Is our salt cocaine?  Of course not!  But Craig Fahle of NPR thought some of names sounded like it.  (Bolivian Rose, anyone?) You can hear the entire interview with Beyond the Shaker President Christopher McVety and COO Tyler McVety here.  Start at 1:13:30 to hear the beginning of the piece.

During the conversation with the Beyond the Shaker founders you’ll hear them discuss how our salts are naturally produced.  No machine touches our product before it reaches your table.  This is just one of the reasons the taste explodes onto your food as we support the Farm to Fork movement.

Listen to the interview to hear a special announcement from Chris.  If you live in Chicago our salts are coming to a store near you!

We are forced to ask the question, is the culinary world ready for savory, salted, marshmallows? This quandary arises as a result of Beyond the Shaker’s invitation to participate in Odd Pairs, a Chicago-based food competition. Odd Pairs brings together some of the most exciting, small scale, food producers in the Midwest by pairing them together with the goal to develop a single culinary dish that highlights, in an ‘odd’ way, the culinary specialities of each participant. The invite-only event is attended by restauranteurs, food bloggers, chefs, and other culinary folk in the regional food industry. The upcoming Odd Pairs event is on March 26th from 7-9pm with a special media/VIP mixer at 6pm at 2023 West Carroll Avenue, Suite 401, in Chicago.

Some of the participants in March will be Ineeka Teas, Das Foods, Goose Island Brewery, Fig Catering, and of course, Beyond the Shaker. At the end of the evening one team is awarded the coveted Tastemaker prize for having the most popular Odd Pair. During the October 2009 Odd Pairs, NBC Chicago’s DC Crenshaw was one of the celebrity judges.

Odd Pairs is hosted by two amazing Chicago companies, both of which are friends and business-mentors to Beyond the Shaker, Crop to Cup and Bean and Body. Previous menu items from the event included Smoke Brisket Slider with Fig Earl Grey Preserves (from Goddess and Grocer & Rare Bird Preserves) and Black Bean and Banana Empanada with Blood Orange Infused Olive Oil (from Simone’s and Sonoma Farms).

So what the heck does all this have to do with savory, salted, marshmallows? WELL, Beyond the Shaker was fortunate enough to be paired with FIG Catering and its wickedly brilliant Chef Molly. During our first brainstorming event, Molly uttered two words that might forever change how we view that fluffy little white confection – “SAVORY MARSHMALLOW.” There was no denying that this was certainly an odd pair; marshmallows in their natural state are the furthest from the savory as could be imagined. It was suggested that a successful odd pair would be one that captures the imagination by flagrantly defying expectations. In this way, we are expanding the culinary diction by forcing a break in the bounds of what can (and should) be combined to produce a tasty food item.

I met with Molly last week after she had a chance to explore some of the most popular Beyond the Shaker salts in the comfort of the FIG Catering kitchen, and WOW did she push the envelope. Although I had a dinner later in the evening, Molly slapped around my culinary expectations with savory marshmallows each made from avocados, garlic, tomato and ginger. Purely because we could, Molly also decided to torch the heck out of a avocado marshmallow to discover what flavors would emerge (as you can see, we did not have fire safety in mind as a first priority when this was done on a wood table, but it was all in the name of righteous flavor so that made it OK).

We also tried some delicious spiced aztec hot cocoa with a Hot Habanero Salted Marshmallow and freshly fried tortilla chips (seen in the picture above). But the overall winner was this amazing organic carrot soup that Chef Molly concocted. To this we added several different savory marshmallows based on the flavors that harmonized with the soup. The savory marshmallows would melt as they were stirred into the soup creating a creamy explosion of salt and yum (get your mind out of the gutter). Our goal in this tasting session was to derive a single menu item for the upcoming Odd Pairs event, and it was clear to us that a combination of organic carrot soup and savory, salted, marshmallows was the ticket. Our offering would include three different types of flavored marshmallow to allow the taster to experiment with the delectable culinary options.

