"vosges" news and stories

New Food Products - Fancy Food Show

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 4:54PM

Thousands of new food products hit grocery and specialty store shelves every year and someone's got to sample them all. We munched our way through food trade shows and local supermarket aisles in search of the most delicious snacks, candies, mixes, condiments, drinks, ingredients and ready-to-eat entrees the world has to offer.

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Fancy Food Show Favorites

3 days. 4 editors. 185,000 new food products. 8 favorites each. It's a tough job, but Kat Kinsman and Kristyn Pomranz of AOL Food, Marisa McClellan of Slashfood and Heather Tyree of Epicurious munched their way through the 54th Summer Fancy Food Show* in search of the most mouthwatering edibles on the market. Flip through to find your new craving.

*Don't let the name fool ya -- it's been around since 1955. Some of our faves are just about as "fancy" as Heinz ketchup.

Mari's New York

Getty Images North America

Fancy Food Show Favorites

Mari's New York

(Kat's Pick)
DOCKSIDE KEY LIME CAKE
On my, ahem, second trip back to this booth, I heard a story that made me weep into my Key Lime Cake. A regular customer once called to make a special order for a Saturday arrival. The shop made sure he knew that the delivery service added a weekend charge, and he said it didn't matter. This cake was for his dying wife, they'd enjoyed this Florida favorite together for the past 30 years, and by gosh, he was going to get it to her. After sampling an intensely tart, moist and luscious morsel for myself, I can only imagine that she departed this earth one happy, satisfied soul.

Dockside Market

Dockside Market

(Kat's Pick)
TEXAS SASSY PICKLE SAUCE
America, meet your new favorite condiment. Maury and Brenda Smeyne's signature sauce is an artfully balanced blend of slightly sweetened bread and butter-style pickle brine with a kiss of pepper and I haven't found a single darned food on which it doesn't taste amazing. From burgers and bloody marys to cut veggies and plain ol' tortilla chips, the sweet-sour-salty Texas three-step sasses up the flavor of just about anything edible. Yeeee-haaa!

Texas Sassy

Texas Sassy

(Kat's Pick)
FIRECRACKER DARK CHOCOLATE BAR
Snap, crackle, pow! This bar is like a little chocolate powder keg packed with smoky, spicy chipotle pepper, salt and plenty of giggle-inducing popping candy. As the confection is held on the tongue or against the roof of the mouth, the chocolate melts, slowly revealing both heat and an audible, palpable explosion as the candy emerges. It's a multi-sensory extravaganza that's just begging to be shared with a fellow chocolate fiend. Bring on the fireworks!

Chuao Chocolatier

Chuao Chocolatier

(Kat's Pick)
SWEET LEAF CHERRY LIMEADE
Fresh cherry limeade is a drink of which I'm so fond, I served it at my wedding. So, as you might imagine, my bar is set pretty darned high. I was utterly gobsmacked to see Sweet Leaf sail right on over it. Their tart, tangy organic blend is the essence of summer, squeezed and saved in a bottle for enjoyment the whole year 'round. I'm not saying I'll give up making my own in peak cherry season, but it's refreshing to know where I'll be getting my fix come wintertime.

Sweet Leaf Tea

Sweet Leaf Tea

(Kat's Pick)
FAT WITCH BROWNIE MIXES
I'm sometimes hesitant to write about my favorite local perishables, 'cause I figure it's just cruel to taunt folks without easy access to them. The hex has been lifted, though, and soon everyone across the USA will be under the spell of wickedly rich, moist and naturally delicious Fat Witch Brownies, conjured up in their very own kitchen. Head witch Patricia Helding spent two years formulating brownie mixes that would allow home cooks to mimic at home what she's been whipping up to rave reviews in her Chelsea Market bakery since 1991. Though they won't be in stores until August, jump on your broomstick and sign up for advance notice at her website.

Fat Witch Bakery

Fat Witch

(Kat's Pick)
CYPRESS GROVE TRUFFLE TREMOR
Cypress Grove's Humbolt Fog and Purple Haze have long been my go-to party cheeses, but this truffle-studded addition to the herd totally got my goat. A luxurious cake of chevre is shot through with a knee-weakening allotment of earthy truffle, making for a flavor balance that's simultaneously rock solid and earth shattering. They're really not kidding around.

Cypress Grove Chevre

Cypress Grove Chevre

(Kat's Pick)
LITTLE WINGS BUFFALO WINGS CHIPS
It takes a lot for a chip to stand out from the crowd, but this snack is a superstar. From the multi-grained crunch and ear-warming Frank's Red Sauce-based spice to the intriguing creamy blue cheese drizzle, every single flavor and texture element was in perfect harmony. Consider me a groupie.

Rock-n-Roll Gourmet

Rock-n-Roll Gourmet

(Kat's Top Pick)
WHITSON'S MOIST CHILI SEASONING
Sarah Whitson Bourbon's booth was far from the fanciest looking at the food show, but once she lifted the lid from her crock pot, the heady scent of the seasoned meat within was all the décor she needed. Her grandfather developed this soulful, savory blend of spices at his Denton, Texas store in 1932, and while the company has changed hands several times, she's reclaimed and revived it, staying true to his original formulation. I realize that "chili" is in the name, and I've no doubt of their claim that it "makes unsurpassed Frito Pie," but I'm pretty sure it could make my couch, a subway platform or a sweat sock taste delicious if applied in sufficient quantities. It's that darned good.

