Year: 2021

In the kitchen with Gabe DiSaverio

Gabe DiSaverio combined his two greatest passions — spicy food and sharks — with the launch of The Spicy Shark (570-2604, thespicyshark.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @thespicyshark), a line of products that includes craft hot sauces, wing sauce, Sriracha, hot honey and hot syrups using all natural ingredients. Since the first bottle of hot sauce was sold in February 2019, the Portsmouth-based company has gone on to win multiple national awards, and DiSaverio and his team have participated in various festivals and shows all over the country. Born in Manhattan and raised in northern New Jersey, DiSaverio attributes his love of spicy food to his family’s introducing him to a variety of ethnic cuisines from a young age. His love of sharks, meanwhile, stems from being a lifelong fanatic of the film Jaws — today The Spicy Shark works with and donates to Save the Sharks and several other nonprofits that focus on shark conservation and education. The Spicy Shark will be a featured vendor at both the Made in New England Expo on Saturday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 5, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St.) and the Great New England Holiday Shopping Extravaganza on Friday, Dec. 10, and Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Hampshire Hills Athletic Club (50 Emerson Road, Milford). DiSaverio is also organizing a new event, the first annual New England Hot Sauce Fest, to be held at Smuttynose Brewing Co. in Hampton in July 2022. Proceeds from that festival will benefit the Blue Ocean Society and the Seacoast Science Center. Visit newenglandhotsaucefest.com.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A Vitamix blender. One thing that’s really key to our sauces is the texture. We [blend] every single one of our sauces to get that consistency that they have come to be known for.

What would you have for your last meal?

My wife’s Thanksgiving pizza. We take a Portland Pie Co. pizza dough and essentially throw all of our Thanksgiving leftovers on it.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

That’s an easy one. That would be Petey’s [Summertime Seafood & Bar] in Rye.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your sauces?

Richard Dreyfuss. … Out of the original trio in Jaws, he’s the only one of the three who is still alive. He played Matt Hooper, the marine biologist. I actually got to meet him at SharkCon in Tampa earlier this year.

What is your personal favorite sauce that you make?

Each one is so near and dear to me, but if I had to say just one it would be the Hammah Gatah. I love blazing hot heat, and this sauce is my hottest. I put it on everything.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Eating local and knowing where your food is coming from. … This is something that’s been going on for a long time but still continues to pick up more and more speed. I see a lot more people being part of CSAs now, my family included.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

This changes all the time, but I would say right now we’ve been perfecting vegan lasagna. We make our own cashew cream and our own homemade marinara sauce.

Hot honey lemon chicken
From the kitchen of Gabe DiSaverio of The Spicy Shark

⅓ cup The Spicy Shark hot honey
¼ cup lemon juice
5 to 7 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary)
1½ pounds chicken breast tenderloins
½ Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or nonstick cooking spray)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat or spray tenderloins with the olive oil or cooking spray and place in an 11×7-inch baking dish. Combine hot honey, lemon juice and rosemary into a small bowl and mix well until all ingredients are fully incorporated (if using fresh rosemary, do not put in bowl; add to baking dish in between tenderloins). Pour the sauce over the tenderloins and make sure it gets underneath. Place the baking dish in the oven uncovered and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the thermometer reaches 165 degrees. Flip the tenderloins halfway through cooking (optional: brown both sides in a hot pan on the stove if desired).

Featured photo: Gabe DiSaverio. Courtesy photo.

Farmhouse artisan

The Utopian now open in Amherst

Adam Parker’s culinary journey has taken him from upstate New York all the way down to Boca Raton, Florida, with multiple stints in New Hampshire in between. Now the seasoned chef and Nashua native has his own new spot — a cozy bistro in Amherst specializing in scratch-made small plates, entrees and monthly wine dinners.

The Utopian, now open in the MC Square plaza on Route 101A, is Parker’s first restaurant as owner. He learned about the vacant space that was previously used as A&E’s coffee roastery through a friend and said the pandemic ended up being the ultimate driving force for him.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, [but] with the pandemic I looked around and I said to myself that at any given point everything can come to a screeching halt and I’d rather be in charge of my own destiny,” said Parker, who studied at the Culinary Institute of America and most recently served as the corporate chef overseeing operations at Fratello’s Italian Grille and The Homestead Restaurant & Tavern. “From there it just slowly started coming together.”

