Sampling the Best, the Trendy, the Odd, and the Adventurous
The Best Trade Show in Town
I’ve been attending the SFA Summer Fancy Food Show for many years, and I look forward to it the way a kid is eager for Halloween. The SFA – Specialty Food Association – holds two industry shows a year, one in summer and one in winter. This year’s summer show took place from June 28th to June 30th. As in past years, it was held at the Javits Center in New York City, a cavernous convention space with several floors of food and drink-related products showcasing the best, the trendy, the odd, and the adventurous. The show is open only to the trade and the media. This year, I attended with two of The Cook’s Cook editors. Here’s a sampling of what we saw, tasted, and marveled at.
Eye-Catching Packaging
Eye-catching packaging is one way to stop an observer in their tracks. Fishwife uses colorful and humorous designs for their many varieties of tinned fish, which include Sardines with Smoked Lemon, Smoked Salmon with Sichuan Chili Crisp, and Albacore Tuna in Spicy Olive Oil.
PortoMuiños tinned tapas explain their contents in easy-to-identify drawings on the boxes, and these include vegan options as well as seafood. They offer endive with walnuts and wakame, Japanese-style mixed mushrooms, and seaweed salads, as well as clams with sake and kombu, and razor clams in garlic sauce with sea spaghetti.
Long-time Favorites
Among the best in show were a number of old favorites and a few new ones. India Tree cake decorations, which I’ve loved for years, include vibrant plant-based colorants in sprinkles, sparkling sugars, and other decorative toppings.
At The Cook’s Cook, we are such enthusiasts of Burlap and Barrel single-origin spices that we have our own curated collection.
Melissa’s had their usual display of gorgeous fruits and vegetables, many of which can be found in supermarkets, and others that can be ordered online.
Nielsen-Massey vanillas include Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Paste, which I sometimes use as a substitute for fresh vanilla beans.
At The Cook's Cook we are such enthusiasts of Burlap and Barrel single origin spices, we have our own curated collection.
For anyone who appreciates shortcuts in the kitchen, spray ghee by Karavansay comes in Original, Clarified Butter, and Garlic flavors.
Tea concentrate by The Republic of Tea is not just for saving the trouble of using a tea bag, but can be incorporated into recipes.
New Discoveries
Great products that I encountered for the first time included NPG fruit and vegetable powders, used for coloring and flavor.
Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen have a range of excellent sambals to be used as dips, condiments, and marinades.
I was very surprised to find that I quite liked KESSHŌ Lamb Skewer chocolate, which is made with 60% goat milk powder and seasoned with cumin and chili – it did taste like a sweetened lamb skewer in a strangely appealing way.
I was charmed by the clever, heavy-duty boxes from Qualita, which are sold flat and easy to assemble, making them suitable for cakes, pastries, and all kinds of gifts.
Food Trend of the Show
Dubai chocolate, Dubai-inspired chocolate, and chocolate in the syle of Dubai! Somehow I had missed this trend until I encountered it at the show. I now know that it’s commonly associated with dark or milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream and crushed kataifi. The texture is thus smooth and crunchy. I love anything pistachio and am also a fan of kataifi, shredded phyllo dough that is finer than angel-hair pasta and used in both sweet and savory dishes.
With so many vendors claiming authenticity – more than one declared itself the
“only” product from Dubai – I was committed to taste-testing. It was available in different flavors of chocolate, and filling, too, and one version was said to have a “cotton candy” type of filling. After so many tastings in a short period of time, and so little previous knowlege of of the product, I beg to be excused from rendering an opinion. I liked it, most of it, and I like pistachio and a crunchy filling – cover these with quality chocolate and it’s hard to go wrong.
The Odd and the Adventurous
I appreciate new ideas and readily empathize with an entrepreneur with a dream and high hopes. Sometimes an idea is good, but the execution needs work. Sometimes, what’s missing is an explanation of why a product is needed or how it will improve our lives. The inventor who knows needs to explain to the rest of us.
I was impressed by a beverage that was essentially maple sap that had not been reduced to make it sweet and syrupy. It tasted fine with a faint flavor – not sweet and not quite of maple – but I’m left wondering why I should seek it out.
There was a substitute for bread croutons, these were made of dehydrated tofu. Seven of them equal 100 calories, so not a low-cal food. Texture wooden. I wanted to love them, but no. Really, no.
Same with dehydrated cactus. Health foods should bring joy, not feel like a punishment for past sins. Anything with the texture and color of a burnt stick should be put in the kindling pile. Giving it a juicy name doesn’t help.
Beverages with artificial sweeteners get me every time, there are very few I can…well, stomach. There are a few great beverages with natural flavorings (and this is where we should reconsider the maple sap, which had a natural and delicate flavor) and some of them were at the show. My favorite was PurSoda, a low-calorie winner with no preservatives and no artificial colors, made with pure cane sugar.
Which of the odd and adventurous products will be at the next show? The coming Winter Fancy Food Show, renamed Winter FancyFaire, will be moving from its Las Vegas location of recent years to the San Diego Convention Center, January 11-13, showcasing the best brands and products, old and new.