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A bergamot is a citrus fruitfragrant, bitter, and somewhat exotic. Its essence is what sets Earl Grey apart from ordinary black tea. The notion of a distinctive element that elevates the common to extraordinary appealed to Martha Stamps in naming her prepared meal service Bergamot & Co.
'It's what I am always trying to do with my foodtake something that's good as it is and make it even better,” she says.
Each week, Stamps creates a seasonally inspired menu, sourcing ingredients from her network of local farmers and producers. Every Thursday, customers who sign up for Bergamot & Co.'s e-newsletter receive the offerings for the following week; pickup is inside the West End United Methodist Church on Wednesdays through Fridays.
The menus are luscious and lyricaland usually draw on global tastes, like the lamb tagine with pumpkin, dried figs, preserved lemon, and olives, which gets a side of fresh harissa. There might be couscous steamed with saffron and carrot tops tossed with chickpeas, oven-dried apples, and pistachios. The local baby kale salad is dressed up with feta, dried persimmons, pumpkin seeds, and molasses vinaigrette. And sometimes there are biscuits, like a butternut sage offering, that are sent home frozen and raw so that you can bake them at will.
'I wish that we all had the time and resources to cook for ourselves, family, friends, but few of us do,” says Stamps. 'Busy people should not be limited to chain takeout food or frozen dishes laden with chemicals, preservatives, salt, and sugar.” Bergamot & Co. gives another, better choice.