local gift ideas for the lovable food lover in your life

People on the Seacoast take their food seriously. This little corner of the globe is home to a multitude of restaurants, farms and retail outlets that specialize in fine foods. If there’s a foodie on your gift list, you have a dizzying array of locally sourced options to choose from. The Wire reached out to its readers for specific ideas, and they responded with an array of tasty suggestions.

local cooking
• “Maine Classics”
Authored by Arrows Restaurant chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, with help from local food writer Rachel Forrest, this cookbook is brimming with more than 150 delicious recipes for regional Maine-based cuisine, along with tips for buying, sourcing and foraging local food.

• “Notes from a Maine Kitchen”
Written by South Berwick-based food writer and blogger Kathy Gunst, this book includes not only recipes for regional meals, but numerous heartwarming stories about the local food movement. It’s a great gift for any fan of good food and good storytelling.

home cooking lessons
• Flavor Concepts provides chef services for clients in the comfort of their own homes. Founding chef Evan Hennessey, the former executive chef at 43 Degrees North and The Dunaway, offers personal trainings and consultations with a focus on locally sourced ingredients—the perfect way to turn your friend or relative into a better cook before they invite you over for dinner.

local edibles
• Granola Munch & Gnarly ’Nola
Local chain Me & Ollie’s has been baking small batches of granola since 1989. It’s a healthy cereal or snack food, with clusters of natural whole grains and nuts, sweetened with honey and vanilla, with no wheat or dairy. The same is true with the fresh batches of Gnarly ’Nola provided by a pair of UNH students, who have perfected mom’s recipe and bake it up in fresh batches that can be delivered in the Durham area, picked up at Durham Marketplace and Emory Farm, or found on Facebook at “Gnarly-Nola.”

• Popper’s sausages
With a new processing facility in Dover, Popper’s Sausage Kitchen offers sausages, bratwurst, kielbasa, hot dogs, pâté  and other pork products, all made locally by John “Popper” Medlin. Available to order at www.poppers-sausage-kitchen.com.

• fine cheese
Give the gift of stinky cheese! Corks and Curds in Portsmouth features a variety of wonderful cheeses, and you can get insight on selections, pairings and wine recommendations from owner Eldon Collymore. If you’re in Exeter, try Cornucopia Wine and Cheese Market at 4 Front St.; if you’re in North Hampton, you’ll find something special at C’est Cheese, 61 Lafayette Road.

• rustic apple pie
In addition to its scrumptious scones and other baked goods, 45 Market Street Bakery and Cafe in Somersworth offers a mouthwatering rustic apple pie. Bring it along for Christmas dinner or give it away as a gift.

• specialty sauces
Is there a grilling enthusiast in your family? Mikey’s Wicked Good in Eliot, Maine, offers homemade marinades, steak sauce, BBQ sauce and jalapeno sauce, plus dip mixes, seasonings and rubs, available at www.mikeyswickedgood.com.

• fresh lobster
Send a taste of the Seacoast to a distant loved one. It might not be the best idea to wrap up a lobster and put it in the mail, but Sanders Lobster Company in Portsmouth will ship fresh, locally caught live or cooked lobsters anywhere in the country, with deliveries arriving the next day.

• saltwater taffy
The Goldenrod at York Beach has been offering its famous New England Salt Water Taffy since 1896, made fresh on demand with no preservatives. They’ve also got other candies and confections to satisfy any sweet tooth.

local drinkables
• fine wine
Tucked away near the salt piles in Portsmouth, Ceres Street Wine Merchants carries its own private-label brands of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot and zinfandel (which are also on the menu at The Oar House Restaurant).

• beer by the growler
The brand new Throwback Brewery in North Hampton, as well as the long established Portsmouth Brewery, offer fantastic locally brewed suds by the growler, perfect for local beer afficionados.

• beer subscription
A Smuttynose Big Beer Series subscription offers either six or 12 22-ounce bottles of the next nine beers in the series, including specialties like imperial stouts and barleywines. It’s a gift the keeps giving all year.

• apple vodka
Not only does Flag Hill in Lee have a winery offering a variety of local fruit wines, but it also has a distillery that makes General John Stark Vodka, as well as its own gin, brandy and various fruit and maple sugar liqueurs. All available at NH Liquor and Wine Outlets.

• coffee by the bean
There’s an old saying: buy a college student a cup of coffee, and he’ll stay awake for one test; teach him to make coffee, and he’s picked up a delicious, lifelong addiction. Bags of locally roasted beans are available at Adelle’s Coffeehouse in Dover, Caffe Kilim in Portsmouth, Port City Coffee Roasters in Portsmouth, Kaffee Vonsolln in Portsmouth, and Breaking New Grounds in Portsmouth and Durham.

• tea by the leaf
Any time can be tea time with a gift from White Heron Tea in Rollinsford, which offers more than 65 varieties of organic and fair trade tea, available in bulk or packaged form, along with tea-making accessories.

• after-party remedies
Along with those delicious adult beverages, you might want to show that you’ll still care tomorrow, with soothing, herbal-infused After Party Hangover Balm, made by Lion’s Tooth Wellness in Dover and available locally at Lucy’s Art Emporium, 303 Central Ave. Rub on your belly, feet and wrists throughout your day to receive the hangover support you need.

local farms
• CSA shares
With community supported agriculture, members get a weekly share of fresh produce, meat or other products directly from a local farm. Get your foodie friends a CSA share—where the pick-up hours and location are suitable to their schedule— and keep them supplied with fresh, local food all season long. Details and maps at www.seacoastharvest.org.

• farmers’ markets
The Seacoast Growers’ Association offers “Market Money” gift certificates, valid at any of its six market locations in Portsmouth, Dover, Durham, Hampton, Exeter and Kingston. The markets are held weekly from May to November, giving the certificate holder something to look forward to.

• home delivery
Waithaka Farm in North Hampton delivers naturally grown produce to people’s doorsteps from local, regional and national farms. You can choose a plan that offers between six and 13 weekly items, delivering loads of fresh produce to your chosen gift recipient (they’re expanding to Dover in the spring).

local dining
• Portsmouth a la Carte
The wealth of great restaurants in the area can be overwhelming. But the a la Carte gift card allows your special someone to make their own dining decision, with dozens of participating restaurants to choose from. Cards can be ordered from www.portsmouthalacarte.com or picked up at Maine-ly New Hampshire, Portsmouth Brewery and RiverRun Bookstore.