Parker said The Utopian’s concept can best be described as “farmhouse artisan,” with tabletops made from repurposed wood and an always changing selection of locally sourced options. The eatery’s name is a nod to Sir Thomas More’s 16th-century book Utopia, a word he coined for a perfect world or place in which people can come together to live in commonality.

Photo courtesy of The Utopian.

The menu combines Parker’s own favorite foods to eat and cook with items his guests have responded well to over the course of his career. There’s a base offering of shareable plates like Parmesan chicken egg rolls, meat and cheese platters, artichoke or Buffalo chicken dips, and porcini ricotta meatballs with sage cream. But Parker has dabbled in a variety of other dishes out of the gate, from beef stroganoff and chicken Marsala to a vegan butternut squash risotto.

He has even added items to his regular menu that originated as individual customer requests.

“I just kind of listen to the environment that’s around me and I try to be in touch with what’s going on. That seems to help,” he said. “Everything’s made fresh and cooked to order, and I really love being able to individually create food for each person.”

For the last decade, Parker has owned New Hampshire Hot Sauce, a purveyor of four signature hot sauces that can be found across 50 different locations across the state, including The Utopian.

Desserts are fresh too, like chocolate peanut butter pie, Key lime pie, chocolate mousse “bombs,” and cannolis with homemade filling. The Utopian also features a full lineup of both local and imported wines, and has begun holding ticketed wine dinners, usually on the first Tuesday of each month. The next available wine dinner is scheduled for Jan. 11.

The Utopian

Where: 135 Route 101A, Unit A1, Amherst
Hours: Wednesday through Friday, 5 to 8:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
More info: Visit theutopiannh.com or find them on Facebook and Instagram

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of The Utopian.

Gourmet flavors

Delicious eats and more at Made in New England Expo

From artisan chocolates, baked goods and other sweet treats to spice mixes, hot sauces and locally roasted coffees, there will be plenty for foodies to discover at the Made in New England Expo. More than 80 vendors from across New Hampshire and its neighboring states will be selling their products under one roof during the two-day show, which returns to the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown for the fourth year on Saturday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 5.

The event was originally conceived following the success of the Made in New Hampshire Expo, a similar multi-day show typically held in late March, said organizer Heidi Copeland, publisher of Business NH magazine and owner of EventsNH.

“We actually do have quite a bit of new vendors this year, because a lot of people at the beginning of the pandemic … were thinking about what they were going to do to make a living, and they ended up starting new businesses,” Copeland said.

Made in New England Expo. Photo by Matthew Lomanno Photography.

One such company is Mixed Up Nut Butter out of Vermont, which offers a line of craft nut butters made from different tree nut blends with pecans, cashews, almonds and more. Two new small-batch coffee roasters based in the Granite State will be there too — Critical Mass Coffee, which has multiple bagged blends of organic fair trade coffee; and Hato Viejo Coffee, a purveyor that sources its beans from the Dominican Republic.

Other newcomers to this year’s expo include Sunshine Baking, a New Hampshire company offering freshly baked shortbread cookies that launched earlier this year, and Pumpkin Blossom Farm, which has several lavender-infused products like a lavender honey and a lavender blueberry drink mixer, as well as soaps, lotions, bath sprays and more.

If you’ve attended the event previously, you’ll likely encounter some familiar faces. Chrismix Candy of Concord, for instance, will be back with its sweet and salty toffees, while Thistle’s All Natural, based in Loudon, will be selling its homemade zucchini salsas.

There is also a small overlap of businesses that have participated in the Made in New Hampshire Expo in past years, like Sap House Meadery of Ossipee, which will have canned selections of its craft meads; Loon Chocolate, a producer of small-batch bean-to-bar chocolates; and Smokin’ Tin Roof, a Manchester husband-and-wife team offering specialty hot sauces, jellies and mustards.

According to Copeland, food exhibitors are not required to offer samples, but per pandemic guidelines, those who do must provide them in individually wrapped or closed containers.

In addition to specialty foods and drinks, companies will be selling everything from jewelry, clothing and personal care products to candles, wildlife photography and various home decor. Copeland said the expo is a great opportunity for attendees to get some holiday shopping done while supporting local businesses.

“There’s always that chance that people are not going to be able to find things they want to order online, or they may be delayed,” she said. “Here, you can go pick something up that’s unique and locally produced, and the money you spend stays here and goes back into the local economy.”

