Product made at Blue Ridge Food Ventures wins national taste test
Date Posted: 10/20/2010
Bamboo pickles from generations-old family recipe recognized in Cooking Light magazine
A North Carolina company’s unique pickles made from bamboo have won a national taste test award in the artisanal foods category from the epicurean magazine Cooking Light.
 Bamboo Ladies Bamboo Pickles, described by the family that makes them as a “marriage of Southern spices and Asian culture,” preserve more than the bamboo from their three-acre grove in Wilkes County, in the mountains of Western North Carolina. They also preserve a 40-year family tradition that started with just seven sprigs of bamboo and has passed through three generations.
“We at Bamboo Ladies are thrilled that Cooking Light discovered our product and gave us this award,” said Carla Faw Squires, president of Bamboo Ladies, and granddaughter of Johnsie Walsh, who originated the recipe in 1970. “This is truly a great honor for our family.”
The pickles are completely processed by hand, from grove to table. Squires, her parents, family members and friends harvest the bamboo from the family’s grove as well as other bamboo groves within North Carolina, in order to meet demand for the product.
They processed the bamboo at a shared-use food and agribusiness incubator in Asheville, called Blue Ridge Food Ventures, where it is artistically hand-packed into jars so that the rings or circles fit inside one another, resulting in layers of bamboo rings.
“With great joy we tasted the handiwork of food artisans from every corner of the country,” said Taste Test Awards Editor Cindy Hatcher, in the October edition of Cooking Light and on the publication’s website, www.CookingLight.com. “We tasted by region...looking for examples of local excellence.”
“If you often find Southern pickles overly sweet, you'll be blown away by a tart vinegar balance and a texture that's crisp and yielding, similar to canned hearts of palm but without the metallic aftertaste,” said Hatcher, describing Bamboo Ladies Bamboo Pickles. “Charming, odd, and delicious, they're a perfect gift for the adventurous foodie.”
“Our bamboo pickles are also perfect for people who appreciate unique foods, good flavors and are supportive of small entrepreneurs and farmers,” said Squires, who founded the Raleigh-based company in 2006, which is a member of the Goodness Grows in North Carolina initiative and the North Carolina Specialty Food Association.
The pickles are sold at more than a dozen retailers across North Carolina and the Southern U.S., as well as through the company website. For a full, current list of retail outlets visit www.bambooladies.com.
In addition to the artisanal category winners, Cooking Light also taste-tested items in popular grocery store categories. All award-winners can be found in the magazine as well as online, in the “Essential Ingredients” section under the “Cooking 101” tab. Cooking Light and its website have nearly 12 million readers a month.
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CONTACT:
Carla Squires, 919-369-1944, carla@bambooladies.com
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