Tucked into the ground floor of a brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is Blue Apron Foods. Billed as "Purveyors of Cheese, Charcuterie and Fine Foods," Ted Matern and Alan Palmer have been supplying the neighborhood with Montgomery Cheddar, smoked salmon, fresh-baked breads and SO much more for 10 years.
In the interest of sentiment and full disclosure, I must tell you I used to work at Blue Apron. I was there the day they opened their doors to the curious and hungry masses. As an original "Apronette," I spent several years cracking open giant wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano, getting schooled in the art of hand-slicing and learning more than I ever thought possible about the difference between frankfurters and wieners. Yes, Ted and Alan know their stuff.
The massive amount of shared food knowledge the staff possesses is one of their trademarks. Ask a question about unpasteurized cheese and prepare to take notes! Want to know what happens when a sharp knife meets an entire side of salmon? Hang out by the charcuterie case and watch Jay or Ted work their magic.
The look, feel and majority of inventory are straight out of Europe, but Ted and Alan have been championing real food artisans since they started. Their interest and dedication to sourcing quality foodstuffs from local or small-time producers earned Blue Apron Foods the Snail of Approval from Slow Foods NYC.
I sat down with Alan recently to discuss this interesting balancing act between old world and new, any upcoming trends and people's growing interest in food in general.
Here is what Alan had to say (or you can read the transcript of the audio interview, below):
Tomiko Peirano: I’m here at Blue Apron in Park Slope, Brooklyn talking to Alan Palmer who is a co-founder of this specialty food store along with Ted Matern. Alan, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.
Alan Palmer: Oh Tomi, it’s always great when you stop by.
AP: I appreciate the locavore aspects of food, but I also honor and love the traditions of Europe too. So I try to carry a little of both. Some of the local food isn’t as good as it’s European original. So I’ll carry the original and not the new version.
TP: Do you find people being more curious about the sources of their products?
AP: Yes, definitely. People are much more interested in learning the history of what they’re eating and where it’s coming from and how it was made. You know, it’s not just buying a piece of cheese anymore. Which is the one thing makes a store like mine different from some of the bigger stores. You can ask a question and get a knowledgeable answer. And I try to find more and more local producers than I ever have before, but as in everything in life, just because it’s local doesn’t mean its good. I won’t buy anything for this store until I’ve tasted it. I just don’t buy something and put it on the shelf. I personally have to be involved.
TP: What do you think the next big trend in food is going to be? I think pickles right now are kind of hot and crazy.
AP: Pickles, chutneys, jam, curing your own meats, butchering. You know in a lot of ways, it’s all the stuff that my grandmother did has been rediscovered again because it got lost.
TP: I really like that aspect of people rediscovering the kitchen and not necessarily going out and buying everything. I think a lot of people are also attempting to make fresh cheeses at home. Do you think that’s ever going to become as popular as something like chutney?
AP: It’s so much more technically involved. It’s very easy to make simple cheeses, cottage cheeses, ricotta, curds and whey, but to try to make real cheese at home is a difficult process. You have to have controlled atmospheres to age it in, and the key in all of that home cheese-making is milk. In order to make great cheese in an urban center, you have to have access to great milk.
TP: Raw milk?
AP: Raw milk and that’s really good. And that’s not easy to do. In today’s health laws, I don’t think that’s ever going to become something that’s going to be really readily available to people, it will always be a specialty thing.
TP: Do you have any concerns about raw milk?
AP: No, not at all. I love raw milk
TP: I love it too!
AP: (laughing) I don’t have a concern about anything! I’ll eat anything.
TP: Alright, I think that’s all the questions I have for you today. Again, thanks so much for you time and I’m sure I’ll be talking to you again in the future.
AP: Thank you, Tomi.
Do you agree with Alan, or do you think "local" is always better?
