Heritage Fire, takes place at the base of Snowmass Village. All of the dishes served at Heritage Fire are prepared over open flame, challenging the chefs to come up with dishes that may be a little out of their comfort zone or at least different from their usual indoor kitchen approach.
Seattle Fish Company collaborated closely with the Cochon 555 team to select seafood and non-seafood proteins that could be used at the event, including: Niceland wolffish, whole Rosen lamb, Miller Chicken, Colorado hybrid striped bass, octopus, and more.
Chef Kelly Whitaker cooks whole wolffish from Niceland Seafood at Heritage Fire.
The next Cochon 555 Heritage Fire event is on August 11th, at Acreage by Stem Ciders in Layfayette, Colorado. Make sure to get your ticket now before it sells out!
That’s a wrap for Aspen Food & Wine 2019. Thank you to our strategic partners for your hard work in collaborating on, planning and executing these events, and especially to our customers, who work hard all weekend long to turn “ingredients” into magical dishes for everyone to enjoy. We’ll be dreaming about it until next year!
Seattle Fish Company is proud to offer hundreds of vendors and products in our portfolio in order to provide you with extensive choices when it comes to selecting high-quality, unique and delicious products for your kitchen, menu, or store. We want you to have the same opportunity we do to get to know those farmers, makers and producers on a deeper level – so we’re launching a new blog series to do just that! Introducing: Meet The Maker.
Each time we do a “Meet The Maker” blog post, we’ll profile one of our fantastic vendors and provide you with an inside look at who they are, why they do what they do, and what kind(s) of products they have to offer.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Verlasso Salmon, a sustainable, open-ocean salmon producer out of Chilean Patagonia.
Who is Verlasso?
Verlasso has been a leader in sustainable salmon farming practices for nearly a decade. They work closely with their local communities in Patagonia to reduce environmental impact with proven innovative sustainable farming techniques. Verlasso is pioneering new traditions in harmonious aquaculture and is a truly trusted source for sustainable quality salmon.
Seattle Fish Company and Verlasso share a belief that we are part of a unique space that will help supply a growing population with the most sustainable protein for generations to come. At its core, this mission is philanthropic and has the highest level of intent.
Verlasso is the first farmed salmon to ever receive a “Good Alternative” or “MBA Yellow” rating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The “Good Alternative” rating comes from an extensive evaluation of how Verlasso’s farming practices have minimal impact on the environment,1:1 fish in fish out ratio and low pen densities.
Why Chilean Patagonia?
The pristine deep fjords, measuring in some places more than 75 meters deep make them the perfect place to farm Verlasso salmon. In some cases, these fjords are more than a three-hour boat ride from the nearest population. This minimizes any risk of industrial pollutants or PCB’s in the water that could potentially cause a negative effect on the farms.
Through strict farming practices, a no-kill policy on predators and extensive fallowing periods, we work each and every day to protect what is considered in the aquaculture industry to be one of the last and best remaining aquaculture locations in the world.
Want to learn more about Verlasso?
Check out Verlasso’s website here, and follow them on Instagram and Facebook. You can also find them at Seattle Fish Company food shows all year long, and at Aspen Food & Wine every summer.
Seattle Fish Company has long been committed to making the right choices – we pride ourselves on constantly finding new ways to be sustainable, resource efficient and environmentally conscious. We also take the sourcing of our product very seriously. Our Purchasing department works hard to source product of high quality and integrity through research, relationship building and careful consideration.
*Image credit World Wildlife Foundation
Mac Paranto, Seattle Fish Company Sustainability Coordinator and Colorado State University alum, is particularly focused on the impact we’re leaving on the environment when we source our seafood. We want do our part to ensure oceans stay healthy and that seafood is available for future generations, which means sourcing seafood that isn’t overfished and doesn’t damage the ocean environment when caught. We are dealing with a natural resource and must take into consideration demand as well as wildlife conservation.
For example, when Bluefin tuna entered the endangered species list, we took swift action: making the conscious choice to no longer source and sell Bluefin tuna. According to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), “Bluefin tuna populations have declined severely from overfishing and illegal fishing over the past few decades –not just Atlantic bluefin tuna, but also Pacific bluefin tuna and Southern bluefin tuna. Population declines have been largely driven by the demand for this fish in high end sushi markets. Although tuna do provide food and livelihoods for people, they are more than just seafood. Tuna are a top predator in the marine food chain, maintaining a balance that is critical in the ocean environment.”
Traceable Alternatives
Bluefin tuna becoming endangered is troubling, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t eat tuna at all. By working closely with our vendor partners, we’re proud to offer two alternative tuna options to our customers: domestic Yellowfin tuna from Hawaii and the Gulf of Mexico (MBA yellow rated), or Yellowfin tuna from a FIP (Fishery Improvement Project) in Costa Rica. These fish are traceable via a QR code which provides information like vessel name, captain, and method of harvest. Should Yellowfin tuna not be available, we will work to source MBA yellow rated Bigeye tuna as needed. online pharmacy best drugstore for you
*Screenshot courtesy of ChefsTrading CT-tag
Sri Lanka Tuna Fishery Improvement Project
An exciting step in the right direction, Sea Pact recently announced industry funding for a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in Sri Lanka that will work to reduce the impact of longline fisheries for yellowfin and bigeye tuna and swordfish on endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) non-target species.
“We look forward to working with all the different stakeholders on this project and helping drive industry change on tuna sustainability forward” said our Chief Operating Officer and chair of Sea Pact Advisory Council, Hamish Walker.
How You Can Help
Eat a variety of seafood! One of the greatest things about this protein is its variety. There are, quite literally, millions of fish in the sea. Ask the seafood specialist at your local grocery store for specifics on what type of fish is in their case, and encourage them to bring in sustainable seafood you can feel great about eating. online pharmacy buy xenical online best drugstore for you
You can also download Monterey Bay Aquarium’s app Seafood Watch, which provides free, up-to-date seafood recommendations and ratings and places near you that serve ocean-friendly seafood.
For More Information
If you have any questions on our strategic sourcing strategy, please feel free to contact us at any time by emailing info@seattlefish.com or following our blog on www.seattlefish.com.
To follow the progress of the Sri Lanka Tuna FIP, visit fisheryprogress.org.
SeaPact is an innovative collaboration of ten leading North American seafood companies working together to drive seafood industry sustainability progress globally.
Exciting Changes Ahead for Seattle Fish Co. & Lombardi Brothers Meats
We’re thrilled to share some exciting news about the future of Seattle Fish Company and Lombardi Brothers Meats. As part of our ongoing commitment to providing you with exceptional products and services, we have a major initiative underway: Lombardi Brothers Meats will be relocating its operations to our Seattle Fish warehouse at 6211 E 42nd Avenue.
This transition is targeted for completion by November 4th. By integrating our operations, we will be able to offer you a combined meat and seafood selection at lower costs with even faster response times, ensuring we continue to meet and exceed your expectations.
As part of the transition to our new location, Lombardi Brothers Meats will be temporarily shutting down operations fromNovember 1st-3rd, with production resuming on November 4th. To ensure you have everything you need, we encourage you to place orders early for any non-stocked Lombardi items. This will help us fulfill your requests in advance and minimize any disruptions.
If you have any questions, or need assistance in placing orders, please contact your sales representative or send us a message at info@seattlefish.com.
