Food News and Views- Fancy Food Show Favorites

Food and Dining Radio Show – 7.18.08

Linda Gassenheimer (LG)
Joseph Cooper (JC)
Fred Tasker (FT)

LG: Each year I’m amazed by the attendance at the Specialty Foods Show in New York. It seemed even more crowded this year. There were over 25,000 attendees. So our topic today is what’s new in the gourmet food world. Fred Tasker is in his usual seat.

FT: There’s a lot of very special stuff here.

LG: Fred is the wine columnist for The Miami Herald. Fred what are we drinking today?

FT: I’m going to talk about the controversy between corks and screw tops in bottles of wine.

LG: Well, let’s talk about some of the trends I found. Now Health and Organic Foods are popular. They had a whole floor this year. And another big category is beverages. I’d like to say that, I know we’re in an economic down-turn, but the specialty food trade is up 23% from 2 years ago.

FT: People have their priorities. I agree with them!

LG: There’s a variety of beverages. There’s no sugar added, energy drinks…we’ll be tasting some of those. Candy is also a big deal. This year it was the biggest growth items. Another point was environmentally friendly foods and products. Green was big at the show this year.

JC: When do we start tasting???

LG: Calm down. Okay, oh and speaking of beverages. My favorite find was Izzy Drinks. There’s no caffeine, preservative, or sugar added. It has a true flavor. I like the peach and the blackberry. Go ahead Joe.

FT: It’s very peachy.

LG: You could serve it in a martini glass.

FT: Maybe with a little rum.

LG: Yes. That’s about $1.39 for a 12 ounce bottle. Now, let’s go to the other one. It’s a darker color. It’s from Frutzzo.

JC: Makes me pucker.

LG: It’s 100% organic. They’re putting on the label now whether it’s 100% organic or another percentage. Because some products put other ingredients in them.

JC: What fruit is this?

LG: It’s the yum berry.

FT: Is this real?

LG: Yes, it’s real name is Yang Mei. It has been grown in China for 2000 years. It’s packed with antioxidants. Last year the big fruit was Acai. This year the newbie is the yum berry.

FT: Is there any limit to the antioxidants we should have?

LG: I have no idea. But we’re going to be flying around soon. No free radicals left. It’s a little sour and it’s really pricey. It’s $3.59.

JC: I like the aftertaste.

LG: Tea is always a big category. We’re going to have the tea here. This one is from The Republic of Tea. It’s Pink Lady Apple Green Tea.

JC: Do I need to hold my finger up when I pick up the glass?

LG: This one is tasty and charitable. The tea company donates $1 for every tin sold to the Susan Coleman Breast Cancer Foundation. That’s a lot of money. But the one you’re drinking is the Blueberry Green Tea. $.75 of every tin sold is donated to the Prostate Cancer Association. So, I’m Linda Gassenheimer. We’ll take a short break and be back with more.

[break]

LG: And we’re back. I’m Linda Gassenheimer. We’re talking about the Specialty Food Show this year. We’ve been talking about the beverages. We mentioned Izze drinks and the Yum Berry. We also mentioned The Republic of Tea. We’ve got a lot of food to talk about. Sauces help spice up any dish. So the other night I tried to make curry and it took half a day.

FT: I’m impressed.

LG: It was good but I spent a lot of time on it. If you would like that flavor and you don’t want to spend all of that time, here’s a sauce that will solve your problem. It’s a Cashew Curry Sauce from Sable & Rosenfeld. It’s ready to eat out of the container. I’ve put them over some vegetables because you don’t eat it on its own. What do you think?

FT: Nice flavor. You can taste the crunchy nut.

LG: The next one is Onion Confit with Fennel from Caley & Cob. Confit is a French term for preserved but what I like about it is the whole pieces of onion and fennel in the sauce. It has kind of a sweet and a sharp flavor. You can spoon it from the jar over meats and vegetables.

FT: Very tasty.

LG: Now, here’s a category that’s dear to my heart. That’s dinner in minutes. Here we have comfort food in minutes. Beef Pot Pie by Twin Hens. This has a cheesy polenta topping. It’s gluten free. It’s ready to eat. I was surprised by another trend in the show is gluten-free products.

FT: What’s wrong with gluten?

JC: People are allergic to it.

LG: They have problems digesting it. A lot of people want to eat wheat-free. How do you like it?

JC: It’s good.

LG: It comes frozen. You pop it into the oven frozen.

JC: Microwave?

