Last winter the Mala Market, an excellent online source for Chinese ingredients, introduced a sampler package of assorted regional Chinese noodles: Sichuan wheat, Chongqing sweet potato glass, Yunnan rice and Guangdong wide rice. Now it’s back in stock and worth having on hand for a range of dishes, including dan dan mian; ma yi shang shu, or “ants climbing a tree”; and chow fun.
Mala Market Regional Chinese Noodle Collection, $49, themalamarket.com.
A Shochu With a Steakhouse Pedigree
Shochu, the centuries-old Japanese spirit, has a new expression for the American market. After falling for shochu years ago, Bruce Bozzi, who worked at his family’s Palm restaurants, and his business partner, Sondra Baker, an entrepreneur, decided to produce their own brand, Mujen. They collaborated with Junko Tsusumi, an experienced distiller in Kumamoto Prefecture. Shochus are distilled from various grains and vegetables; the base for Mujen is rice. Shochu is usually somewhat lower in alcohol than other white spirits like vodka; and true to form, Mujen, with a bright clean flavor and a slightly fruity aroma, is 70 proof. They have gone even lower, to 46 proof, for their Ai Lite, which seems almost as full-bodied as the original. Both are excellent in many cocktails.
Mujen, $39.99; Ai Lite, $34.99, shopmujen.com.
A Life Recalled Through Cassoulet
A magazine assignment in hand, the Swiss-born food and travel writer Sylvie Bigar went off to Southwest France in 2008 to discover what made cassoulet — the region’s bean-based tour-de-force casserole — tick. The mouthwatering odyssey became a book, “Cassoulet Confessions,” which examines her own family going back generations including during World War II, her childhood and, finally, her connection to Judaism. The chefs Paul Bocuse and Daniel Boulud are among the culinary stars who glitter in this often poignant and conflicted account. She ties cassoulet to cholent, the Jewish overnight bean casserole, though she does not follow it into Morocco’s dfina, a similar stew. Several complex, time-consuming recipes and one shortcut are included.
“Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and the Stew That Saved My Soul” by Sylvie Bigar (Hardie Grant $24.99)
MAD Maximalist Cutting Boards and Knives
To accompany its new exhibition, “Machine Dazzle x Queer Maximalism,” the Museum of Arts and Design has added a collection of confetti-patterned cutting boards and cheese knives. Keep them in mind for gifts; the confetti pattern would suit a New Year’s Eve celebration. Designed by the Brooklyn-based Fredericks and Mae, they’re made of heavy-duty dishwasher-safe plastic. Red-blue-yellow-green-white is in stock now; red, green and blue, and black and white will be available soon. The boards come 6-by-8 inches ($46) and 11-by-16 inches ($116), and there is a three-knife set ($38); members get a discount.
Fredericks and Mae cutting boards and cheese knives, madmuseum.org.
Single-Origin Madagascar Chocolate Bars Are Beyond Good
Among bean-to-bar chocolate makers, Beyond Good, a company with offices in Brooklyn, is unusual. Not only is the source of most of its chocolate Madagascar, but the entire production is also on the island. All additional ingredients like vanilla are locally grown as well and the company employs Malagasy workers in its factory. The chocolate is also organic. The company has just introduced three single-origin bars, each displaying an alluring fruitiness in the chocolate. There’s one with crunchy bits of plantain and sea salt, another with fleur de sel and a third with vanilla. The small batch bars are 2.64 ounces each, $8, and also come in a gift set of three for $24.99. Individual bars are also sold at Whole Foods.
Beyond Good, beyondgood.com.
Flatiron Wines & Spirits Makes a Move
After 10 years and running out of space, Flatiron Wines & Spirits has relocated a short distance south into a storefront more than double the size. There’s room for another 1,000 labels in the new store, which, like the original, is a no-frills affair. “We’re a very Francophile shop,” said Clara Dalzell, the general manager, “and now we have room to display more wines from other regions.” She said their New York State offerings have gone from 15 to 20 to around 60. The store can also stock deeper selections of categories like Beaujolais crus. The array of spirits has also doubled. And there’s a mezzanine where Ms. Dalzell plans a full schedule of classes and tastings. There is a companion store in San Francisco.
Flatiron Wines & Spirits, 873 Broadway (18th Street), 212-477-1315, flatiron-wines.com.
