Eat Alabama

Our state is home to quite a few innovative cooks and companies creating all manner of edible products. Check out some of our favorite Alabama-made snacks, sauces and sweets.

Wickles Pickles: Salty and tangy with a little sweet and a nice punch of spice, Wickles Pickles are “wickedly delicious.” Based in Dadeville, this pickle purveyor relies on a decades-old family recipe to create pickled products including traditional pickles, okra, pepper strips and jalapenos. wicklespickles.com

Day Spring Dairy Cheeses: This all-natural farm and sheep dairy in Gallant creates several artisanal cheeses from the milk produced by the “girls” in its flock of 80 sheep that roam and graze on the grassy hills of Northeast Alabama. It’s a true family business; Greg Kelly is the shepherd, and his wife Ana, the cheesemaker. Their young kids pitch in too, helping the farm craft its Ewetopia, a raw milk aged Gouda, its Halloumi and its Farmhouse Feta. dayspringdairy.com

Dale’s Seasoning: This dark concoction is the perfect partner for steaks, burgers, chicken and more. It began as the “house marinade” for Dale’s Cellar Restaurant in Birmingham. Patrons so loved the salty sauce with a tang, in the 1940s, they started begging for some to take home, which they did, in washed-out soda bottles. Now, Dale’s marinade is a staple in many a Southern kitchen. dalesseasoning.com

Punta Clara Kitchen Divinity: Made in Point Clear at a confectionary that’s been using old-fashioned techniques to turn out a wide variety of treats since 1952, these dreamy white drops of heavenly delight melt in your mouth. puntaclara.com

Eastaboga Bee Company: Honey is one of Mother Nature’s sweetest gifts, and Eastaboga Bee Company in Eastaboga is bottling some of the best. Some of the state’s hottest chefs – guys like Birmingham’s Frank Stitt and Chris Hastings and Auburn’s David Bancroft use Eastaboga Bee Company honey’s complex flavors to amp up everything from salad dressings and sauces to desserts and even cocktails. Eastaboga’s honey is never pasteurized, which is how you want this liquid gold. Enjoying it “raw” ensures it has all its health-benefitting goodies (including vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 and valuable enzymes), plus its anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties intact. eastabogabeecompany.com.

Hornsby Farms Jams & Pickles: Pop the top on a jar of any of Hornsby Farms’ pickles and jams, and you’ll find a treat underneath. Beth Hornsby, who owns and runs the Auburn farm with her husband Josh, uses the produce they grow (as well as some from other local farms) to make a range of products, but a best seller is the Bramble jam, which is basically a jar of pure berry bliss. Slam-packed with a sweet-tart-tangy combo of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, it will wake up plain ole toast, embellish biscuits and is also mighty fine eaten on its own, by the spoonful. hornsbyfarms.com

Priester’s Pecans: Pop into the Priester’s Pecans shop in Fort Deposit (or visit it online) and go nuts. You can buy raw and roasted pecans, chocolate-covered pecans, pralines, pecan brittle, pecan logs, pecan-studded divinity and, of course, the family owned and operated company’s most popular product, a pecan-packed Priester’s pecan pie. priesterspecans.com

To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co.: This innovative company started small, in a home kitchen little Fitzpatrick. Founder Peggy Sutton wanted to improve her health by eating foods closer to their natural state. She uncovered the wholesome power of sprouting grains and then grinding them into flour and started TYH in 2006 to share this delicious and nutritious discovery with the world. Today, TYH produces its sprouted flours and other sprouted grain products with all organic, non-GMO whole grains and legumes including red and white wheat, spelt, kamut, rye, black beans, corn, brown rice, amaranth and more. And it’s still going and growing in Fitzpatrick, where it all started. healthyflour.com

Bill E’s Small Batch Bacon: Produced directly behind the live music stage of founder and head bacon maker William “Bill” Ernest Stitt’s other venture, his roadhouse-style restaurant Old 27 Grill in Fairhope, the harmonious balance of pure pork flavor, moderate salt and modest smoke in a bite of Bill E’s Small Batch Bacon will make your taste buds dance. The process starts with fresh pork bellies that are rubbed with a mix of heavy kosher salt, a little pink curing salt and dark brown sugar. The meat dry cures in this blend before being bathed in hickory smoke. billesbacon.com