This week's San Francisco Chronicle (3/1) Food section featured an article about the recent Winter Fancy Food Show held in San Francisco in January. I have attended this show too many times to count over the past 12 years. The show is put on by the National Association of the Specialty Food Trade, which holds three versions of the Fancy Food Show throughout the year - Winter in San Francisco, Spring in Chicago and Summer in New York City. This truly is the place to find the best of the best food products ranging from imported cheeses, to condiments, specialty meats, confections, cookies and more. As the author of the article noted, the show is literally a food fest, where trade members (not open to the public) have the opportunity to taste a wide, wide variety of specialty foods.

The foods introduced at the show are literally, the foods that will appear at your local stores in the coming months.
So, I thought I'd write a report of my findings at the show. This, of course, will not be exhaustive, since there are hundreds of booths, hundreds of new products and often not enough time to see everything.
Here are a few snippets of what is up and coming to your neighborhood store.

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere. High quality is what it is all about. Great new offerings - as well as those previously introduced - from a host of companies include the Torn Ranch Tea Bar, with European dark chocolate infused with green tea and a hint of jasmine (www.tornranch.com).
For the wine lover, there was the Wine Lover's Chocolate Collection from The San Francisco Chocolate Factory. Each different cocoa percentage is paired with a red wine varietal. Scharffen Berger introduced the 3-ounce El Carmen 75% Cacao Limited Series dark chocolate bars as well as the Gianduja bars. (www.scharffenberger.com).
The new dessert sauces collection from Fran's Chocolates is a tasty trio. The Dark Chocolate, Classic Caramel and Pure Raspberry Sauces - are Fran's most requested sauces and are now available in a three pack. (www.franschocolates.com)
For the tea and chocolate lover, Serendipitea is offering unique and distinctive blends such as romantic tea and flower blends, along with tea/tisane blends with real dark chocolate (www.serendipitea.com).

Fair Trade labels continue to expand beyond the coffee realm and include Fair Trade certified sweeteners from Wholesome Sweeteners. The line includes organic Fair Trade sugar, organic Fair Trade sucanat, organic Fair Trade powdered sugar, organic Fair Trade light and dark brown sugars, organic Fair Trade molasses, and Fair Trade raw cane sugar.


Lots of healthy and tasty beverages to keep an eye out for. New to the show was the Ardea Beverage Company which offered airforce Nutrisoda, nutrient-enhanced sodas that are made with natural fruit flavors and colors (www.nutrisoda.com).
For those wanting to experience the healthful benefits of mate, Pixie Mate showased their offerings including The Original Mate latte, Mate Mocha, Mate Chai and Dark Roast Mate Latte (www.piximate.com).
The portable T-Buddy from TzuThe International serves as both a mug and a tea pot. A built-in infuser allows for brewing full leaf teas, herbal 'teas' and even coffee. They also offered a green tea bar, that is made with green tea leaves and Sapporo brewer's yeast. The bar is high in protein and fiber and comes in Multi-grain, Japanese Germ Rice or Tropical fruit.
Honest Tea introduced certified organic bottled iced teas in unsweetened varieties as well as lightly sweetened flavors including Mango White Tea, Heavenly Honey Green tea. From ITO EN, two new varieties have been added to the all-natural, unsweetened Teas' Tea line - Lemongrass Green and Rose Green.
Great for entertaining is the Stirrings Cocktail Essences from Nantucket Off-Shore Seasonings. The herbal and floral infused cocktail essences come in Summer Basil, Hillside Lavender, Mediterranean Rosemary and 60 Petal Rose flavors, and are a great way to give a martini a bit of flavor.
For those who demand the real thing, Nielsen-Massey vanillas introduced four new pure extracts - Chocolate, Almond, Orange and Lemon for a variety of baking and cooking applicaiotns. www.nielsenmassey.com.

Flavors of the world include the Maya Kaimal line of all-natural, refrigerated Indian sauces. A delicious shortcut to some of your favorite Indian dishes such as Tikka Masala, Coconut Curry, Tamarind Curry and Vindaloo. (www.mayakaimal.com) And for those who love to stir fry, Republic of Tea's cold-pressed extra-virgin tea oil is great. The Tea Oil ensures a balance of texture, flavors and color, while preserving valuable nutirents. (www.republicoftea.com).
A tasty blend of sesame, garlic, coriander and ginger with a hint of star anise make up the Asian Brining Blend from Victorial Gourmet. Perfect for pork tenderloin or shrimp. (www.vgourmet.com)
An interesting snack find -- Lasagna Chips. Made from fresh sheets of lasagna, cooked and seasoned to create several flavors: Garlic & Oregano, Tomato Basil, Sea Salt and Barbecue, as well as a new, whole-wheat Lasagna Chip (www.lasagnachips.com).
Recipes from the Aztec and Mayan recipes are replicated from Xochitl in slasas, dipa dn corn chip[s. Salsa/dips are available in Chipotle, Roasted Jalapeno and Habanero. Voted best Chips in the Country by the Rosengarten Report in Sept. 2005. (www.salsaxochitl.com)
Madras Curry Mustard, from Bear Creek Fine Foods, is a blend of Madras curry spice with organic mustard to offer exotic flavor with ahint of sweetness and a punch of spice. (wwwbearcreekfinefoods.com)
- Three new buttery crackers from the Fine Cheese Company of Bath England include Charcoal (yes, charcoal), Wholemeal and Natural.
- Tasty new fig sauces at The Girl and The Fig - Spiced Fig Caramel and Spiced Fig Chocolate.
- Numerous companies highlighting distinctive gourmet sea salts - many hand-harvested and certified authentic, including those from SaltWorks Inc. (www.seasalt.com).
- Emeril's All Natural Chicken, Beef, and organic vegetable Stocks.
--** Fruit/Flavor to keep an eye on - Goji Berries - The TIbetan Goji Berry is chock full of lots of good things: 18 amino acids, more beta carotene than carrots, more iron than spinach, 500 times the vitamin C by weight than an orange, lots of protein . . . .
- The list could go on and on . . but I must move on.

Keep and eye out for these new products . .
Until next time, enjoy Food and the Family

Laura