Dorothy Lane Market Vendor Honor Roll

We all look forward to Friday. Why? It's the end of the work week, it might be pay day for some and it might be casual dress day for others. Regardless of the reason Friday's are special. At Madisono's Fridays come with much anticipation for the above mentioned reasons but it also means that I get to head to The Gem City. For the last three years Madisono's has been producing gelato and sorbetto for The Dorothy Lane Markets in Dayton Ohio, under their label and Friday is their delivery day. As soon as I hit the Cincinnati Dayton Rd. exit I turn my dial to 91.3 WYSO. Niki Dakota plays the most amazing assortment of music and at noon I look forward to Fimically perfect for the ride home. Most of the time I make Springboro the last stop and while I'm there I order up a cup of Boston Stoker coffee. The Stoker is Dayton's gourmet coffee roaster and each DLM store has a full service coffee bar inside. Keep in mind that DLM has had this going on way before anyone from Kroger ever considered the Starbucks thing. DLM leads the grocery industry in so many ways it's hard to count. Others can only try. They are "the store that accomodates."
This past Friday I hosted a meeting of grocery managers, and other in the DLM organization to discuss our new Spring flavors and bring them up to speed on developments at Madisono's. I sent Joe, my production manager, to The Gem City for the delivery run. I stayed behind and prepared for the meeting. When we had finished our discussions and sampling Tom Winter presented me with the DLM Vendor Honor Roll award much to my surprise. I also received a letter from Calvin Mayne the President and CEO. Here is how it reads
Dear Matt
Much of the success of Dorothy Lane Market over the years has been due to the close cooperation of vendors such as you, vendors who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to serve DLM. In 1991 we instituted the DLM Vendor Honor Roll award in order to recognize outstanding vendors for their excellent service.
This is the 20th year for our award and we are pleased to present you with the accompanying plaque as a token of our appreciation for your support, service, and loyalty. You help make it possible for us to be "the store that accomodates." Thank you and congratulations.
It is an honor to receive this award. The plaque and official letter will be on display at Findlay Market. If you are feeling like a mini food adventure consider heading to the DLM Springboro store for some great shopping and eating. It is not that far from Cincinnati and you will be impressed. Consider getting lunch and eating upstairs while a real piano player plays music. They are a full service store and you might find some new favorites. Unlike many other stores where their store brands are cheep knock offs to the real deal, DLM holds their brand to a much higher standard. Their store brands are better than the national labels. They use Madisono's for their gelato and sorbetto and you all know how good that is. If you do go let them know you are visiting from Cincinnati and that Madisono's sent you.
Thanks for supporting Madisono's and Dorothy Lane Markets
Matt

Mended little hearts

About a week ago I headed north to The Hills Market in Columbus Ohio. They are a great customer of mine and I love their market. If I lived nearby I would most certainly be shopping there. Throughout the store there are tags on the shelves pointing out all of the local products. Their commitment to the local community is goes beyond supporting food producers. My reason for the visit was to serve our black raspberry sorbet at the Mended Little Hearts benefit. The Hills Market hosted the event which featured more than 20 local food producers. Madisono's was paired with Jam Jar sweet shiraz. I believe there were more than 200 in attendance. Thanks to everyone who sampled and took the time for some great conversation. Madisono's will be back next year.
Matt