Whitson Chile Products

Whitson Chile Products

(Kristyn's Pick)
INGLEHOFFER SWEET HOT MUSTARD
Spicy or sweet, sweet or spicy? It's the never ending conundrum faced by a society of die-hard mustard consumers. Sometimes we want the fiery burst of a solid mustard seed, other times we want the crystallized smoothness of sweet, sweet honey. Inglehoffer Sweet Hot Mustard has magically, seamlessly blended the two flavors, and the effect is flooring. The mustard is definitely hot, but the spice is sealed with a kiss of sweet, confounding the brain and delighting the tongue.

Beaverton Foods

Beaverton Foods

Filed under: Edible Gifts, Taste Test, New Products

Fancy Food Show Favorites - Day One

COMMENTS 2

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Jun 29th 2009 @ 5:30PM

As a matter of fact, yes. That is pizza in a cone. Thanks for asking. Photo: Kat Kinsman

"Pleasant and acceptable taste and smell"

If that's the best your copywriters can cook up for a brochure blurb, take that as a sign that your microwavable pizza cones might not be a standout at the Fancy Food Show. At least not in the way you'd hoped.

Luckily for our increasingly overtaxed palates, there were more than a few swoon-inducing nibbles amongst the 250,000 edible products available for sampling at the Javits Center from June 28-30.

After the jump, learn about some of our favorites from Sunday's stroll through the aisles. Mondays's favorites can be found here.

Filed under: Edible Gifts, New Products

Vosges Chocolates - Green Truffle Collection

COMMENTS 1

by Joanne Lutynec, Posted Mar 20th 2007 @ 11:35AM

If you are looking for something a little more refined than marshmallow peeps and hollow chocolate bunnies this Easter season, Vosges Haut-Chocolat has released a Green Truffle Collection which showcases flavors inspired from Japan, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Included in each box is a mixture of:

Kayoko - Japanese green tea, white chocolate and cherry blossom
Kaffir - Thai kaffir, coconut and dark chocolate
Ellateria - Indian cardamom, dark chocolate and white poppy seeds
Buddha's Leaf - Malaysian pandan leaves, dark chocolate and cocoa powder

As I'm sure you can imagine, exotic flavors such as these come at a lofty price. According to their website, a box of 16 pieces (as pictured above) sells for $41.

As we have seen before, mixing unique flavors is nothing new for this company. In fact, according to their mission statement, Vosges' goal is "to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure." Mission accomplished, I would say.

Source

Filed under: Ingredients, New Products

Harry & David chocolates top taste test

COMMENTS 3

by Nicole Weston, Posted Jan 25th 2007 @ 7:03AM

Harry & David is known for their gourmet gift baskets and the high quality fruits, nuts, chocolates and other goodies that they ship out. They are not the "go-to" source for Valentine's Vay chocolates, however, because many consumers feel that they will get better chocolates from a source that specializes only in chocolates. This decision, although seemingly logical, is not necessarily the right one to make. A multi-brand taste test in Money Magazine placed Harry & David's chocolates above those from Vosages Haute-Chocolate, Whittman, Godiva and Target's Choxie.

Brands from all different price categories were chosen and evaluated for quality of the chocolate, the "accuracy of flavors," packaging appeal and value by a group of women (since they are somewhat more likely to receive chocolates on Valentine's Day than men).

The specific chocolate selection used in the taste test was Harry & David's 1-lb. Grand Collection, which includes a variety of milk and dark chocolates with nuts, caramels, toffees, fruits and berries. It retails for $29.99.

Filed under: Magazines, Raves & Reviews, Stores & Shopping, Ingredients

Luxe chocolate chips

COMMENTS 0

by Nicole Weston, Posted Dec 18th 2006 @ 12:44PM

Instead of limiting yourself to semisweet, dark and white chocolate chips the next time you set out to make a batch of cookies, consider getting some more unusually flavored chips. Vosges Chocolate has a line of three flavors of Exotic Chocolate Chips. Black Pearl Exotic Chocolate Chips are dark chocolate flavored with ginger, wasabi and black sesame seeds. Naga Exotic Chocolate Chips have a milk chocolate base that is spiked with sweet Indian curry powder and coconut flakes. Finally, the chocolatier also makes Red Fire Exotic Chocolate Chips, dark chocolate with Mexican ancho and chipotle chili peppers and Ceylon cinnamon. Each 4-oz. bag of chips sells for $8.50.

Vosges doesn't leave you on your own to come up with recipes that the chocolate chips can be included in, either. With each of the three types of chocolate chips, they list several recipes that will work perfectly with them. For example the Red Fire Martini and Love Goddess Cake work well with the Red Fire Chips and the Black Pearl Chips are the star in Full Moon Brownies.

Source

Filed under: Ingredients, New Products, Methods