A Woman for All Seasonings

As a seasoned military spouse, GEORGIA KURRE has lived all over the world, and she particularly loved indulging in the local cuisine when her husband was stationed in Italy. But to her surprise, a small oil and vinegar shop in Mississippi made the biggest impression.

“While we were in Mississippi, of all places, there was one of these olive oil and vinegar stores in the tiny little town that we lived in,” Kurre says. “I loved it. I would go in every month, and I would get myself some, and we would make dishes. Then we moved up here to Hampstead and there was nothing close.”

Kurre found a solution in opening her own store, Hampstead Oils and Vinegars, in October 2021. Kurre generally runs the shop solo day-to-day, but her son, who recently turned 16, has been helping out too.

Currently, Kurre sells 43 different oils and vinegars. Some of her best-sellers are garlic and Tuscan herb olive oils and black mission fig balsamic vinegar. Cranberry pear white balsamic vinegar is also a top contender.

In addition to oils and vinegars, Kurre sells a variety of spices, olives, and garlic. She also offers gift baskets and salts, and she hosts Hampstead vendors who make handmade bowls and cutting boards.

“I try to be very picky and particular about the things that I sell here,” she says. “I try to make sure that they’re the best that you can provide. I have Sardinian sea salt, and then I have an herbal sea salt from Bologna. There’s a local potter who works in Hampstead, and she makes bread dipping bowls for me. … I’m the only place she makes them for.”

Another priority of Kurre’s is ensuring her products are high-quality. For instance, her oil and vinegar supplier is Veronica Foods, a California-based company that aims to produce high-end but affordable goods.

“They work directly with growers all over the world,” Kurre says. “I have oils right now from Australia, Portugal, Greece, and Italy. … They do chemical panels on the olives before they’re actually crushed. They have very, very high standards for their olive oil.”

A harvest date – which tells consumers when the olives were picked – instead of a best-by date is the mark of a high-quality olive oil, Kurre says. Additionally, a good olive oil has information on chemical panels that determine how many free fatty acids it has and the maximum temperature it can handle. Ultra-premium olive oil, Kurre says, should be used with high heat.

Because cooking and food are big passions of hers, Kurre enjoys hosting related clubs and organizations in her shop. So far, she’s entertained education classes, book club meetings, and birthday parties. In the future, she hopes to offer tasting classes, share more recipes online, and start a newsletter and blog.

“My goal this year is to re-do my website,” she says. “(And) I want to start doing a tasting for the people who come in and really get a good feel for what a high-quality olive oil tastes like.”

To view more of photographer Daria Amato’s work, go to dariaphoto.com

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