Chris Roswog Pastry Chef The Iron Horse Inn

While selling gelato and sorbet to Cincinnati's top restaurants I have been fortunate to meet some very passionate and unique individuals. Most of the time my routine is one of quick pace and structure. Deliver the goods and get on to the next stop. Very few kitchens are quiet past 11:00am. While preparing for service not many people have time to BS but sometimes they do and I always learn something cool when we do. Chefs and others in the kitchen work weird hours. If I deliver early in the morning they are not even on site. So the other day I invited Pastry Chef Chris Roswog to stop by for an formal interview. I want to get to know the people who use Madisono's on a daily basis, those who make the decisions when it comes to feeding your sweet tooth. Chris is the pastry chef at The Iron Horse Inn located in Glendale. It is located just across the street from our production commissary. This is the first interview so stay tuned for more in the future.
When Chris entered the kitchen he was carrying a unique box. It looked like a little James Bond/ Super Spy/ Techno thingy. When he opened it up it contained a small part of his watch collection. Chris loves watches and we spent some time looking them over. His collection is very impressive. I asked Chris a few scripted questions and here is what he had to say.
1. Why pastry?
Chris has been cooking since he was 5. When he entered culinary school he knew he wanted to do pastry. "Pastry keeps you off the line." Chris conveyed that pastry/dessert allows you to get the last word in so to speak. It is a farewell to the dining experience and he wants you to leave on a high note. Pastry allows him to express that.
2. What is your favorite tool?
"My hands" "You can experience everything from temperature to texture." These are very important in pastry. So much relies on this that nothing cab substitute the hands.
3. What are your favorite ingredients?
"Chocolate, nuts and good eggs." "Eggs are essential in what I do every day." Chris loves the versatility of eggs and the use of nuts, especially macadamia nuts.
4. What was you most inspired creation?
After a short pause Chris shared with me a creation he did at Prima Vista for Valentines Day. Two pieces of puff pastry cut into rectangles with homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream and Red Raspberry sorbet. He has also found inspiration in birthday cakes. He is especially fond of The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Chris has spent years coming up with unique cake creations of his own. Often times it cannot able to be shared on a restaurant menu but with family and friends.
5. Where has pastry been and where is it going?
"Pastry has never been better due to the ever increasing availability of ingredients." "There are so many more options like single origin chocolates." Chris feels that it has come a long way do to this explosion of ingredient options for chefs and will only continue to get better. One thing that he is not sure of is the trend of meshing ingredients that just don't go together. There are tendencies for chefs to use these ingredients to a creative end that is questionable in Chris's opinion. He thinks that the classics are safe and will always have a place in pastry.
6. If you were not a pastry chef what would you be doing instead?
"I would be a race car driver."
7. What are your personal ambitions outside of your pastry profession?
"Home ownership"
8. What are some compelling reasons why someone should not skip the dessert course when dining out?
"We desire things in life. Like dessert." "We crave the sweet so fill that need." Dessert is part of the dining experience and without it isn't complete. "There are always healthy options on most menus so don't skip just on calorie counting or diet concerns." Chris conveyed to me that there are things in life that you might not be able to make at home due to lack of time, skill, or resources and dessert is a chance to experience those things. "If you are to full consider boxing it for later."
9. How do you use Madisono's?
At the present time Chris is offering 3 gelato flavors served individually in mini espresso cups paired with cookies. The flavors change every 10 days or so. The also have a brownie dessert that is served with the French Vanilla gelato. Chris assures me that as the seasons change so will the dessert options. That the best way to find out what he is doing with Madisono's is to stop by the Iron Horse Inn for dinner, or lunch.
I had a great time getting to know Chris better and I am grateful that he chooses to serve Madisono's with his customers.
Thanks for supporting Madiosno's
Matt

Say so long to corn syrup

We have some great news. On January 17th Madisono's began producing all of our gelato base mixes without corn syrup! In addition to removing the corn syrup we have also removed xanthan gum from our stabilizer blend. This is also a corn based product. It will take several weeks to move the old inventory out. Why? Over the past year, while doing demos, I encountered many people who either had a corn allergy or knew someone that did. The number of ice cream producers that use corn syrup is very high. A survey of ingredients on the grocery store shelf will confirm that. Wouldn't it be nice to have a product that could be enjoyed by everyone? Well now it can be. So all of our gelato bases are 100% natural.
You might be asking, "why did you use it in the first place?" This is a great question. Here is why. For those of you who follow my blog you know that we make all of our gelato and sorbet bases from scratch. No one else in Cincinnati does this. I have a complex set of equations that calculate butterfat, milk solids not fat, and many other factors that create a great gelato base mix. Gelato has much less butterfat than ice cream. In order to create a creamy smooth texture without all of the fat that comes in a high butterfat ice cream mix, corn syrup can add texture to a low fat mix. It can also help to stabilize the mix. We spent some time running the numbers and producing some batches with adjustments in the formula and without corn syrup. We are thrilled with the results and you will be too.
Madisono's will also debut a new package design and label in the coming weeks. In addition to new labels we will have 4 new Spring gelato Flavors. These should be out around the 2nd week of February. We are going to leave some flavors behind as we move forward. I apologize in advance if one of your favorites is on the list. With my new set of flavors we will be able to offer you more choices over time. It will also be easier for our retail customers to offer all of our flavors. I have heard from disappointed customers that were looking for a particular flavor from a retail location and were unable to find it. I hope to have all of our retail customers offering all the flavors in order to remedy this.
If you looking for a place to purchase Madisono's please look at this list. Raymond Sonof put this together for me. He has a web design business here in Cincinnati. He updated my parents site for Findlay Market. Thanks Raymond for your help. Above is candied ginger which is an ingredient for one of my new flavors. When they are ready to hit the stores we will tell you what is coming. Until then you will just have to wait.
http://madisonsmarkets.com/madisonos_gelato_locations.html
Thanks for supporting Madisono's
Matt

Meyer Lemons

Winter provides some great opportunities for foods. This past Thursday (Jan 13) I had an incredible meal at Nectar. Chef Julie Francis hosts dinner clubs at her restaurant with a unique theme. She comes up with an ingredient finds a local producer or supplier of that ingredient and builds a menu around it. Madison's @ Findlay and Madisono's are this months sponsors for Meyer Lemon. Chef Julie asked Madisono's to produce a Meyer Lemon Sorbet for the menu and so we did. You can see the order in which we set about doing that in the photos above. Have you ever had a Meyer Lemon? They are very different from the regular lemon. Please follow the link for more information on Meyer lemons.
Please see the link for Nectar and get consider signing up for her dinner club announcements. Nectar will host another Meyer Lemon menu on January 20th and there are a few spots open. I intend to produce some pints this coming week to have at Findlay. The menu featured 5 courses with Meyer lemons and at the end of the meal everyone received a Meyer lemon compliments of Madison's @ Findlay. The calamari and fried Meyer lemons were the table favorite. WoW! If you are looking for fresh Meyer lemons stop in to Findlay Market. Look for the sorbet next Saturday. I would also like to invite you to visit Madison's @ Findlay Market new web site. There are some great links there. The store has been opened up to create a comfortable shopping experience with fast check out. Since Keller's IGA closed last week consider picking up your Madisono's gelato there as well as many other staple items.
Thanks for supporting Madisono's
Matt

