With orders, you’ve got (delicious) mail

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003 | 8:15 a.m.

Now that holiday gift ordering is over, it's time to consider our own indulgences. The United States abounds with excellent boutique and specialty foods that can be ordered by mail or on the Internet.

Most of these products are not available in local stores. The most common way to order foods is still by mail, though many places have Internet sites, and virtually all of them have fax capability:

Greenberg's Smoked Turkey, P.O. Box 4818, Tyler, Texas, 75712. Phone: (903) 595-0725.

Sam Greenberg doesn't like the Internet, and you can't order his amazing smoked turkeys on the Web.

As a matter of fact, the company doesn' t even have an 800 number, and though it takes credit cards, it prefers alternative methods of payment.

Sam is the third generation Greenberg in this business, which his grandfather started 64 years ago in a makeshift backyard smokehouse. Today Greenberg's sells 165,000 smoked turkeys in November and December -- birds prepared from the hickory wood and spice recipe developed by Sam's grandfather.

The turkeys enter the smokehouse raw, and are exposed to nothing more than a hickory fire for a full four days. The flavor is an unmistakable mix of smoke, spice and wild meat.

One bite, and most people are fans for life. Greenberg's turkeys range from 6 to 15 pounds and are $3.40 per pound, plus a shipping charge based on weight and distance (usually around $5 to $10).

Timber Crest Farms Dried Fruit, 4791 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, Calif. Phone: (707) 433-8251.

Timber Crest Farms is one of the last nongrape producing farms in Sonoma County, which has been slowly but surely taken over by vineyards.

This was the first American farm to commercially dry tomatoes, and it sells a wide variety of delicious fruits, nuts and specialty foods.

One of the most delicious items it sells is an 8-ounce jar of tomato pesto for $3.88. It also offers an 8-ounce jar of tomato tapenade, made with ripe olives and tomatoes, for $4.50.

Those who like New Orleans cuisine will want to try the Muffelata spread, a 16-ounce jar of the legendary sandwich spread, for $7.43. Fruit lovers should try a 6-ounce pack of luscious organic apricots, for $7.38.

There are also Mission figs, dried red cherries, pistachios, almonds, pears and more, all impeccably fresh, sweet and well-cared for. All prices include shipping.

Wolferman's English Muffins, P.O. Box 15913, Shawnee Mission, Kan., 66285-2913. Phone (800) 929-1910.

For those who have a wide-slotted toaster, or who do not mind broiling their breads in the oven, Wolferman's, a Kansas City, Mo., bakery, makes the most wonderful English muffins, giant discs a full 2 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide. They're full of nooks and crannies, and can absorb staggering amounts of butter, so calorie counters be warned.

A four-pack of muffins is $15.95. Wolferman's also sells a mean crumpet, flatter and denser than halved English muffins, and eaten unsplit. A crumpet resembles half of an English muffin, and here, there are four different varieties: classic, raspberry, blueberry and cinnamon-sugar.

A sampler pack is sold for $26.95 in a wicker basket ($16.95 without the basket).

The company also sells fruit preserves, toppings such as lemon curd and double Devonshire cream, and a variety of other wares that are ideal for putting that afternoon tea on for your friends. Write or call to request a catalog.

Cambridge House Smoked Foods, 990 Cindy Lane, Carpinteria, Calif. Phone: (805) 684-2082.

This small production facility makes some of the most exquisite smoked salmon sold in the country.

The salmon comes from the Shetland Islands in Scotland and is smoked over apple and oak logs on the premises. The fish is delicate and cuts like butter.

Two and 1/2-pound sides are basically all that the facility mail orders, and they are $69.95 for the classic smoked salmon, or $79.95 for the two flavored versions, either pastrami or lemon pepper. There is a one-time shipping charge of $10.

Tomales Bay Foods, Point Reyes Station, Calif. Phone: (415) 663-9335.

This cheese shop specializes in California cheeses, ranging in price from $65 to $85 including shipping.

It's a better deal to get the more expensive collections, as the higher price brings you 3 1/2 pounds of cheese, as opposed to only 2 pounds at $65.

The $65 Tomales Bay collection includes the Mount Tam from the Cowgirl Creamery, a triple-cream, mold-ripened cheese with an earthy mushroom flavor, a 1/2-pound of the celebrated Point Reyes Blue, and some of the Matos St. George, a cheddarlike cheese made by a family from the Azores. Larger boxes include Vella Dry Jack and Camelia from Redwood Hills, a soft, round goat cheese.

Divine Delights, Novato, Calif. Phone: (800) 443-2836.

Calvin Trillin (among others) joked that there was really one fruitcake, and people mailed it around from family to family. Divine Delights disproves that theory with a special glace apricot fruitcake made with pecans, hazelnuts and brandy. It is a 3.4-pound cake, and sells for $37.95.

The company also makes Deresden stollen, a German fruit-and-nut bread with a marzipan filling and candied fruit, for $23.95, and exquisite petit fours, little squares of cake, frosting and fruit. A box of 12 is $28.95, and the company ships by two-day air.

The shipping charge is based on the invoice amount. A box of 12 petit fours, for example, ships for $8.95.