The Deep

Fermented black garlic concentrate. 

Umami in a bottle. Mole without the chocolate. Fermented for 1-3 months, this earth-dark garlic concentrate tastes like balsamic vinegar, deeply caramelized onion, sweet-sour-savory tamarind, and seared meat. The garlic is fermented very slowly until it turns jammy and sweet. Then combined with dates, chestnuts, 10-year aged balsamic vinegar, toasty tamari, and chili and crushed together by hand to create a creamy paste.  

How to use it: Use this potent concentrate to give instant depth to any dish. Make mushrooms taste mushroomier. Serve a swish alongside charcuterie. Add richness and complexity to soups, stews, or marinades. We’ve found it now appears in nearly all the dishes we make; a very little goes a very long way. 

Created by Abbye Churchill, Rhea exists as a space to share the delicacies and delights that she dreams up in her house in rural Maine. Each jar of preserves is made by hand in her kitchen. Each cloth is woven on her loom. Every flavor is conjured using ingredients she’s sourced or collected with care. Everything you’ll find here is meant to be used, devoured, ritualized, savored, and shared — little sensual offerings from our home to yours.