Utah may be famous for low-brow foods such as fry sauce, funeral potatoes and deep-fried scones, but we have a gourmet side, too.

The state boasts a growing number of award-winning ingredients, from salami and cheese to chocolate and whiskey. These artisan products will cost more than their mass-produced counterparts, but they make a welcome holiday gift for cooks and food-lovers. (And isn’t that all of us?)

Listed here, in alphabetical order, are 10 of our favorite finds with epicurean flair.

1. Amano Artisan Chocolate » The single-bean dark-chocolate bars, sourced from the best cocoa-growing regions of the world, have brought chocolatier Art Pollard national and international recognition.

2. Artisan cheeses » While there are several cheeses produced in the state, three stand out for the ingredients and care they put into their products: aged cheddars from Uintah’s Beehive Cheese Co.; sheep’s milk cheeses from Eden’s Snowy Mountain Sheep Creamery; and aged Gouda and Gruyère from Richmond’s Rockhill Creamery.

3. Creminelli salami » Cristiano Creminelli creates handmade salami and sausages using natural ingredients and the same recipe that his Italian ancestors have followed for centuries.

4. High West whiskey » Owner Dave Perkins revived a favorite spirit of the Old West when he launched his small-batch distillery and started blending rye whiskeys that had been aged in oak.

5. Les Madeleines Kouing-aman » Romina Rasmussen is one of the few American bakers to master this French specialty, which is difficult to pronounce — kween a-mon — but very satisfying to eat. The crisp caramelized outer shell, wrapped around layers of buttery, goodness is irresistible.

6. Microbrewed beer » Utah may be known for our weak 3.2 beer, but the brewmasters at Uinta, Wasatch, Squatters and Epic breweries are making high-octane brews that bust the stereotype. Many of these beers are akin to a fine wine — aged in oak barrels with corked closures.

7. Nu Nooz pasta » Chef-owner Kyle Lore doesn’t skimp on ingredients when it comes to making his fresh and dried pastas. He uses high-protein flour that gives his noodles the proper “spring” and he shapes the dough using a bronze extruder — the same metal used by ancient Romans.

8. Real Salt » This pink-hued salt — the last remnants of an ancient sea — is mined from an underground deposit near the central Utah town of Redmond. It’s rich in minerals, but contains no additives or chemicals and endures no heat processing.

9. Slide Ridge Honey Wine Vinegar » Cache Valley beekeeper Martin James transforms the golden honey he produces into gourmet vinegar that’s reminiscent of European offerings.

10. Weeks Black Currant Juice » The tiny Cache Valley farming town of Paradise is one of only a handful of places in North America that grows the health-packed black currant. The Weeks family turn these juicy berries into a mild, sweet-tasting elixir.

kathys@sltrib.com

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