And so, our final menu item is as follows:

Organic Springtime Carrot Soup With Trio of Savory, Salted Micro-Marshmallow Accoutrements including, Roasted Garlic Shallot Salted Marshmallow (based on the Beyond the Shaker Garlic Shallot Salt), Ginger Wasabi Lemongrass Salted Marshmallow (based on the Everest Wet Salt), and Smokey Bacon Fumee de Sel Marshmallow (based on our Fumee de Sel).

We are incredibly excited about this event, and will keep you updated as preparations continue as we take Odd Pairs by storm.

Had an amazing weekend at the Chicago Merchandise Mart (dang that thing is big) Gift and Giving Show. Thanks everyone that came out to meet us and taste our distinctive unrefined salts and handmade blends. Chef Eric and our wonderful Chicago representative, Janelle (janelle@beyondtheshaker.com) did Beyond the Shaker proud with lots of in-person time for potential retail sellers.

The show goes until until January 26th so feel free to stop by and try some of the ridiculously simple gourmet offerings that Chef Eric has whipped up with Beyond the Shaker unrefined salts and handmade blends. The most interesting revelation from my time at the show was a. there is a lot of ‘get rich quick’ products out there (fancy desserts in a fricking preservative-filled bottle that you can make at home in your microwave…uh, no thanks!) b. folks are concerned about sodium intake, and c. fear of the strength of the economy, especially in the midwest, continues to shackle growth.

To point c., it is time to take a stance and jump in with both feet. We are in an incredibly unique situation in time and economic history, so rather than tucking away funds under an aged mattress, use that money to grow and build. Enough. I say this not as a producer, but as a consumer. We have languished for long enough, and now is the time to move forward. Come on! And heck, unrefined salt is a great cause (health, culinary, and otherwise) in many ways, so spreading the word by purchasing or reselling our products cannot be half bad, right!?

Anyway, here is another picture from the show. Enjoy!

If you are interested in premium unrefined salts, distinctive hand blended salts, or just food in general, and you live in the Detroit area, you are in some incredible luck. One of our favorite retail locations, Bonnie’s Kitchen, is hosting a fantastic salt event on February 6, 2010 from 1-2pm EST. In order to take part in the event, you must RSVP by calling (248) 540-4001. Bonnie’s Kitchen is located at 6527 Telegraph Road.

We know what you are thinking…an event as colossally yumtastic as this, must be incredibly expensive. Well your luck just keeps getting better (go play the lottery or something), because this salt event is completely and utterly free. You heard (read) that right. You will pay nada for this informative and delicious opportunity to try Beyond the Shaker salts, and you might even learn a thing or two in the process!

So come on out and don’t forget to RSVP!

Two more great articles appeared in October 2009 about Beyond the Shaker, and so in case you missed them, the first was in Traverse Magazine and the second was written by the wonderfully creative Elena Ferretti for FOXNews.com in its FOXfoodie section.

Of course we are thrilled with all of the media attention Beyond the Shaker has received, and we graciously thank all of our supporters!

Taking a step back from the news, as we peer into the future, it is clear there will be a day when unrefined salts dominate (in a graceful manner befitting such a regal flavor enhancer) the tables of every home, kitchen and restaurant across the US and abroad. We are proud to be part of that brave new world of salinity as there is culinary awakening to the advantages of naturally unrefined salts versus that ‘other stuff’….

Keep spreading the word, and we will keep sourcing and blending premium gourmet salts.

This past weekend we participated in our very first food show! The show was called Beneath the Wreath which is organized by a great group of women at the Junior League of Grand Rapids Michigan. Being our first show, we really didn’t know what to expect so we packed our cars with literally every jar and sample we had available in our warehouse and drove it all to the show.

After setting up our booth on Thursday afternoon, we stayed at a local hotel and eagerly awaited the start of the show the next morning. Needless to say, Beyond the Shaker was a HUGE hit! The first day we sold out completely of our Garlic Shallot blend, and the second day we were totally depleted of Chef’s Blend (no one could resist the mouth-watering thought of rubbing some on a juicy steak before throwing it on the grill).

