Holiday Gift Guide 2019: The Best Mail Order Foods Make Delicious Gifts

Thanks to the rise of e-commerce and drops in shipping rates, options for mail order food gifts are better than ever. Once limited to “thing of the month clubs,” today you can give the world’s finest ingredients (Japanese steaks, superlative olive oils, etc.) via mail for foodies who love to cook, or you can send amazing and ready to eat dishes and regional specialties from the nation’s most beloved restaurants.

As an award-winning food writer and longtime USA Today restaurant columnist, I have been covering culinary topics for more than 20 years and have personally tried - and can recommend - every single item on this list.

Ribs From Central BBQ, Memphis: There are a lot of excellent barbecue joints across the country, but few that do mail order as well as my favorite in Memphis, Central BBQ, where I enjoyed one of the most perfect racks of ribs I have eaten in a BBQ-filled career. The ribs are dry rubbed overnight, smoked, and shipped with special foil sleeves for fast, easy and moist reheating, along with your choice of sauce, and their house made sauces are also excellent. Ribs are their signature, but they also have delicious pulled pork and various combo packs available. This will satisfy even the most discriminating BBQ rib fan!

Olive Oil Nirvana: Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is one of the best ingredients and condiments known to man, but it is also one of the hardest for consumers to buy well. The industry has a long history of fraud and mislabeling issues, and on top of that, it is a short-lived product often sold well beyond its best by date, and in many cases stored improperly. I get frequently interviewed about my New York Times Bestseller Real Food, Fake Food: What You Don’t Know What You’re Eating & What You Can Do About It, and the number one question I get is “How can I buy the best olive oil?” The answer is very simple - the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club. I’ve had a subscription for three years, stopped buying oil elsewhere, and you absolutely cannot beat it.

Owner TJ Robinson is a legend in the industry, an expert taster and acclaimed judge, and his nickname is “The Olive Oil Hunter.” He goes around the world to small artisanal producers, always the most in-season (Southern Hemisphere spots like Chile, Argentina, Australia and South Africa for spring and summer and the Mediterranean, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc. for fall and winter), so the oil is never more than a few months from pressing. He samples tons of oils, and each quarter picks just the best three, then flies them back before most other bottles have been put on the slow boats. This delivers the most amazing, delicious and fresh olive oil many customers have ever tried, along with detailed tasting notes. Every time I open a new bottle it smells like an olive grove in my kitchen. There are few food gifts you can give that will be appreciated as much as a membership in this club, available in two sizes: Three 250ml bottles per quarter for $99 a shipment, or three 500ml bottles for $139 a quarter. This works out to a bottle per month, enough to keep even an ardent olive oil fan on the edge of their sensory seat and rolling in liquid gold.

Muffuletta Sandwich From Central Grocery, New Orleans: This iconic New Orleans sandwich was invented at Central Grocery and they continue to make the standout version of what I would argue is the single best sandwich in the country. But unlike most sandwiches, which ship poorly, it actually improves with age and tastes better the next day, as the signature “Olive relish” absorbs more deeply into the unique roll made specifically for this purpose. That makes it a perfect mail order food, as lots of fans carry them home on the plane from New Orleans to enjoy the next day, while shipping ensures it arrives at its delicious peak. I’ve had these at Central Grocery, and I’ve had these from mail order regional food specialist Goldbelly, the shop’s sole online supplier, and they are equally delicious!

For the Steak Lover - Kobe Beef & More: I’ve written a lot here at Forbes about Kobe beef and how fraud-ridden the industry is - when you pay top dollar for Kobe or other Japanese wagyu you often get ripped off. But not at Holy Grail Steak Company, the sole legit mail order supplier I’ve found, with lots of real Kobe and much more. They also carry several other regional styles of top grade A4 and A5 Japanese wagyu, including the even rarer Hokkaido Snow Beef, Sanuki Olive Beef and Omi, the “Emperor’s Beef.” There simply is no other place you can give the luxurious gift of wagyu like this, and they also have exquisite domestic beef, the rarest “High Prime” cuts you won’t find in even gourmet stores, and truly natural grass fed small ranch selections. A basic choice might a single 13-15 ounce Kobe ribeye, easily enough for two, at $349, while if you want to wow this gift season, you could go for something like the “Holy Trinity,” of wagyu, three Japanese strip steaks (Kobe, Omi, Hida-Gyu) at $599. If your friends or clients are fans of classic top shelf steakhouses, the domestic “Upper Prime Black Angus Flight” might well be better than anything they’ve had out, and this impressive gift pack include two each of ribeyes, strips, filets plus one porterhouse for $375. There are all sorts of collections of imported and domestic steaks, but what they all have in common is that they are best in class. You can mix and match, but all of these selections truly are the Holy Grails of red meat.

