Last week, senior editor Merritt Watts and I hopped on the train to Washington, DC, for this year's Fancy Food Show. We had our eyes out for new trends, great emerging products, and items for our upcoming gift guide (yes, it's the heart of the summer, but we're already thinking about the holidays). Here are some of the food items and delicacies that caught our eye this year. What's your new favorite brand?
1 The beautiful produce display from Melissa's Produce, where we often get top-notch fruits and veggies for our photo shoots. Here we tried fresh saturn peaches, lychee, and, our favorite, black velvet apricots.
2 A collection of mini produce from Sid Wainer. They had baby artichokes, carrots, beets, parsnips... We couldn't help but call them all "so cute"!
3 More baby veggies.
4 The display at Sid Wainer & Son Specialty Produce stand, looking very special indeed.
5 Hard to tell from the photo, but these are mini bagel tops. So cute!
6 Artisan salami and deli meat producer Creminelli Fine meats tempted us with thin, tender slices of Italian Finocchiona, which has lots of flavorful fennel seeds.
7 The "ancient grain" trend is going strong, too.
8 We're always looking for ways to get more bacon into our lives. This bacon spread reminded me of a very popular recipe for Slow Cooker Bacon Jam in our December issue. Check it out: http://www.marthastewart.com/326881/slow-cooker-bacon-jam
9 Crazy concept: these mushroom kits are designed for you to grow your own fungi at home. We loved the eco-angle of this company, but will probably just stick to the pre-grown ones for now.
10 Trend alert: olives in pouches! Celeb chef Cat Cora is marketing one, too. Who knew?
11 A tempting display of mochi desserts from Bubbies Ice Cream. The Hawaiian company is constantly trying out new flavors and switching them up for the season. Merritt loved this summer's watermelon flavor and went back for more (a dangerous precedent to set on a food-filled day) for a fix of her favorite flavor, green tea.
12 Kulfi is an ice-cream-like dairy dessert that's traditional in India. We were excited to taste these all-natural kulfi pops by Kaurina's, a small company in Texas. They were rich yet refreshing and had the perfect creamy texture. They're not widely available outside of Texas yet, but we're keeping our fingers crossed...
13 A deeply-roasted peanut flavor sets Zingerman's brittle apart.
14 Just one of the many products on display this year that featured chocolate-covered potato chips. Flavored popcorn was also HUGE.
15 Excited about this newcomer: City Bakery (of NYC and LA) has a shelf-stable version of their decadent hot chocolate on the market.
16 We loved the look of these simple bottles. Happily, the honey inside was delicious too.
17 Savannah Bee Co. makes it easy to pick the right flavor honey for your needs.
18 This smoky mesquite honey would be delicious brushed on grilled chicken at the last second or drizzled over goat cheese and sprinkled with toasted nuts.
19 We could eat this Happy Goat Scotch Caramel Sauce by the spoonful! Oh wait, we did.
20 Taking Harry Potter mania to a new level: This huge mosaic was made entirely of Jelly Belly jelly beans.
21 Jelly Belly's Bertie Botts jelly beans have made a comeback for the final Potter movie. We sampled tasty flavors like dirt, earthworm, soap and a disturbingly authentic handful of rotten egg.
From: PROYECTOS | 7/19/11 at 7:23 pm
Really fantastic!!
From: Margie Culver | 7/20/11 at 9:30 pm
I have been following Martha since she began. I even have an autographed copy of an earlier garden book Gardening Month by Month, when she came to East Lansing, Michigan. I enjoy reading this blog every day. I have been a school librarian for almost 35 years. Could I use your two pictures of the Harry Potter picture made with Jelly Bellies if I reference this blog post?
Thank you!
From: Carla Lalli Music | 7/21/11 at 10:13 am
Yes, feel free.