Dishing with the deli: A behind-the-scenes look at favorite PCC recipes.

Favorite mealtime rituals usually start in the kitchen with tried-and-true recipes, carefully handed down from generation to generation. Recipes that draw rave reviews are collected and used over and over again until they become must-cook family favorites.

It's no different at PCC in our delis. Over the years, some of our favorite salads and sweet treats have been cooked up by the folks in our delis who share an honest love of food.

"Many of the recipes we currently use were originally developed within the first five years after we added deli departments to our stores in 1987," said PCC deli merchandiser Jan Thompson. She said the staff was inspired by favorite family recipes and by the possibility of freshening up tried-and-true dishes with healthier, all-natural ingredients.

"Our gingerella cookies actually came from a recipe in an old Betty Crocker cookbook," said Jan. "I changed a few ingredients here and there and substituted fresh ginger for powdered, which really improved the taste." Over the years, other simple adaptations — like using organic ingredients when possible, substituting butter for oils, barley flour for white flour, and using quinoa to make a wheat-free tabouleh — have helped to distinguish PCC from other supermarket delis.

Over the years, as the demand for deli items increased, our staff had the happy opportunity to develop new recipes — which sometimes came from unlikely sources.

A variation on a Moroccan-style carrot recipe, culled from a magazine in a doctor's waiting room, was the inspiration for our Carrots de la Fez. A favorite chocolate brownie was inspired by a basic recipe from the 1930s. And the crafty folks at our Fremont store cooked up our tasty Peas Please salad to celebrate politeness.

"Now, 16 years after we opened our first deli, we're still using many of these recipes, which were really developed from people's knowledge and passion for food," said Jan.

Kevin Carmony, from our View Ridge deli, definitely shares this passion. "It's more of an obsession, really," he laughed. "When I'm not at PCC, I love to cook at home. I just had my new Viking range installed and probably have at least 150 cookbooks."

Kevin, who joined PCC in 1992, has been responsible for developing many of PCC's deli recipes, including our tomato salad, which was a favorite childhood memory. "A neighbor — her name was Helen Gliottoni — used to make these wonderful tomatoes, just drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh herbs," he said. "I was 8 years old when I tasted them and I never forgot how good they were. It's amazing how great things taste when you use good, fresh ingredients like heirloom tomatoes and really high-quality olive oil."

Other recipes have evolved over the years in response to the tastes of our customers.

"Years ago, one of our deli coordinators brought in this great salad that she had made with greens, wild rice and cheese," said Kevin. She called it the Emerald City salad. Over the years, we've tweaked the recipe for our customers. They wanted a vegan-type salad with more greens and less rice and cheese. Now, the Emerald City is one of our most popular salads."

This commitment to details, fresh flavors and good taste is, we hope, what keeps PCC customers coming back to our delis day after day.

"We're not just opening boxes and dumping things into our cases," added Kevin. "Recipes are constantly being developed and refined by the folks in each of our stores. It's really exceptional."