LG: No, it says oven on the box. This takes your taste buds up market. It’s not your typical deli meal. It’s $7.95 for one serving. Okay Fred, this one is for you.

FT: Yes indeed.

LG: Fred loves lobster. This is lobster Mac and Cheese from Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company. It’s made with mascarpone cheese and huge chunks of lobster. It’s a variation on the ultimate comfort food. It’s pricey but it’s tasty. It’s $32 for 2 nine ounce servings.

JC: What about shipping?

LG: That’s extra?

JC: Are they in stores?

LG: I’m not sure. A lot of them will be in Whole Foods or Specialty Food Stores. Go to their website and they’ll tell you where you can find them locally. So snacks and sweets was the largest growing category at the show. Also “whole grain” was a major buzz word. It’s called Mary’s Gone Crackers.

JC: Not very attractive.

FT: Looks like pressed bird seed.

LG: These are crisp with a rich nutty flavor. They’re whole grain and gluten free. This is the onion flavor one. Now, if you look there’s a little piece of jerky there. If you want a snack bar that’s really nutritious, because a lot of snack bars aren’t, this one is called Tanka. It’s kind of a gourmet jerky but I like this one because it’s soft. Do you like it?

FT: I think I taste wild game.

LG: It has buffalo and cranberries and the whole bar is only 70 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. Okay next is breakfast granola. It’s banana chocolate cherry granola from Gabby’s Gourmet Granola. I think it’s delicious.

FT: Is this high in fat?

LG: I don’t think so.

JC: It’s a nice flavor.

LG: I mentioned candy was the big category this year. Would you please taste some of the Jelly Bellies there? What flavor do you think you have?

FT: I think it’s perfume?

JC: Not sure.

FT: The one I just ate is green but it tastes like chocolate.

LG: Jelly Belly does something new each year. This year they partnered with ice cream so the flavors are Apple Pie, Mint Chocolate Chip and other ice cream favorite. For the chocoholics here, Scharffen Berger, which is an American company, made a limited edition bar with 72% cocoa. It’s called Finisterra. It’s smooth and not as bitter. Okay we need to take a break. We’re talking about favorite finds at the Fancy Food Show. We’ll be right back.

[break]

LG: And we’re back. We’re talking about favorite finds at the Fancy Food Show. It’s the major event at the specialty food trade.

JC: Did you put on weight at that show?

LG: No.

JC: You still look as trim as ever.

LG: Let me tell you when you walk from one end of the show to the other and then, we couldn’t get back to the hotel so we walked back to the hotel.

JC: Wow.

FT: You know it’s true. You work off a lot of calories walking around in those shows.

LG: Now it’s Dinner In Minutes time. Today is an easy summer dinner. It’s Chicken Pita Pocket with Corn Salsa and a Greek Summer Salad. If you want the recipe check my website dinnerinminutes.com. I made the salsa but you can buy it. Fred, what are we drinking today?

FT: Well I’m going to talk about corks versus screw caps on wine bottles. This has been a controversy for 20 years now. Traditionalists want corks because they’re elegant and make a nice ceremony when the sommelier opens the bottle. The screw caps were originally introduced on cheap jug wine so they got a cheap reputation. Now that they’re used on excellent wines they haven’t been able to leave that image. But corks can lead to cork taint which smells like wet dog. It can be terrible. I was at a tasting one time and we tried a $600 of champagne and it tasted like wet cardboard. Because of that screw caps have been gaining. 60% of Australian white wines come in screw caps. Also a Napa Valley winery is putting half in screw caps.

LG: Do you need to lye the bottle down?

FT: No, I guess you wouldn’t. There’s a controversy whether air comes through a cork or not. That hasn’t been resolved yet.

JC: Isn’t there a test for that?

FT: You’d think. A lot of people thought corks wouldn’t catch on until someone major used a screw cap. But today the London Daily Telegraph reports that two of the worlds’ top wines are going to try it. You can check out more about miamiherald.com/wine.

LG: a $100 bottle of wine with a cap?

FT: Get ready.

LG: We just have a minute left but there’s another drink from the food show that’s very interesting.

FT: Yes, the company name is Dry and one flavor is lemon grass soda. It has a crisp refreshing flavor. They’re selling it by putting out a card that shows what food this soda goes with.

LG: Too bad we’re out of time. I didn’t get to talk about Mrs. Meyers clean products. I tested them and they work very well. But unfortunately we’re out of time. Join me next time.