
For years now, I've been hearing about the Fancy Food Show. I'd see clips of it on the Food Network, or read about it in the New York Times, until this week, it had never been something I got to experience personally. And now that I've lived through my first one, I'm struggling to find a way to write about it.
You see, it's a big event. Thousands of people are there, selling, buying, tasting and sipping. I only sampled a fraction of the available goods and by the end of each day all I wanted was a crunchy green salad to serve as a simple foil to all the chocolate, cheese, cookies, crackers, salsas, jams and gourmet popcorn I had munched.
I discovered that herbal flavors are the New! Big! Thing! in sweets, beverages and vinaigrettes, so expect to see lots rosemary, lavender and mint in both sweet and savory items going forward. Another popular flavor combination I encountered was Pear-Ginger. It is a lovely marriage and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it on the store shelves. My gluten-free friends will be happy to hear that lots of companies are working on producing the best in gluten-free cookies, crackers and breads (I'll have more specifics in another post). And lastly, everyone is looking for a way to make their products more natural, organic and artisanal.
I'll have more on the show soon, including specific products that I loved. I'm still working my way through a lot of the samples I brought home with me (the image above is my coffee table after I unpacked my suitcase). Don't forget to check out Kat's Day One Favorites!

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7-03-2008 @1:17PM Julie said... I've always wanted to go, I watch it whenever it is on the Foodnetwork. I'm sure that it was hectic and exciting all at the same time. I've noticed the Pear-Ginger combo alot in some of my favorite food catalogs. Hope you'll post more about it as things come to mind, look forward to it.
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7-03-2008 @2:41PM Scott said... Can a company that mass produces stuff, by definion make a food that's "more" artisanal? Isn't that like Miller making a "craft" beer?
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7-03-2008 @2:35PM Marisa McClellan said... Well, some of the "companies" at the show are really just people who rent out a restaurant kitchen once or twice a month to prepare batches of their bbq sauce, jams, jellies and salsas. I talked to some people who started out in their kitchens and are only now moving into larger facilities, and they still oversee the production of their product. So in that sense, it's still got the artisanal flavor.
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