Fancy Food Show Hall of Fame!

I put the link to the developers of the two top Hall of fame products in the title. These products are not currently on their web site (Hey, they are new) but the deliciousness factor so trumps much of what was at the food show I rate them number one.


1. Aux Delices mini sausages and truffle butter. A tie between these two products. The truffle butter is an excellent quality butter with the perfect balance of truffle and salt. It is so good it could be melted and tossed with pasta and no more sauce would be needed. Sure, you could finish with cream or top with Romano but I am not sure I would want to interfere with the truffle goodness in any way. Spread on bread and have a salad for dinner and you would feel like Royalty. I should mention that it won a best of show award, so it seems I am not the only one impressed by this delicacy. I spoke with Zabars this morning and for those of you in NY it is already in stock.

They have also JUST developed mini sausages. With just the right toothy chewiness and spice balance I can honestly say they match their french counterparts in flavor and texture. They are too good to mass produce so you will never see them in the local Piggly Wiggly but check when you are in New York, some smart retailer like Zabars is sure to grab them up. They will be one of the most popular snackable delicious products ever sold. Note to food stores...STOP RELYING ON D'ARTGAN, they are just not that good. They don't belong in the Hall of Shame (for business practices they do, but that's another article) but small purveyors beat them all to Hell when it comes to flavor.











2. Cherry and Pomegranate reduction from http://www.clubsauce.com/both of these reductions are so beyond words amazing that my mouth waters at the thought. No sugar is added so they have a pure fruit taste that is astonishing. The man behind these creations is working on a chocolate tart cherry sauce that when it is ready I will be first in line for. From vegetable dressings to meat glazes to dessert my mind reels with the possible uses.

3. Better than "Better than Bouillon" are Savory creations broths. Rachel Ray (lazy slag that she is in the kitchen, I know she runs an empire but please...stock from a can ALL the time) needs to discover these and throw away the crap she uses. The Turkey actually tastes like Turkey and being that modern turkey can have so little flavor they would make an ideal gravy base. Not salty, no canned taste. They are what they claim to be...broth. What a concept.


4.The Beharry group imports a lot of crap but their Indi line of spices is excellent. The Star in the Indi family is the curry powder. Just add to oil sizzle and add in your onion and garlic (I threw in a touch of hot pepper) and whatever you like. I chose lamb and cauliflower and put the mass in a crock pot to slow roast. My gosh, Can I tell you how good my dinner was tonight. Granted there are as many curries as there are grandmothers but if you don't want to hand blend the spices and you want something MILES ahead of the grocery store curry powder this is worth seeking out.

5. Epicurean butter makes our list for the Tomato Chipotle Butter. They make several good ones but this tops the list for creativity and flavor. This is strongly infused with flavor without being too salty. Tasty and creative puts this little company on the list.



6. Chocolate Grove For the Raspberries and Cherries in Dark Chocolate. The fruit is freeze dried, not sugared or oiled and the candy is among the simplest and best. Pure fruit deliciousness wrapped in a good dark chocolate, so simple so good.

7. Salsa, from New Jersey and it takes best in show. Don't be afraid to get the hot, it is not hot which could be a strike against it, but the flavor makes up for it. Nicely seasoned with a good cilantro kick and get this; NO SUGAR. While this may seem to make sense I gotta tell you that to find salsas that did not taste like dessert was a challenge. They are using every form of sugar known to man to hide the fact on the label, but when you taste them and they seem like a dessert topping you KNOW it is not Salsa. This stuff is wonderful and they are local so for me, when I don't make my own there will be no other choice.

8. Fabrique Delices for their duck gizzard confit. If you don't live in New York and have connections you may have to order it. Order it. Hall of Fame all the way...crisp them up and serve with salad and bread and try to tell me you are not bliss filled.

9. Domingo Caffe for their espresso. Nothing like those burned Starbucks excuse for coffee. This is the real deal, rich, sweet, frothy espresso. It needs no sugar, just sip and be in coffee bliss.

10. IzzeEsque for the low calorie sparkling Limon drink. Yes I have a soda on my list. I am not a soda drinker, but I tasted a number of them, many promising to be organic and natural and they tasted like fruit flavored syrup from Mrs. Butterworth. Nasty, vile. S.O. can tell you I spit some of them out and insulted the creators by pronouncing the products as vile before leaving the tasting table. Izzeesque is light, both lemon and limey and not overly sweet. They do what the others promise and earn their place in the hall of fame.

I may or may not have time to put the Hall of Shame together before I leave town for a bit, so check these products out and soon I will out the worst of the worst, yes Emeril I am talking about you.