LOCAL GIFTS: Tasty Treats

Locally-made Gift ideas Nothing about 2020 has been normal, thanks to the pandemic and its enhanced racism awareness, but StreetWise was blessed with help from its friends and so now this holiday season, we are using our city-wide platform to return the favor. StreetWise vendors are entrepreneurs, and so we are promoting other Chicago entrepreneurs of innovative products – many of them nonprofits – from varied cultures. We are all in this together.

by Suzanne Hanney

Rollicking Buckaroo Pepper Jam

Michael Frustini decided after 25 years in retail management and a handful of years working with people who are elderly and developmentally disabled, that it was time to pursue some of his passions: horses, country dancing, cooking -- and pepper jam. Hence, the awardwinning, all-natural, gluten-free and vegan gourmet Rollicking Buckaroo Pepper Jam and What’s New Buckaroo & Company LLC were launched in July 2017, with the help of Ricky Martel behind the scenes and Bob Frustini. The varieties include: Mild-It’s Sweet (10-oz), Medium-Sweet with a Kick (10.8-oz.), Hot-Hot N Sweet (10.8-oz) all $9, and coming back in 2021, Extra Hot-Extra Hot N Sweet. Glaze it over salmon, use it as a dipping sauce, try it on baked Brie or goat cheese or with crackers and cream cheese. The label is all about whimsy. The dancing cowboy is riding his horse with lasso in hand, having fun riding the wave. When Michael and Ricky aren’t selling the jam, you’ll find them volunteering, country two-stepping or line dancing somewhere in Chicagoland.

barcacaochocolat

Barcacaochocolat.com is an artisan chocolatier that takes its inspiration from British fashion, art and culture. Matthew Schreiner is former head pastry chef of the Tate Collection of Museums in the United Kingdom, a graduate of ESCF Ferrandi in Paris and a member of the French American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. He works directly with growers, producers and dairy farmers through his partner in Ecuador to ensure a sustainable chocolate that reduces the supply chain. Choose BARtali, named for the cycling legend Gino Bartali and made with signature 70% Peru/Ecuador dark chocolate and filled with Italian hazelnut praline, Spanish almond and 38% milk chocolate, $12; singleorigin Peruvian dark chocolate 3.5-oz. bars with Aleppo pepper, Almond, Maldon sea salt, freeze-dried strawberry with cracked black pepper, raspberry, mint, or passionfruit, $9; or 6-oz. dark chocolate-covered Valencia almond and hazelnuts from the Piedmont, $18. At barcacaochocolat.com or 112 Main St., Wheaton.