snackstuff: fancy food show leftovers

I went to the fancy food show on Monday. But you probably already read that. As per usual, I found many more things I like than had room for on the page.

.

To make a few gross generalizations…

I walk through the Spain area, hoping to find Ferran Adria Lays potato chips or some cool line of fruit-flavored mono-glyceride gels. Nope. Despite the fact that Spain is the world’s capital of innovative cuisine, their food exports are pretty traditional.

.

Little countries with emerging export markets, like I saw Bulgaria and Ecuador, all seem to have the same things, a basic line of offerings. Olive oil, cheese, vacuum packed/frozen/conserve fruits and vegetables, fruit juices and perhaps the local version of American breakfast cereals.

.

Here’s a quick list of some new, some scary, some you-may-have-already-seen-but-are-great-nonetheless items that caught my eye at the Javits:

.

Budweiser Barbeque Sauce. No…really.

.

Faraco&Feixas liqueurs and drinks from Spain. I have no idea how they taste, but they look really cool.

.

Jackie Chan’s XGT green tea energy drink. Because kung fu fighting can be really dehydrating. He’s not just a spokesman, he’s an investor! 

.

Little i. Patent pending girlie pink mint tins with built-in mirror. Japanese fashion zines love it.

.

Peeled Snacks. Dried fruit in one pack, salted nuts in another. Open and mix for bestest freshest flavor. Great combinations like the Shock-olate with dark chocolate, pears, apricots, almonds and walnuts.

.

Stir fry tea oil from the Republic of Tea. Made from cold pressing Cameilla sinensis tea seeds. Flash point of 485 degrees. Masa Takayama uses it. Nuf said.

.

Sweetriot. Tiny cocoa bean bits covered in 50/65/70 percent dark chocolate packaged in supercool one-ounce tins, decorated by different artists. Plus they do good deeds, so it’s candy with a cause.

Comments

[Spanish ham]

I must agree with you that spanish products are still poorly marketed overseas. For instance, one of Spain's gastronomy jewels, high quality spanish ham, remains mostly unknown outside of Spain. Actually, foreigners find it quite shocking that spaniards are willing to spend some 500 euros on a single ham...