Reuben Sandwich Kit from Zingerman’s: Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Zingerman’s is famously one of the world’s most acclaimed delis, the world’s most acclaimed bakeries, and the world’s most acclaimed gourmet retailers. I’ve visited a couple of times and ordered lots of stuff and they absolutely live up to the hype - virtually everything in their tempting catalog is deliciously best in class. But the number one bestseller and gift favorite is the Reuben Sandwich kit, which Food & Wine Magazine rated “The Best Reuben in America,” while other fans include Orpah Winfrey “Zingerman’s sandwiches are an 11 on a scale of 1 to 5” and President Barack Obama, “The Reuben is killer.” I had to see what all the fuss is about, so I just had the kit, and it was unbelievable.

It comes with loaf of fresh rye bread from Zingerman’s unbelievable bakery (I once got my parents, who lived in New York City, their bread of the month club, and the packaged deliveries were consistently better than what they could get fresh at the Big Apple’s best bakeries), a hefty serving of the house-made corned beef, sliced high-end Emmentaler cheese (they are also a famously great cheese retailer), fresh cole slaw, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, signature potato chips and their real deal Jewish deli pickles, plus bonus mini-brownies for dessert. It’s a heavenly meal in a box, everything is top shelf, but the key is really detailed instructions on exactly how to reheat, construct, and grill everything to perfection. You can’t get a Reuben this good at most standout delis, and certainly not mail order from anyplace else. The classic kit comes in two sizes, serving 3-4 ($150) or 6-8 ($200) and there are also options to swap to pastrami or turkey and pumpernickel bread.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza from Lou Malnati’s: Everybody loves pizza, but most pizza does not travel well, which is why no fancy store bought frozen thin crust pizza at any price has ever been able to equal fresh. But one notable exception is Chicago deep dish, which actually travels very well. I’ve had lots in the Windy City, and lots heated from frozen at home, and you get 95% of the delicious experience of going out to eat, which is more than enough to put a smile on your face. My favorite in Chicago is Lou Malnati’s, and just about every friend I know from the city agrees, and fortunately, Lou’s does a brisk mail order business through its Taste of Chicago division. You can get their pies in several styles, including cheese, signature sausage (delicious), pepperoni, the surprisingly impressive spinach, and veggie, and all taste great at home. Each feeds 2-3, they ship in multiples of two and you can mix and match flavors. A pair costs $66 with shipping but the per pizza price drops significantly as the quantity goes up, and since these can stay in your freezer for months, I like to load up - at half a dozen the price per pie is basically half. I’ve told several friends who now keep deep dish on hand for that night when you want something special but don’t feel like cooking, and any pizza lover will love this gift. Taste of Chicago also ships other favorite signature dishes of the city, including Chicago-style hot dogs from famed Portillo’s, Vienna Italian beef subs and several local desserts. There are combos and these are especially suitable gifts for any transplanted Chicagoans on your list.

D’Artagnan Charcuterie Kits: D’Artagnan is a legendary provider of gourmet items to better restaurants and upscale gourmet retailers nationwide, as well as direct to consumers. Co-founder Ariane Daguin was working in a cheese shop when she got involved with the nation’s very first domestic producer of farm raised foie gras, leaving her job to start distributing it. That was 1985, and more than 30 years later she is the owner, CEO, and has greatly expanded the company’s product line into a food lover’s dream. But the best things still are the ones that have that direct to small farmer ties, like the meats. They make great pates and amazing salamis and sausages, from rabbit to merguez. Their charcuterie samplers combine many of these specialties into attractive - and well-priced - gift packages.  At $80 their Charcuterie Gift Box for 8 includes eight different products (Saucisson sec pork salami, Saucisson sec duck salami, Black truffle butter, Jambon de Bayonne ham, Smoked chicken breast, Duck rillettes, Mousse truffée pate and Duck prosciutto), all in generous portions. There are options available for four and for twelve as well. Of course, you can get all sorts of other gourmet meats and products from the site: I’ve bought wild boar strip loins and amazing racks of ribs from humanely raised heritage-breed Berkshire hogs. If you love great products made the right way, D’Artagnan has you covered this holiday season.