Made in New England Expo

When: Saturday, Dec. 4, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (Expo Center), 700 Elm St., Manchester
Cost: $9 admission for adults, $7 for seniors ages 65 and over, $2 for children ages 2 to 12 and free for children under 2 ($2 per child under 2 if bringing a stroller into the hall). Tickets are only available at the door (cash or check only).
More info: Visit madeinnewenglandexpo.com or follow them on Facebook @madeinnewenglandexpo
Face masks will be required for all attendees.

Featured photo: Made in New England Expo. Photo by Matthew Lomanno Photography.

The Weekly Dish 21/12/02

News from the local food scene

• Lamb dinners to go: Join St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (1160 Bridge St., Manchester) for its annual baked lamb dinner, a takeout-only drive-thru event happening on Sunday, Dec. 12, from noon to 2 p.m. Now through Tuesday, Dec. 7, orders are being accepted for meals featuring baked leg of lamb au jus, with rice pilaf, Greek-style green beans, a salad and bread for $20 per person. Contact Barbara George at the church office at 623-6115 or via email at [email protected] to reserve your dinner, which will be ready for pickup at the church.

• A piece of the pie: The Nashua Public Library will present a virtual event about savory pies and tarts on Monday, Dec. 6, from 7 to 8 p.m. featuring Chef Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast in Hollis. Barbour will demonstrate her favorite pie dough recipe and prepare a meat pie, with vegetarian options, and a seasonal vegetable tart. Visit nashualibrary.org to register and receive a Zoom invitation link to the event. Barbour has a full schedule of other virtual cooking events throughout the month of December. Visit thecreativefeast.com for more events.

• Brunch with Santa: Get your tickets now before they’re gone to Polar Express brunch at LaBelle Winery in Amherst (345 Route 101) on Saturday, Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. to noon. In addition to assorted scones, muffins and rolls, the menu will feature a multi-course food offering and holiday-inspired cocktails. The event also includes a screening of The Polar Express and photo opportunities with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Admission, after taxes, is $41.31 for adults and $23.09 for kids ages 3 and up. Visit labellewinery.com.

On The Job – Justin Tanner

Justin Tanner

Engraver

Justin Tanner is the owner of Rustic Cabin Designs, a laser engraving business that does custom engraving on wood and sells engraved wooden signs at the Kearsarge Business Center in Warner.

Explain your job and what it entails.

We’re a graphics design shop that does custom graphics and logos with a laser engraver. Basically, on an average day, I’m taking people’s orders, doing the programming for the machines, doing the design work, working hands-on with the materials, cutting and sanding the wood, doing the actual laser engraving and then whatever sanding or staining is involved in the finishing process.

How long have you had this job?

We are only four months old; we just started in July.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I had gotten laid off from my previous job … as a machinist. I was tired of the shop life, anyway. I was tired of punching a clock every day, working for someone else. I started looking for something different that I could do. I already had the skills, and I had just bought my own machine, so I figured, why not work for myself? I decided to take a leap and start my own business.

What kind of education or training did you need?

Formally, my education is only through high school, but I learned a lot of skills through on-the-job training. I have 20 years of experience working in a shop as a CNC machinist.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Just jeans or a pair of shorts, and a T-shirt.

What was it like starting this business during the pandemic?

We definitely ran into some issues. The biggest one has been getting the supply. We ordered a lot of lumber online, and the delivery times are just so unpredictable right now, and that’s if [the lumber] is even available at all. It’s been taking two or three times longer than it should to get here.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

Try to learn as much as you can, and take any advancement opportunities that present themselves.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I wish people realized the amount of time and work it takes. There’s the logistics of getting the materials; doing the programming and design work; the fixturing and workholding to actually get [the wood] into the [engraving] machine; the tooling for the machines, and the finishing process, so there’s a lot that goes into making a final product from scratch.

What was the first job you ever had?

I was a dishwasher at Colby-Sawyer College.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Never give up.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Favorite movie: Happy Gilmore
Favorite music: hard rock
Favorite food: pizza
Favorite thing about NH: the history

Featured photo: Justin Tanner. Courtesy photo.

Treasure Hunt 21/12/02

Dear Donna,

Can you help identify this piece? It’s 14 inches long and marked US Standard. It also has measurements from top to bottom.

Brittney from Salem

Dear Brittney,

What you have is an older ring sizer. If you slide your ring on it you will be able to tell your accurate size.

Most of these were and still are used by jewelers in determining a person’s ring size. They are not uncommon. Most people like yourself don’t recognize what they are for, so they go unnoticed.

The value is in the $30 range. Not a high value for something so useful, right?

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