Meet our Gourmet Foods
Curious about our gourmet food selection but not sure what to start with?
Our founder, Rod Browne Mitchell, has been a nationally recognized seafood epicure since he began sourcing for renowned chefs in the early 1980s. But beyond seafood and caviar, Rod is also an expert in wine, cheese, and fine foods. He operated a wine shop in Camden, Maine for years before opening Browne Trading Market in Portland in 1991. Today Browne Trading Market carries all of our seafood, as well as a highly curated selection of specialty oils, cured meats, tinned fish, vinegars, miso, truffle products, and much more.
All of our gourmet foods are selected by Rod. His focus is artisan-quality products, with an emphasis on those coming from small scale and family-owned operations. He has visited many of the producers abroad and maintained relationships with them for decades.
Read on to discover which gourmet foods make the Browne Trading cut!
Gourmet Olive Oils
Distintus Extra Virgin Olive Oil – on sale!
Gourmands often call this product the “olive oil of Michelin Chefs”. Distintus is harvested and cold pressed in Campo de Viboras, Portugal by a family of oil producers going back 6 generations. This oil is made from bical, macanal, and negrinha olives, and has a buttery, smooth, and fresh taste with hints of almond and walnut. We recommend using Distintis for standard cooking needs or as a finishing drizzle.
Herdade dos Grous Cobrancosa Olive Oil – on sale!
“Herdade dos Grous” or the “estate of the cranes” is the exquisite country estate in Albernôa, Portugal that produces Cobrancosa Olive Oil. They also produce wine, breed livestock, and host guests on their 2718 unspoiled acres.
Cobrancosa Olive Oil tastes fresh, slightly bitter and spicy. It’s a perfect complement to many Portuguese dishes! Try it as a finishing oil on our Portuguese Sardines or Dover Sole.
“Crudo” is the brand name and our suggested use for this fabulous Italian olive oil.
The Schiralli family has been producing olive oil since 1922 in the Puglia region, which is often called the “breadbasket” of Italy. The hilly, rocky soil on their farm receives intense sun exposure and sea winds from the east, which creates an olive oil that is robust in flavor.
Made from 100% Ogliarola olives, this is THE olive oil for dressing carpaccio, ceviche, or crudos of any fish.
Intosso Single Press Olive Oil
Our Intosso Single Press Olive Oil comes to us from Rustichella d’Abruzzo, a family-owned Italian brand dating back to 1924. True to its name, Intosso is produced from a single olive variety – 100% Abruzzese olives – which are cold pressed within 8 hours of harvest from the tree.
Intosso has mild aromas of fennel, artichoke, and almond. We recommend pairing it with pastas and light shellfish dishes such as clams, mussels, lobster, or scallops
In the Middle Ages, “laudemio” was noted as the portion of the harvest destined for the lord’s table. In the 1980s, an independent consortium of producers in Florence, Italy endeavored to create olive oils worthy of the same name. They voluntarily committed to a strict series of rules and quality controls, and thus the Laudemio brand was born.
Laudemio’s 2021 harvest is first notable for its stunning color. It has a robust flavor, with notes of artichoke and wild arugula. Let Laudemio shine as a finishing oil on white fish (cod, sole, turbot) or winter vegetables.