By Karen Talbot

Pure Mountain Olive Oils & Vinegars, 118 Kraft Avenue, 914-337-7325

May 13, 2015:  This special food shop opened last July and is owned by Zak Cassady-Dorion, who has stores in Tarrytown and Rhinebeck. The olive oils are all extra virgin and they come from Italy, Morocco, Spain, Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States in the northern hemisphere and from Peru, Argentina, Australia, and Uruguay in the Southern Hemisphere. 

The most important thing about olive oil is--the fresher the better. It is good for two years from the time of press. The term extra virgin means that the olives are pressed within 24 hours of coming off of the tree. It must be 100% olive oil and it must have a perfect taste. All of Pure Mountain's olive oils fall into this category, and all balsamic vinegars come from Modena, Italy.

The shop is set up with the left wall displaying nine extra virgin varietals, of which the Greek Koroneiki is their most popular one. It is described as robust and flavorful with a peppery finish. The left wall also displays 16 balsamic vinegars, with the Fig Dark Balsamic being the most popular. This vinegar is described as having the nutty, semi-sweet flavor of fresh fig, which enhances and deepens this naturally intense balsamic vinegar. Enjoy it in salad dressings or drizzled over steak. 

The back wall houses infused olive oils, which are flavored with Meyer lemon, chipotle, Persian lime, rosemary, garlic, garlic mushroom, and scallion. The right wall has orange mango passion fruit white balsamic, tandoori masala olive oil, toasted sesame oil, and honey vinegar with serrano chilies. Gourmet sea salts are also displayed here. 

A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle of either olive oil or balsamic vinegar costs $17.95, and a mini size bottle of 60 ml. is $6.95.

You can sample anything in the store with a bite-sized piece of French bread, and they will give you a recipe to go with whatever products you buy. They have over 300 recipes on their website.

You can also choose from "grab 'n go" gift baskets, which are available from $35 to $135, or you can build your own basket from products in the store. Did you know that olive oil is technically a fruit juice (it contains no cholesterol) and it has powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties that reduce clotting of red blood cells and act as antibacterial agents?  Forget wine--we should all be drinking olive oil!

You can join their Olive Oil Club--you purchase membership for a year and you can choose to have bottles shipped to you every six months or every quarter. They ship four bottles in every shipment (two olive oils and two balsamic vinegars).

Another feature of this shop is that they give you pairing suggestions. For example, The Pure Mountain is blackberry balsamic and Nocellara extra virgin olive oil, and the Summer Splash is a combination of lemon white balsamic and basil olive oil.

Hope you will stop by this shop and try some of their unique products and spread the word to your friends.

Pictured here:  Extra virgin varietals displayed at Pure Mountain Olive Oils & Vinegars.  

Photo by Karen Talbot