Cookstuff

Oils with oomph

The tall, blue bottles from Ojai Olive Oil are back at Santa Monica Farmers Market, except the oil inside them has changed. Since Ventura County farmer Ron Asquith and his family began bottling olive oil four years ago, they have been experimenting with varieties of the olives they grow, the ripeness they allow before pressing and the blends. This year they produced not one, but two oils. For the tall, blue bottles, they used a mix of oil from Spanish Empeltre and Italian Frantoio olives. The result has just enough of the oomph one expects from new season oil, but none of last year’s bitterness. For the first time, they have bottled a second, milder blend of French Columella and Tuscan Pendolino olives. To set this apart, they put it in a squatter, strangely fluted but also deep blue bottle. Both are perfect for Christmas presents. For friends who cook from Marcella, choose the tall oil; for more mild-mannered palates, stick with shorty.

-- Emily Green

Ojai Olive Oil, 375 ml for $18; 250 ml for $12. Santa Monica Farmers Market, Wednesdays; Ojai Farmers Market, Sundays, until the 1,300 bottles sell out.

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Dulce de lovely

Thanks to a Los Angeles entrepreneur with a yen for just the right cookie to accompany his microroasted Nicaraguan coffee, it’s now possible to get an alfajores fix without heading for the Southern Hemisphere. These little cookies -- typically dulce de leche sandwiched between tiny shortbread wafers, then dusted with powdered sugar -- originated in Spain and proliferated in the kitchens of colonial South America. They are little mouthfuls of heaven, sweet and crispy and silky at once. Curiously, until now they have been woefully difficult to find in Los Angeles. Enter Roger Navas-Balladares, who co-owns and operates Split Bean Coffee in Van Nuys. He bakes these addictive gems for online customers, offering the traditional variety, as well as versions with raspberry and guava filling and the Alfajore American, peanut butter-filled and chocolate dipped. There is also a selection of fine Nicaraguan coffees which complement the cookies perfectly. So leave a plateful out for the man in red, if they last that long.

-- Wes Bausmith

Various alfajores, $6.95 to $9.95 for a dozen (or 24 bite-size), online at www.splitbeancoffee.com. Call (818) 448-5185. Next-day delivery for orders within L.A. area; outside L.A., two-day delivery. Orders for delivery by Christmas taken through Dec. 23.