2016 Summer Fancy Food Show (Sights & Finds)

June 26 to June 28, 2016

As opposed to previous years, this year I am highlighting interesting products that I stumbled across while perusing the aisles.

At the Fage booth they were offering samples of their new Fage Crossovers. Some of the interesting new toppings are olive thyme with almonds, tomato basil with almonds, coconut curry with cashews, and coconut with dark chocolate. The sample we selected was carrot ginger with roasted pistachios.

Excellent, especially if you like your yogurt with a zing!

Although, I did feature it last year, it remains one of my favorite samples from the show: Marukome’s make-your-own miso soup “bar.”

This time I went with their Original Miso & Easy base with tofu, green onion, asparagus, and edamame:

I was glad to have run into Milton’s Local booth. First of all, I was drawn to the smell of cooking bacon. Who can resist?

Also, like that their meat is all-natural and uncured and that they use sustainable farming practices.

And they were also the winner of the Shelf Showdown. Inspired by Shark Tank, the competition allows first-time exhibitors to pitch their product to a team of specialty food buyers.

Initially, I thought this booth in the Japan aisle was offering olive samples.

Instead they were baby peaches from Japan.

They were very sweet and promoted to accompany gelato, cocktails, or simply alone as a snack.

Sampled some strange-looking fruit called dragon fruit (recalled it was a secret basket ingredient from Chopped, so I had to try it). Rather bland, similar to a kiwi taste.

As well as a baby yellow tomato. Less acidic and sweeter than a red tomato.

And seeing an alien-like ginger root in a jar was jarring!

Cypress Grove Chevre featured “cake”-style creations made out of their cheeses? Wow!

Budweiser is now getting into the BBQ sauce business. Interesting . . .

The centerpiece of the Moroccan aisle was a man seated on cushions making traditional Moroccan tea. Great place to relax a bit from food sampling, and the tea makes for a great palate cleanser.

The Or Tea? booth was beautiful.

Hope they are able to find distribution in America as their artwork and packaging are gorgeous

Even their cup holders are keepers!

And, as with every Fancy Food Show, must mention the alcoholic beverages.  Loved the Tequila La Tilica bottle. The design is a tribute to the Day of the Dead holiday. For the Mayans, the image of the snail symbolizes birth, life, and resurrection. The tequila is 100 percent Agave. I’m not usually a fan of drinking tequila straight, but this one was smooth yet intensely flavored.

Malvasia Wine from the Greek islands was delicious. It’s a white sweet wine that comes in a lovely bottle.  It actually tasted like port.

The wine also has a rich historical backstory. According to their promotion material, it was a famous medieval wine that was lost through time. In 2010 it “was triumphantly reborn in its birthplace, Monemvasia.”

For a more complicated drink, try Ramune Hello Kitty Soda

In particular, the Hello Kitty Soda.

It involves a break-off cap and a marble. If you are pouring or drinking from the bottle, make sure that the marble faces the side indents. They prevent the marble from falling to the top and creating a slow pour).

The “R” in “Ramune” is pronounced as an “l.” So it sounds like an Asian version of pronouncing the word “lemonade.” And the soda does have that type of flavoring. Much lighter than what you would expect from a soda. Fun and refreshing drink!  They actually gave away free samples, so I took a strawberry-flavored one.

The most magical drink, though, had to be the one offered by Alice & the Magician, a Vermont-based company. They specialize in cocktail aromatics (aka edible fragrances) that focus on one’s “scent memory.”

Their booth looked like that of a mad scientist’s.

The one I tried was one with a chocolate birthday cake scent. With these sprays you can celebrate your birthday every day.

Cheers!