SHOPPING : Local Products: Melons, Grapes and Olive Oil

Mediterranean chefs live and die by their choice of olive oil. At least that’s what chef James Sly says. He should know: Earlier this summer, Sly, executive chef of Santa Barbara’s El Encanto Hotel, won the classic division of a bouillabaisse contest at the Brander Vineyard in Los Olivos. His winning entry was a soup infused with olive oil.

But Sly didn’t use a European olive oil; he went for the extra virgin olive oil produced by the Santa Barbara Olive Co.

“I like to use it because of the fruity flavor and the perfume,” Sly says, “and also because it’s a regional ingredient.”

It’s a big, full-flavored oil that works well with such simple foods as crostini (toasted bread). Brush thin slices of French bread with the oil on one side and place the slices under the broiler until they are lightly toasted. Then turn the bread, brush the other side with olive oil and broil again. You can top the bread off with grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.

The Santa Barbara Olive Co. is headquartered in Solvang but distributes some of its products at such Los Angeles area stores as Vons, Mayfair, the Irvine Ranch Market, Ralphs and Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods.

The oil comes in bottles and in quart and gallon cans. Unfortunately, the cans are not shipped here. Colorfully decorated with scenes of the Santa Barbara mission, they would make a handsome accent to a kitchen shelf. Also, the canned oil is less expensive. A 1-quart can is $7.99, while a 750 ml. bottle is $8.99. But if it is any consolation, there is a 375 ml. bottle with an attractive mission label too.

Cantaloupe, honeydew, Persian, Sharlyn, canari, orange flesh, Santa Claus, casaba, watermelon. Those might be enough melons for most people, but determined aficionados hunt out such super-sweet and aromatic varieties as Galia and Saticoy melons, not to mention French Morning and Afternoon melons (no, there’s no night melon). These won’t be around very long, but Irvine Ranch Farmers Market has them now.

The French melons are small, green-fleshed and intensely sweet. The Galia is slightly larger, green-fleshed and also very sweet. The Saticoy is football shaped, with a pale yellow skin under its natural netting. The flesh is orange and very aromatic. Irvine sells them all at the same price: $2.98 a pound.

If the growers of Superior Seedless table grapes have their way, the fat and sassy sweet green grapes will be as famous as the mighty Thompson seedless. “We are trying to give (the variety) a little more identity and further differentiate it from Thompson seedless,” says David Marguleas, spokesperson for Sun World International, which farms the bulk of them.

The Thompson seedless is the top table grape in California, responsible for almost 50% of the crop, according to Marguleas. The upstart Superior Seedless already accounts for 5% of the crop, which Sun World says makes it one of three or four leading varieties.

Slightly thicker-skinned and more round than the Thompson seedless, Superior also has more distinctive flavor. That’s because its ancestry includes a dose of Muscat. Picking started in the Coachella Valley in June. The grapes are now coming from the San Joaquin Valley and will be around until mid-August.