Dutchbaby: Fancy Food Show Winter 2011

Showing posts with label Fancy Food Show Winter 2011. Show all posts

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Favorite Beverages of the Winter 2011 Fancy Food Show

Judging from the number of beverages Tracy and I chose to taste at the Winter Fancy Food Show, I must conclude that we must have been very thirsty. Here is a sampling of our favorites.

Vignette Wine Country Soda

If you are looking for a sophisticated alternative to sparkling cider, Vignette Wine Country Soda is an elegant solution. This non-alcoholic, sparkling soda is made with pinot noir or chardonnay wine grapes.

It has a clean, refreshing taste that is not overly carbonated and not too sweet. In fact, it has no added sugar and does not contain the dreaded high-fructose corn syrup.

The rosé has a gorgeous bright color and would be perfect to serve for a baby shower. The mother-to-be can still join in the fun and drink her "wine".

Beer Salt

Image from Twang

I remember the first time I was in Mexico, a local bartender instructed me to lick salt sprinkled on top of my closed fist before drinking a swig of beer and then finishing it off by biting into a wedge of lime. This trifecta comingled into a perfect burst of flavors. Twang has now offers tiny six-packs of lime-flavored salts designed to be sprinkled directly onto the neck of the beer bottle. No more sticky hands and lime pulp between the teeth.

They also carry a line of very attractive rimming salts. I would love to try the Sour Apple or the Bloody Mary Chili Lime sea salt flavors.

Republic of Tea

Mel and Patricia Ziegler didn't rest on their laurels after they sold The Banana Republic to The Gap. In fact, they decided to move mountains of tea leaves when they founded The Republic of Tea in 1992. The company's current Minister of Tea, Ron Rubin, continues to run the highly successful business in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion.

With close to 250 items in their product line, there is a tea to suit even the most selective tea lovers.

Sportastic Sports Drink

We didn't get a chance to taste the Sportastic sports drink, but Tracy and I are looking forward to recommending this attractive drink to a client for an upcoming bar mitzvah with a baseball theme. Fortified with B vitamins and with only 4 grams of sugar, instead of Gatorade's or Powerade's 35 grams, the parents should be pleased with this healthier alternative.

One Fresh Cup Coffee

One Fresh Cup is the ideal product for the any traveler to kick-start a morning with a great cup of coffee in the hotel room. The disposable, built-in filter makes it convenient to brew a cuppa from real ground coffee, which I'm sure will taste far superior to drinking dissolved instant coffee granules. I was most impressed that they offered my favorite coffee variety, Sumatra, along with my husband's favorite, French Roast. I can't wait to try my Sumatra sample on my next trip.

Now that I'm fully hydrated, I'm going to look for something to eat.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Eye-Candy at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show

Over 1,300 exhibitors from 35 countries convened to show off more than 80,000 food products at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. For a more in-depth description of the Fancy Food Show, read my first post about the show here.

Though there was an abundance of delicious food to eat and beverages to drink, Tracy and I were also very impressed with all the gorgeous displays.

Woodland Foods spent four hours creating this beautiful mosaic of their specialty ingredients. They procure hard-to-find ingredients from 45 different countries ranging from mushrooms, specialty rices, exotic fruits, and pastas. This year’s catalog features no less than 13 kinds of sun-dried tomatoes.

Le Chef Bakery laid out a delectable spread:

The most unusual and hauntingly beautiful displays were in the HimalaSalt booth. The generous slabs and pillars of Himalayan salt created dramatic tablescapes, especially when they are backlit with low-voltage bulbs.

The Galaxy Desserts booth always has stunning displays; this year was no exception.

The frozen yoghurt craze has helped put mochi on the map. Bubbies’ made-in-Hawaii mochi ice cream is now also shipped to the mainland.

Tracy and I fell in love with the elegant liqueur bottles by Jacques Fisselier:

Especially the tiny single-serving bottles:

Because they offered no tastings, I can’t speak to the taste of Ulmer’s chocolates, but I can tell you that I have never seen such a large variety of attractive small-sized chocolates in my life. Here is a small sampling of their 3,000 different chocolate products.

I am particularly enamored with the pink and white rolls in the front right corner of this display. How great would they look floating on top of a coconut raspberry cake?

IMG_2094 Ulmer chocolate toppings sampler

With 150 years of experience, this German-based company has become the premier supplier for many ice cream, cereal, and candy products around the world. Chances are good that you’ve tasted their products.

It would be sweet if I could get my hands on the small star- and heart-shaped chocolate toppings so that I can make this chocolate crepes recipe for Valentine’s Day.