Tourists from around the country visit two local shops on a
California food celebration
The sweet scents of vanilla and sugar perfumed the air of the
tiny room, and the steam from the double boilers melting caramels
and chocolate created the sense of being in an extremely fragrant
sauna.
But the 25 or so visitors to DeBrito’s Chocolate Factory in
Hollister this week didn’t seem to mind the humidity, or being
cramped in a room filled with marshmallows, nuts, apples and
chocolate.
Tourists from around the country visit two local shops on a California food celebration
The sweet scents of vanilla and sugar perfumed the air of the tiny room, and the steam from the double boilers melting caramels and chocolate created the sense of being in an extremely fragrant sauna.
But the 25 or so visitors to DeBrito’s Chocolate Factory in Hollister this week didn’t seem to mind the humidity, or being cramped in a room filled with marshmallows, nuts, apples and chocolate.
They watched quietly for a few minutes as dozens of Granny Smith apples were dipped into melted caramel, but when a DeBrito’s employee began decorating the apples with cashews, a woman turned to her companion and whispered, “Boy, they’d better be giving out samples later.”
The stop at DeBrito’s was one of the first on the Slice of California tour, hosted by “Taste of Home,” a national cooking magazine produced by Reiman Publications. “Taste of Home” features home-style recipes submitted by its readers. Although one of its sister publications, “Country,” has offered tours before, this was the first tour sponsored through “Taste of Home.”
“We’ve done worldwide country tours before, and we really wanted to expand to include a tour focusing on food and cooking,” Ann Kaiser, editor of “Country Woman” magazine said. “When we began planning the tour, I called Mari Rossi at B&R Farms [in Hollister] and bounced the idea off of her. Mari gave us lots of great ideas and suggestions as to places we should visit.”
Billed as a “celebration of food, from the field to the table,” the Slice of California tour included visits to Hollister’s B&R Farms, LJB Farms in Gilroy, Joan and Peter’s German Restaurant in San Juan Bautista and Castroville’s Ocean Mist Farms, the country’s largest artichoke operation. Other highlights of the five-day, four-night tour were a garlic-infused lunch prepared by Gilroy chefs Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo, a trip to Capitola, a visit to the Annieglass dinnerware shop run by artist Ann Morhauser, a tour of Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville for a taste of ollalieberry pie, a visit to Cannery Row in Monterey, lunch at Clementine’s Kitchen with local food writer Dorothy McNett and a private cooking demonstration at the Gilroy home of Natalie and Gary Tognetti that included a dinner featuring “Taste of Home” recipes.
“Taste of Home” began advertising for the tour in early 2007. The plan originally was to take two groups of approximately 40 people each to Central California over a two-week period later that summer. However, interest in the tour was so great, Kaiser said, that an additional two weeks were added and eventually about 150 people from 14 different states signed up for the trip.
“This is really a fun trip for those who like to cook and eat,” she said. “We wanted to make the trip shorter so that a group of friends could come out and not be gone a long time. It really seems to have generated a lot of interest.”
As the group walked through DeBrito’s, owner Alene DeBrito and her employees explained to their guests the process of making DeBrito caramel apples, which were recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the five best caramel apples in the country. DeBrito’s features approximately 41 specialty caramel apples, with such names as the Aftershock, the Triple Threat and the Great Ball of Fire, but on this day the visitors saw employees preparing Apple S’mores (caramel, graham cracker crumbs and marshmallows covered in milk chocolate) and Colossal Cashews (roasted and salted cashews in caramel and covered in milk chocolate).
“How do you know how far to put the sticks in?” asked Judy Fuehrer of Nebraska, as she watched the apples being assembled. “And how do you get them so straight? Mine at home never stay straight like that.”
The group watched as the five or so employees hand-placed nuts and marshmallows on the apples at a rather quick pace, as the factory needed to finish approximately 4,000 apples by the end of the week, including 150 Apple Pie a la Mode apples for a wedding party.
“This is incredible,” Mary Meyer of Wisconsin said. “Look at the way they do everything by hand.”
“And they can’t lick their fingers, either,” added her husband, Joseph.
Next, the group moved to the packing room to see the different gift boxes and wrappings DeBrito’s uses for its products. As guests asked about online orders and shipping, they heard a story about film legend Elizabeth Taylor ordering 75 apples as party favors for her 75th birthday.
“Well, if they are good enough for Liz, I’ll have to try one,” joked one man as he reached for a sample of an Earthquake caramel apple.
At the end of the approximate 30-minute tour, guests swarmed the factory’s gift shop, loading up on apples as well as DeBrito’s chocolate covered apricots, award-winning butter almond toffee and truffles. As they shopped, participants shared their thoughts on the tour.
“What I like about it is that you get to meet the people involved in making different things and get to taste so many great foods,” Meyer said, as her husband added, “And you get to see how they do it all.”
The Meyers are farmers, and enjoy spending their vacations on the Reiman tours. Slice of California was the couple’s 12th tour with the company, Meyer said.
“We really like traveling, and these tours are great because we don’t have to do any of the planning, but we get to go on the best tours and eat at the best restaurants,” she said. “We also enjoy seeing the different agricultural areas and the different types of crops grown out here.”
Although many in the group wore a ribbon attached to their name tag dubbing them a “frequent Country Miler,” there were a few first-timers. Claudia Bush of Idaho made the trip with her sister, and said she couldn’t believe how much fun they were having.
“I saw the advertisement in ‘Taste of Home’ and called my sister to see if she wanted to go and she said yes,” Bush said. “We asked our husbands, and they said nope, so here we are. And it’s definitely a fun group. It’s diverse but filled with just really nice people. They are taking really good care of us.”
Leda Bishoff of Illinois said she was fascinated by the detailed preparation of the caramel apples.
“It’s really interesting to see the process, and it opens up so many possibilities,” she said. “It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m sure I’ll try something similar on my own. They have a German chocolate cake apple. That was mine and my husband’s wedding cake, so I really want to try that one.”
Bishoff said what interested her most about the tour was the opportunity to see how different types of foods were produced and distributed.
“It’s a chance to get the story behind it all,” she said. “It gives you a little bit more of an appreciation about where your food comes from and what it takes to get it to you. It doesn’t just come from a grocery store.”
DeBrito said she was thrilled “Taste of Home” contacted her about a possible tour.
“It makes people aware of what we are making out here in Hollister, and aware of what we grow, she said. “This was just the nicest group of people.”
The group, many of whom clutched bags filled with candy, thanked DeBrito as they climbed back on to the bus to head for their next stop – B&R Farms for a look at how apricots are grown and processed.
“I’ve got my bag of chocolate and my brochures,” said Barbara Crampton of California as she headed for the bus. “I’m ready for the next stop.”
