International Fancy Food Show

Food deprivation

Image via georgia.usaid.gov

Have you wondered why food choices are so limited in the USA, especially the East Coast? Can anyone identify anything but incremental changes in fast food since Ray Kroc started McDonald’s?

A brief visit to the International Fancy Food Show recently held at NY’s Javits Convention Center opened the closed doors to foods that have not made it to supermarket shelves, restaurants and other dining/drinking spots because food purchasing managers are afraid to move off the tried and true

Whether it is a bold and crunchy queen green olive (the best for martini’s) or a new cracker (taste and flavor bursting on the tongue creating a momentary but lasting pleasure) or a minty power water with incredible vivacity and no calories, retail food outlets have built walls that keep good foods “off limits.”

Fight Back
If you are bored enough with the current food choices available at your supermarket or local restaurant (short of gourmet where boldness is rewarded) beat a path to some of the goodies that follow:
Rozendal Vinegar.Dump the Balsamic (it is so yesterday). Show your love for salads with Rezendal Lavender Vinegar infused with organic lavender grown in the Jonkershoek Valley on the border of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company.Based in Ft. Pierce, Florida, it is time for Sunkist and Tropicana to pack up and move along. The fresh fruity flavors include orange, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and lemonade. (It was so good that I sipped my sample “slowly” as I strolled the food aisles…no way I would toss it away)
Bodhi Fruit Chips. Throw again the potatoes and vegetable chips, fruit chips are the new snacks for people who still have taste bud to satisfy. The fruits are grown in Mexico and each bag has the equivalent of one pound of fresh fruit. Available in apple, pineapple, mango and strawberry you will not find any sugar, additives, preservatives or gluten.
Lembrecht Gourmet’s Premium Toffee Collection. I walked by the booth, grabbed a sample bag and continued on since toffee is not on my “search for goodies list.” It’s 4PM and I need a snack. Nothing in my refrigerator interests me, and the beans and cans of soup in the cupboard are not what I had in mind. Back to the desk – and there is the toffee sample. Oh well – let’s give it try. WOW! Run do not walk to buy these treats. No preservatives, lots of pure creamery butter, imported chocolate, whole Oregon hazelnuts, Texas pecan halves, California pistachio nuts, Hawaii Macadamia nuts; do not die before you have put a bit of this stuff on your tongue.
Kreutzkamm-Osterbrote un Prasent-Eier. Leave it to a German chocolate manufacturer to find a way to make real egg shells and gold into a diva’s taste sensation. Newly hatched eggs have the embryo extracted and replaced with incredibly creaming smooth chocolate and then dipped in gold.
Joseph Banks Cassava Chips. No relation to the fellow who sells men’s suits, these guilt-free chips start life as a cassava root (also known as Yucca), then lightly cooked in oil. They pack a taste wallop that leaves potato and vegetable chips in an earlier century. Free of cholesterol, trans fats, gluten, lactose, and suitable for vegans, all flavors are yummy (Sea Salt, Roasted Tomato, Chili & Lime, Cracked Pepper).
Kahlua Coffee. No alcohol but lots of flavor, this ground coffee should be available in Starbucks but the distributor is too much of a snob to talk with the purchasing agents. If you love coffee and Kahlua - it may be worth the effort to contact the distributor directly for a supply.
Metrolelectro. This high performance water blends pure water and “micronutrients” needed for a healthy life-style. The essence of the product is the refreshing mint taste and the absence of calories.