Sugar Plums

I would like to take this moment to wish all of our customers a very merry Christmas. It's hard to believe that this year is almost gone. If was not for our dedicated chefs, restaurant owners, store owners, buyers, department mangers, and customers like you who knows what would be in your freezer right now. It is because of your purchasing decisions that allow us to continue to make handcrafted gelato day after day.
Many of you know that we made a Sugar Plum Gelato for the Cincinnati Ballet. It has been selling at Findlay Market and selling well. I have included a few photos of the ingredients prior to mixing. My concept for sugar plum was to keep the ingredients whole or larger than what would be used if we made real sugar plums. In order to make a real sugar plum these ingredients would be chopped fine and then rolled into balls and covered with powdered sugar. I felt that something would be lost in that approach. The idea of biting into a large walnut, soft and chewy dates, candied ginger was to tempting. The result is a great tasting gelato with complex flavors and textures. We will continue to make sugar plum throughout the winter months.
The other photo is of my eggnog base. We start with bovine growth hormone free milk and cream, egg yolks sugar and a few other items for all of our gelato bases. The eggnog base contains Meyer Dark Rum, and nutmeg (shown in the photo). We legally pasteurize the base and when it is done we have eggnog. We then add a wee nip of Armagnac before we batch freeze. Don't worry there is less than one half of one percent of alcohol in the finished product. (required by law) but the without these flavors there is something missing. When we finished removing the base from the Vat Joe and I each reserved a little for ourselves. It is better than any eggnog out there. If you want to try an all natural eggnog gelato get down to Findlay Market (Madison's at Findlay 110 W. Elder St.) and pick up a pint.
Thanks for supporting Madisono's
Matt

Best of the City 2010

Last week Madisono's Gelato was invited to participate in the Best of The City party held at the Cintas Center. There were more than 450 people enjoying the best that Cincinnati has to offer from fine foods, Lego Toys, and much more. I had a great time serving Dark Chocolate Orange Gelato, Hazelnut Gelato, Butternut Squash with Sage and Date Gelato, Alphonso Mango Sorbet, Candy Cane Gelato and Caramello with Sea Salt Gelato. I had a chance to talk with everyone that stopped by to sample our handcrafted gelato and sorbet. One question that kept coming up was this. "What is the difference between your gelato and the other gelato around town?" The "What is the difference between ice cream and gelato?" question still comes up but not as often. Many of you who read this blog know that I have talked about what makes Madisono's unique and quite often I continue to reinforce the fact that Madisono's makes all of our own bases from scratch. This is a key point that is the foundation of why Madisono's is a true artisan gelato. Did you know that we make 5 different gelato bases? We make a neutral base which is used in fruit and nut flavors, a milk chocolate base, a dark chocolate base, a cinnamon base, and an eggnog base. All of our sorbet bases are also made specifically for each sorbet flavor. We are the only producer of gelato and sorbet that is a licensed milk processor registered and inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Cincinnati.
We have a HACCP plan, and because we make all of our own base we must conduct legal pasteurization according to the PMO (pasteurization milk ordinance). This allows us many advantages over gelato that is made from who knows what. First, Madisono's is in control of the small batch process from the very beginning and in charge of the chemistry. This begins with sourcing our ingredients. Secondly we use NO PRESERVATIVES! If other gelato producers are not making their own base that that means they are buying something from someone else and that means the use of preservatives and chemical additives that don't need to be there. Some examples of this would be calcium sulphate (also found in drywall) and mono diglycerides of fatty acids (cheap substitutes for egg yolks) Why not just use real egg? There are many more ingredients found in commercial ice cream mixes that are there as preservatives and most vanilla ice cream bases come with vanillin. Vanillin is a banned food ingredient by Whole Foods Markets. Thirdly, we can age our base. When we pasteurize our bases we allow them to age before use. Some gelato companies try to sell mechanical aging devices that shorten the time required to get a good base but that again is selling the process short. A good baker would never rush the proof. Why rush the base?
There are many cottage food producers and most focus on creating a product that is uniquely their own. Some have grown into household names like Amy's or LaBrea. A food artist creates something from scratch, or uses an old recipe, a food producer just produces. For some of you Madisono's is already a household name and for that I thank you.
The picture above is my dark chocolate base in the vat pasteurizer. The white is the fresh cream swirling around the agitator. That base is cooked for about 90 minutes which allows all of the solid chocolate to mix while undergoing legal pasteurization.
Thanks for supporting Madisono's
Matt