Arnon Oren isn’t content with normal bar snacks. Employing his many years as a chef and caterer, he refined the humble nut into a party snack par excellence. He roasts nuts by hand at low temperatures with very little oil. This slow roasting develops and deepens the flavors of his cashews and macadamias. He then complements them with enticing spicing.

This kind of food savvy doesn’t happen overnight. The Israeli-born Oren got his culinary training in Lyon, France, and ultimately came to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was executive chef at Scharffen Berger’s Cafe Cacao, and worked in the kitchens at Oliveto and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse. Like many alums, he was involved in the recent 40-year anniversary celebrations, cooking for a large group of Waters’ family and friends.

Since launching his own catering business, Oren began to tinker with the party nuts. He had always done them in a pan over a slow flame. The slow roasting allows for much more even roasting, and makes the nuts crunchier, and even extends their freshness.

Low and slow is a major part of Oren’s cooking philosophy. It’s his preferred method of preparing proteins, from red meats to fish. He likes the way a slow heat develops the flavors.

When it came to flavoring the nuts, Oren followed an old tenet: What grows together goes together. He looked to the spicing and seasonings native to where the nuts grew. Coconut and chili pepper gave his macadamias a Polynesian spark. Cashews from India paired with ajwain, an exotic spice from the subcontinent. Almonds, equally associated with Provence and California, were a natural match for rosemary, which abounds in both places.

To the greatest degree possible, Oren gets his ingredients from local, organic farms; his almonds and pecans come from a small family farm in Orland, California. The macadamias also come from a family farm, but in Kona, Hawaii. For the cashews and other Indian ingredients, he is working with the esteemed Vik’s Market in Berkeley, California, until he can establish a sustainable relationship with a family farm in India himself.

The degree of care Oren puts into his work, from the source to the roasting method, comes through in the final product. It’s why we picked Oren’s Kitchen’s spiced nuts for the September Tasting Box. We’re positively nuts about them.