In front of each of our salts we had a little bowl with some of the salt in it for “sniffing” which worked out very well. Everyone was really impressed by how great they smelled.

On the final day of the show we pretty much sold every single jar we had left which made packing up and coming home a breeze. All-in-all it was a great experience, and we expect to be back next year with even more jars to ensure there is enough salt available to keep all of the folks in Grand Rapids happy.

Thanks to everyone who supported us, and bought jars of salt! Please leave any comments or feedback below as we love to hear testimonials from your salty adventures.

Great news! Beyond the Shaker continues its media blitz with two fantastic articles during the month of November in Detroit Hour Magazine and Traverse Magazine. In case you missed them, here is a link to the online version of the Hour Magazine Article and a separate link to the Traverse Magazine article. Thanks everyone for the continued support.

Beyond the Shaker’s founders, Chris and Tyler, were tipped off (by the BTS FedEx delivery person! Thanks FedEx!) to an incredible radio program airing on WJR 760 AM Radio in Detroit Michigan. The show is titled “Come to the Table” and over an hour of interview time, it highlights some of the great happenings in food in Michigan and the surrounding region.

The show featuring Beyond the Shaker aired at 3pm ET on October 18, 2009 and can be heard here (seriously, it is pretty fun, but don’t take our word for it…listen for yourself): click on this link to find a streaming copy of the audio (scroll down to the October 18th show in the middle of the page). You can also directly download the audio file here to play on iTunes or as a pdocast (remember to have your speakers on and be patient as it takes some time to load).

As soon as we got word of the show, Tyler sent an introductory email to its host, Steve Stewart (a ridiculously great guy…and “ridiculously” is reserved for some seriously great folks), along with a FedEx (of course) of several of our Beyond the Shaker salt samples and a set of our distinctive jars containing a few of our all natural blends. Steve got back to us in no time, and we scheduled an interview with him in the downtown Detroit, Michigan studio of WJR radio. At Steve’s suggestion, Chris decided to fly into Detroit from Chicago (an ordeal unto itself as Chris arrived only minutes before the show was to tape) so the show could be recorded live rather than over the phone. This made all the difference in the world, as being together certainly improved an already lively dialogue between an expert interviewer (Steve) and the founders of Beyond the Shaker (Ty and Chris). Steve and his colleagues were incredibly cordial and we had a remarkable time together discussing salt and the vision of Beyond the Shaker.

We are huge fans of Come to the Table and hope you will be too. As an interesting side note (maybe only to me, but whatever), our family listened to the radio show live over the Internet from a vacation in Dublin, Ireland (6 hours difference, CT). Still incredibly fun and we celebrated with Bushmills 18 Year Irish Whiskey, which certainly is none too shabby. Thanks again everyone for the support and well wishes!

A great article about Beyond the Shaker appeared in the Detroit News earlier this week. We are really pleased with all of the press we have been receiving over the last two months. Thanks everyone for the support.

It was fantastic working with Jennifer Youssef and her photographers at the Detroit News on this article and we are proud to be part of the vibrant Michigan economy as it continues to transform itself. Maybe instead of “Pure Michigan” as a slogan, the state should adopt the tagline “Moving from Cars to Cuisine”?! We will see….

And as an update there are many exciting things in the works at Beyond the Shaker which we are rolling out for the holiday season including some fantastic gift ideas and new salt sets. Get ready.

Beyond the Shaker was featured in an article in the Sunday September 6, 2009 edition of the Oakland Press and we are just pleased as punch! The article contains a picture of the two Beyond the Shaker founders, Chris and Tyler, standing outside of a restaurant in West Bloomfield, Michigan, from earlier in the summer of 2009. To read the article click on this link- (link to PDF version of Oakland Press Article About Beyond the Shaker – the picture is a bit granular, but heck, so are some of our salts!). Thanks everyone for the continued support!