The Charlottesville 29

Photo by Justin Ide.

On Fridays, we feature five food finds selected by local chefs and personalities.  This week’s picks come from Sara Adduci, cheesemonger of Feast!.  Last weekend, Adduci helped make Charlottesville proud at The Cheesemonger Invitational, in New York City, where top cheesemongers from around the country competed against one another in cutting, selling, tasting, wrapping, and proving their cheese knowledge.  Adduci finished in 4th place while fellow Charlottesville monger Nadjeeb Chouaf took 2nd place.  A great showing for Charlottesville.  Adduci’s picks:

1)  Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit at Ace Biscuit & Barbecue.  “I just adore breakfast and brunch foods and these are simply fantastic! It’s truly hard for me to pick a single item in this category, because I also have a big crush on the ginger scones from Albemarle Baking Company and the BFP (big f****ing pancake) with bacon from Brookville.”

2)  Spanish Tuna Salad and White Bean Salad from Feast! with Pea Shoots from Manakintowne Specialty Growers. “Mix these three items together in a bowl and you get my ever-so-lazy, non-cooking, dinner or lunch more often than I care to admit.”

3)  African Curry Powder from The Spice Diva.  “Simply saute any gorgeous, local veggies that suit your fancy with garlic, onions, and this flavorful, not too hot, green curry, top with toasted pine nuts and serve over the nutty, Kagayaki 6 Grain Rice blend from Seafood @ West Main. Delish.”

4)  Farmhouse Dry Cider from Potter’s Craft Cider.  “I love this stuff, in all its bone dry, bubbly, apple-y glory. It is great on its own and also great as a cocktail mixer. I like it with the brown liquors, but I seriously think you could use it wherever club soda is called for with great success. I have some mulberry gin steeping and I look forward to trying them together.”

5)  Linguica Sausage from The Rock Barn. “I just can’t get over my deep affection for this Portuguese style sausage. I make a simple marinara with a couple of links of this sausage pulled from the casing, add fresh sheep and goat milk ricotta from Twenty Paces, some fresh spinach or basil and serve it over pasta. Then, the next day I take the leftover sauce, add black beans, and serve an over-easy egg on top. So good.”