snacQ White truffles The white truffle from Alba is the Tuber magnatum,  or trifola d’Alba Madonna (“Truffle of the White Madonna” in Italian; Tuber Magnatum Pico or Alba truffle). You can find it mainly in the Langhe and Montferrat areas of the Piedmont region in northern Italy. Most famously, in the countryside around the cities of Alba and Asti. The Italian White Truffle is one of the most expensive and prestigious organic specialty food products in the world. This is due to its unique and exceptional flavour and its rarity. Truff ..read more

snacQ Black truffles In this post I will focus on the best places on Internet for buying the highest quality black and white truffle and related products like truffle oil, pasta, butter etc. online. For me truffles are one of the most delicious fine foods in the world. Due to their scarcity and near-impossibility to grow and harvest they are also one of world’s most expensive foods. There are more and more natural truffles and organic, vegan, non-GMO genuine truffle products that you can buy online. But which online stores are the best and which online stores can deliver to your country? What ..read more

snacQ What would our food be without spices, herbs and condiments? How would we flavour our dishes? What natural substances would we use to colour food? And what about the other uses in cosmetics, perfume, medicine and even religious rituals? For that humankind from th beginning of history has had spices, herbs and condiments. What is the difference between spices, herbs and condiments? Spices are plant subtances like fruits, seeds, root, bark. etc. mainly used together with foods to flavour, colour or preserve foods. They are added early in the preparation of food. Herbs ..read more

snacQ In the country where I now live, France, artisan or artisanal cheese – ‘fromage artisanal’ – is really something quite normal. Neither is farmstead or farmhouse cheese – ‘fromage fermier’. You can buy it everywhere in France – and more and more also at reasonable prices in the rest of the EU. For the French artisan or farmhouse cheese is nothing more than how since many centuries many French cheese makers have been making and today in many places are still producing farmhouse cheese. With the high quality and taste the French consumer expects from his or her cheese. Before the productio ..read more

snacQ Gourmet food comes under so many different names that it is confusing. Also for us here at SNACQ. Biodynamic, organic, natural, whole, inorganic, non-organic, conventional, processed, natural , whole, pasture-raised, grass-fed. But what does it mean? What are the differences? Is the one food (or dink or beverage) healthier than the other? Or is it only marketing lingo? And it seems to differ per country or region? And what about fine food? The same here: what is the difference with specialty food, gourmet food, luxury food? Do they refer to different types of food? Can they also be biod ..read more

snacQ Black Pigs in Dehesa Is Jamón Ibérico or Iberian ham world’s best dry-cured ham?  Anyway, Jamón ibérico is one of the most important food items of the Spanish cuisine (along with other dishes such as gazpacho and paella). Jamón Ibérico (Iberico Ham) is the highly prized ham made from the Iberico pig, which is bred in Southwestern Spain and Southwestern Portugal.These pigs are known for feeding on acorns, and are cured from fourteen to thirty six months. Guinness World Records has also recognised it as the world’s most expensive ham. The most expensive leg o ..read more

snacQ Cocoa Powder Chocolatiers who want to distinguish themselves label their chocolate bars ‘bean to bar‘. Is it just another marketing trick of smart chocolate companies or does it really represent a high-quality and sustainable product. And is ‘bean to bar’ chocolate per definition organic? In this post I will explain the trade model behind bean to bar. I will also highlight three chocolatiers from Italy (Amedei), France (Puyricard) and the USA (Vosges Haut-Chocolat). They all produce such high-quality and sustainable bean-to-bar chocolate. As we will see in this article, bean to bar does ..read more

snacQ The most expensive cheese in the world is Pule cheese, or magareći sir. It is a Serbian cheese consisting of 60% of donkey milk of Balkan donkeys and 40% of goat milk. Pule Cheeses from Donkey Milk Artisan cheese makers produce Pule cheese in Zasavica Nature Reserve in Serbia. A distinctive dairy product of Serbian cuisine, pule cheese is the “world’s most expensive cheese”, fetching up to 1,500 Euros per kilogram. The reason it is so expensive because of its scarcity. Only about 100 jennies (female donkeys) produce milk f ..read more

snacQ Dark Chocolate Eating dark chocolate is good for you. For many chocoholics – like me – it is one of the greatest delights in life. But you have to be aware where it comes from and how it is produced. You have to look at the label. Otherwise you are still eating a lump of processed sugar and unsaturated fats. More and more chocolate factories are producing organic and fair trade chocolate. Some of them have even become luxury brands. Like To’ak Chocolate, which produces one of the most expensive chocolates in the world. The most expensive chocolate ever sold according to th Guinnes ..read more

snacQ Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake = syn. T. nauseosum = syn. Armillaria ponderosa) is the common name for a highly sought  mushroom that grows in Asia, Europe, and North America. It is prized in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisine for its distinct spicy-aromatic odor. Habitat and Distribution Matsutake in Forest Matsutake mushrooms grow under trees and are usually concealed under litter on the forest floor, forming a symbiotic relationship with roots of various tree species. They grow in Canada, China, Eston ..read more