Crabs!: Chesapeake Bay is legendary for its local blue crabs, and people all over the world prize Maryland crab cakes. That’s why these items make such great gifts, instantly recognizable for quality. Family-owned Cameron's Seafood Market has been the largest local retailer of Maryland blue crabs and crab cakes since 1985, has an excellent reputation, and sellS over 150,000 crab cakes and 75,000 bushels of blue crabs each year. A couple of years back they jumped into mail order, and I’ve tried several of their products, and whether you go with the knock-out signature crab cakes, addictive spiced shrimp, lump crabmeat, or thick, rich, meat-packed crab bisque, your gift recipient will love it. They have several sampler packs that make perfect gifts, and are reasonably priced - with free shipping - from Maryland to your friends in less than 24 hours. The Maryland Seafood Sampler, for example, includes six large crabs, half a pound jumbo lump crab cake, a pound of spiced shrimp and a quart of crabmeat bisque for $120 delivered. You can even send an old fashioned down home crab picking feast, as they offer standard, premium and colossal sizes of whole blue crabs in male and female versions, cooked, seasoned and easily reheated at home, but this is a gift best sent to experienced crab fans as there is some skill – and a lot of mess - involved in tearing into a stack of whole crabs.

Napa Gourmet Delights (and Wine?): As an avid cyclist, I’ve long been a fan of the Clif Family Winery, launched by the same cycling fans behind the eponymous Clif Bar. The couple that owns the company fell in love with great food and great wine while cycling through Italy, and now have parlayed that into a first-rate winery and food purveyor in, St. Helena, the heart of the Napa Valley. They make a wide range of sustainable artisanal foods, from olive oil produced on site to condiments, as well as high-quality wines, many with cycling themes. For gifting I especially like their “Napa Valley Entertaining” gift box, because it includes a feast-worthy assortment and you can upgrade it with any of their wines - or not. For $77 you send their Smoked Spanish Pimenton Almonds, Roasted Rosemary Almonds & Pistachios, Blackberry Preserves, Peach Preserves, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almonds and Dark Chocolate Cabernet Sea Salt bar, and you can customize with the addition of any Clif Winery bottle(s).

Bagels & Lox from New York’s H&H: Bagels are one of those foods that you can get anywhere if you like mediocre, while superlative ones are extremely hard to find. In the U.S., New York City has a near monopoly on world class bagels, and the bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon sandwich (or platter) is one of the Big Apple’s signature culinary delights. Like Memphis BBQ, Maine lobster or Maryland crab cakes, it’s one of those foods that is deservingly associated with regional excellence, and just about anyone anyplace outside of New York will be wowed when they open a gift of the real thing. Regional mail order food specialist Goldbelly offers bagels from several top NYC vendors, but for a combination of flavor and value, it is hard to beat their gift packs from legendary H&H bagels. You get a half dozen, dozen or two dozen bagels in your choice of ten flavors, plus the appropriate portions of cream cheese and Nova Scotia smoked salmon. All packages include shipping and range from the half dozen at $69 to 24 at $199. This is less per sandwich than you would pay just to have one at many New York bagel spots.

Kate’s Real Food Bars: Have an athlete, skier, hiker or outdoors lover on your list? In a world full of highly processed “sports bars,” why not give a gift they will use that is more fitting for the healthy active lifestyle? In the late 1990’s, looking to fuel her backcountry adventures, Kate Schade, a ski bum living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming wanted an energy bar she could jam in her pocket for skiing that was wholesome, functional and great tasting. When she could not find one, she made her own, and the legendary “Tram Bar,” named for the ski resort’s iconic tram, was born. This was when I first discovered Kate’s, back when the Tram Bar was just a locally beloved Jackson specialty. Now it has grown into a national business, and today, Kate’s Real Food makes six delicious, hand-rolled flavors of energy bars with honest ingredients and no artificial sweeteners. From the original Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Tram Bar, to the Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Handle Bar, each is certified organic, gluten free, non-GMO, and Kosher. A variety pack of a dozen, with two each of all six flavors, is $30 or you can buy whatever flavor(s) you like by the dozen for the same price.

BBQ Beef Ribs from the Salt Lick: 98% of the time you see “BBQ ribs” on a menu, they are pork, whether it’s full-sized spareribs, St. Louis cut or baby backs. But I’ve always been a fan of much bigger and meatier smoked beef ribs, and this combines everything that is great with America’s beloved red meat with everything that is great about BBQ ribs into a messy, sensory experience for the beef fan. BBQ beef ribs (not short ribs) are harder to come by, and more often than not found in Texas, the epicenter of beef barbecue - brisket is the Lone Star State’s signature dish after all. One place I’ve been to that is famous for beef ribs and also ships is the wildly popular Salt Lick in Driftwood, an Austin suburb, perennially ranked among the nation’s most famous BBQ joints. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay picked these over-sized bones for the show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” but the Salt Lick has a vast menu you can mail order, combining these with sausage, brisket and other meats.