Wine Tour : Local Flavor: A Gastronomic Guide

Wine touring in Santa Barbara County leads naturally into shopping for food to go with the purchases. In the heart of the wine district you’ll find a good selection of regional products at El Rancho market on Highway 246 just outside Solvang.

The meat department produces the Danish sausages ( medisterpolse ) that are served in Solvang restaurants. Made of veal, pork and turkey, they are fully cooked. You simply brown them in a little butter or heat them in a microwave. If you haven’t brought a cooler, the market will pack the sausages in ice for the trip home. And they pack them thoroughly. Those I bought stayed cold for six hours. The sausages are $2.49 a pound.

El Rancho has the beef tri-tips required for Santa Ynez Valley barbecues, and the seasonings to give them proper flavor. Barry Johnson, who puts on at least 30 of these cookouts a year, recommends Snider’s Prime Rib & Roast Seasoning, which is $4.98 for a 24-ounce canister. The mix includes salt, onion, garlic, pepper, oregano, celery, paprika, rosemary and parsley. Johnson advises coating the meat thickly with seasoning, then grilling it slowly, well above the coals, and turning it frequently. He warns that if you cook the meat too quickly over high heat it will dry out.

In Santa Maria, barbecue cooks roll the tri-tips in a mixture of salt, garlic salt and pepper. Those ingredients plus parsley flakes and MSG are in Susie Q’s Genuine Santa Maria Style Seasoning. Packed by Righetti Specialties of Santa Maria, the spice mix is $3.79 for an eight-ounce jar.

Small dried pink beans called poquitos or pinquitos are as much a part of these barbecues as is the meat. El Rancho has the beans and also carries a large assortment of San Luis Sourdough breads. Try the whole-wheat walnut sourdough ($3.98 for a 1 1/2-pound loaf). It’s an interesting accompaniment to wine and cheese.

The market carries a broad selection of local wines and stocks some regional restaurant products. These include vinaigrette dressing from Mousse Odile in Santa Barbara ($3.49 for an eight-ounce bottle) and olive oil flavored with sun-dried tomatoes from Cafe Roma in San Luis Obispo ($6.99 for 12 1/2 fluid ounces).

In the produce department, I found Buellton tomatoes that were as full-flavored and sweet as if they had just been picked from a garden.

Another source for local products and wines is Nielsen’s Markets. There are two of these large supermarkets on Highway 246. One is in Buellton, just off U.S. 101. The other is located in a shopping center at the corner of Alamo Pintado Road, not far from El Rancho. Along with wine and San Luis Sourdough bread, I usually take home sackfuls of Tom’s brand potato chips and snacks. Tom’s Hot Fries are good and spicy, and the line’s Tabasco Fries really sizzle. Tom’s is headquartered in Columbus, Ga.

You can occasionally find good wine buys at Nielsen’s too. On my last visit, I picked up Firestone’s 1990 Dry Riesling for $5.99. The winery price is $9.

It may seem a long jump from tri-tip barbecues, sourdough bread and wine to Danish pastries, but the town of Solvang has a few Scandinavian specialties that are worth investigating. Eat breakfast there and you’re likely to have aebleskiver-- Danish pancake balls served with powdered sugar and jam. Gift shops carry pans with rounded indentations to shape the batter, also Danish cookbooks with the recipe. At the Solvang Restaurant on Copenhagen Drive, you can buy Arne’s of Solvang Instant Aebleskiver Mix. Two pounds of the mix ($3.95) will make 60 pancake balls. A four-pound sack is $7.25. The restaurant also has large and small aebleskiver pans and puts together a gift box that includes the mix, pan, a recipe and picture.

Although cardamom is a traditional seasoning for Scandinavian baked goods, it is unusual to find it in commercial products, even in Solvang. However, the Solvang Bakery on Alisal Road has cardamom bread. It’s a wonderfully light, sweet, braided loaf topped with a sheer coating of syrupy glaze. The price is $2.25.

Ever had a Danish pumpkin? They’ll be on hand this fall at the Solvang Farmer, a produce stand on Highway 246 between Solvang and U.S. 101. One type is yellow, the other green with yellow stripes. But the Danes don’t make pumpkin pie or jack-o’-lanterns. Arne Jacobsen, who runs the stand with son Steve, says that they turn the squash into sweet and sour pickles. The Jacobsens grow most of what they sell, including a dozen or so types of winter squash, gourds, Indian corn, apples, tomatoes, onions and garlic. But the main attraction this fall will be a three-acre display of pumpkins, ranging from normal size to 200-pounders.

The Solvang Farmer is open Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

SEE RECIPES ON H8

Prop Credits

Props in H1 bottom photos: curly willow wreath, plates (center and right photos only) and placemat from the Pavilion at Tanner Market, Pasadena.

Props in H8 photo with basket and scissors: from the Pavilion, Pasadena.