The Summer Fancy Food Show is always a feast for attendees, who generally are people from fancy food brands, their buyers and press. There are so many samples available to try that one can get full after just visiting trek or three tables out of the hundred exhibiting!
The Spanish Pavilion was the area that was heavily advertised this year and you saw signs for their area of the show all over the Javits lobby and doors. It was an incredible experience to not only check out their classic foods like olives and olive oil, but I met vendors who had gorgeous all in one paella kits that includes pans and spoons but there was even a Spanish mochi brand featuring both American and Spanish fruit flavors and even a wine flavor! Above is the Agrosevilla booth where their gourmet jarred olives were available to taste but what set them apart was that guests left with stress balls shaped like green olives (you can see a bowl of these at the bottom right of the photo)! For more info, go to https://www.agrosevilla.com.
I was lucky enough to sit in on an olive oil tasting called Spain’s Secret Superpower: Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Influencers and other show guests were invited to taste seven amazing olive oils prepared by Chef Rafael de la Roses of Rafael New York and presented by Varin Keokitvon of the Seattle Culinary Academy. It was a real Spanish olive oil education for everyone attending including yours truly. Chef Keokitvon loves olive oil so much that he brought olive plants home to Seattle from Spain and uses them at home and in his classes! So it is no surprise that he can describe every little nuance of Spanish olive oil to a random group of EVOO fans. There were seven brands on hand including the remarkable Aceiyes Malaga which is saffron infused, Castillo de Canena which tastes of green apple and grass! My favorite might have been Molina Del Genil which is made with olives from Sevilla and has a vanilla quality. The tasting paired these olive oils with Ajo Blanco (cold summer white garlic soup), sliced tomatoes, rustic bread slices, marmalade and strawberry salad. You can check out a great variety of Spanish olive oils, charcuterie (including the legendary Iberico ham), pantry goods and more at https://www.foodswinesfromspain.com.
Now for some quick hits from this year’s show that caught my heart, soul and taste buds…
I have a soft spot for dumplings/potstickers and was thrilled to discover Dumpling Daughter which was a Sofi Award winner for their pork and chive dumplings at this year’s FFS! Not only do they have several varieties of dumplings but they have ventured into crumpling sauces and even a cookbook which you see pictured above. For more info, go to dumplingdaughter.com. This brand is available in major supermarkets and is very reasonably priced for artisan quality!
Not too many straight produce brands “show” at the FFS, but Melissa’s fresh fruits and veggies really tantalized! They distribute a rare pink Del Monte pineapple grown in Costa Rica called Pinkglow that guests went crazy for (you can see a chunk of it on the right in the above photo)…and in case you are curious, it has a mellower taste and no “after sting” like a regular pineapple has. It was so great to try so many interesting types of produce at one very colorful and organized booth at the FFS–and I also think they deserved a special SOFI Award for being the healthiest booth at the show! Check this amazing brand out at melissas.com.
The ladies working at the Carousel Cakes table had to deal with me circling around their time and time again in to try as many of their goodies as possible. I won my choice of cakes and took home a classic sprinkle covered yellow birthday layer cake with white buttercream. This Nanuet, NY based almost-50-year-old bakery landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things list for their sizeable and sweet Red Velvet Cake (shown on the center left of the photo above). They also have adorable cupcakes and fabulous pies with all sorts of unique flavors. Check them out at carouselcakes.com.
There were several incredible cake, biscuit, scone, cookie and muffin mix brands exhibiting at the FFS. I encountered The Invisible Chef had many of their items available to taste and their lemon and poppy cake blew me away. Not only does this company make mixes that taste as good as anything from a bakery but you only need to add four basic ingredients to most of them! Their Chili Starter & Cornbread Mix is basically a meal in a box that gives a ton of flavor and bang for the buck. Their Witches’ Finger cookie kit gives you delicious butter cookies that are green with black nails. They eventually make an ice cream sundae starter kit! For more information, go to theinvisiblechef.com.
There were amazing pizzas all over the show. The Anima Verace booth
featured a pizza flour that created a perfect crust with a crispy bite. Folks were working the booth that were real pizza masters and served six or seven kings to show guests. I ate three slices of the classic Neopolitan Pizza shown above! For more info or to order, go to: Anima Verace Pizza Flour.
My favorite non-carbonated drink at the show was the Blood Orange Juice at Natalie’s Juices. Their Strawberry Lemonade was a close runner up. Everything was so fresh here and they were very generous with their samples which were handed out from cute street carts. For more info, check out this line: Natalie’s Juices.
The Carnegie Deli was on hand to give out their freshly made legendary pastrami sandwiches and cheesecake. These days, their classic deli goods are available on goldbelly.com as well as on carnegiedeli.com. I have to say that any sandwich that I have eaten from this NYC legend has blown me away and their cheesecake rivals Junior’s! I wish they would reopen a location in the city as they are so sorely missed! (Wait, a foodie pal just told me that they opened a location at 4 Penn Plaza and I will undoubtedly be going there soon!)
There is always great coffee at the show and the White Coffee Company had many unique flavored coffees to choose from including Bailey’s French Vanilla Coffee which tasted incredible. Their own unflavored house brand coffee is also remarkable. I have friends who cannot live without their Jim Beam flavored coffee. For more info, go to whitecoffee.com.
In terms of charcuterie, I am glad that my friends from Veroni were at the show! Their prosciutto is the best bang for the buck out there and you can buy it in regular supermarkets like Morton Williams in Manhattan. Their AperiTime assortment which includes a complete meal with cheese, crackers and side snacks like dried apricots or nuts are so convenient and delicious. Check out their huge range of products here: https://www.veroni.com.
In terms of candy, I am always happy to see my friends from Gustaf’s Candies at the show. They have the most complete assortment of English candies including my favorite wine gums and they own all the great old Adam’s gums like Clove, and Blackjack and have the most awesome Dutch licorice It is like a return to your childhood to go their booth. Check them out here: Gustaf’s Candies.
I always pick a favorite “Sunday sauce” at the Fancy Food Show and this year my note goes to Monte’s of Brooklyn. Not only did they set up their booth as “Monte’s Social Club” complete with religious statues, but they had a tomato sauce fountain. Guests got to dip fresh Italian bread in the fountain or just drink pre-poured cups of it! I plan to have some of this amazing sauce this coming Sunday! I loved the guy working the booth–the slick suit, gold chain and open shirt just brought me back to Brooklyn circa 1976! For more info, go to montessauce.com.
