Editor's Choice: Cypress Grove Chevre

I try not to choose award-winning products for my editor's choice. Not because I don't think they're good, but because if they've recently won an award from, say the American Cheese Society or the National Association of Specialty Food Trade, chances are you'd already know about it. That being said, I chose Cypress Grove Chevre's Truffle Tremor as my editor's choice this week (even though it took home a Sofi Gold award at this year's Summer Fancy Food Show) simply because I can't stop thinking about it. The smooth, velvety goat cheese starts out just as you would expect, and finishes with the earthiness from the truffle (and this isn't just truffle flavoring or truffle oil -- you can actually see pieces of truffle in the cheese).

The cheesemakers at Cypress Grove Chevre recommend pairing the cheese straight with a dry white wine, or adding a thin layer over mashed potatoes and parsnips. Personally, I can't wait to try it with pesto and tomatoes as a flatbread pizza.

For the cheese connoisseur who is looking for something a little different, this is definitely a cheese I would recommend!

Stephanie

Editor's Choice: Carolyn's Handmade

I’ve been attending The Chicago Market for more than two years but prior to joining the staff of Fancy Food, I never had a reason to venture into the gourmet temps section. After sampling coffee, I made a beeline for Carolyn’s Homemade’s Jalaprika Cashews I had eyed earlier at the Thompson Marketing booth.

Now, I love heat, but I was initially taken aback by the flavor and kick of the Jalaprika, which didn’t set in until after I’d swallowed, but I’d already decided to keep sampling. Although noticeable, the spiciness was not over powering and I was still able to taste the nuttiness of the cashew.

Munching on these cashews is only for the strong willed. I’d placed them out at a party and watched as guests are surprised but continue to munch. I took a few sips of a Pilsner while eating the cashews later in the evening and the subtly of the Pilsner enhanced the flavor but not the heat of the cashews – an enjoyable balance. They’d also make excellent additions to a salad with a mild cheese or in a stir fry. Days later, as I munch on them while editing the August issue of Fancy Food, I’m able to eat more and more cashews and handle the heat better while still getting a kick out of the kick.

Carolyn’s offers a Gourmet Chocolate Bark Hostess Gift Tin using the Jalaprika Cashews with dark chocolate bark. If cashews are your thing, the Jalaprika seasoning is also available on Walnuts and Pecans in gift sets, bags and glass jars. Check out the website, www.40parklane.com.

-Mary

Editor's Choice: Rao's

Growing up in an Italian family, I remember going to wedding banquets and having special foods. One of these party foods was a tray they passed around family style filled with sliced meats and cheeses, antipasto, with this great-tasting dressing. It was a treat and not the kind of thing you normally got at home. I mention this because it turns out that now maybe you can.

That’s the taste I experienced when I tried Rao’s Homemade Italian Herb Dressing on my humble salad of lettuce and tomato. It was a great, fresh taste, with just the right amount of herbs and spices. It was a real, “I remember this moment.” In fact, it has a recipe for an antipasto on the bottle. An added bonus the dressing has some sugar in it and is not as bitter as some others I’ve tried. Besides green salads, I’ve also drizzled it over green beans and tossed it with leftover cooked pasta and tomatoes for a summer salad. I can see it dressing other vegetables as well. And I’m seriously thinking of buying some cold meats and provolone in the deli and tomatoes from the Farmers Market in the near future and giving a simple antipasto dish a try. (www.raos.com)

-Barbara

Editor's Choice: Itzy Ritzy

I don't know what my carbon footprint is, I haven't purchased a hybrid car, and I don't have an urban chicken coop in my back yard. But I am a lot more conscious of my environmental impact now than I have ever been in the past. I am always looking for ways to create less waste (I've even got my family members to use totes when they grocery shop, rather than plastic bags). So I was excited to try out a Snack Happened reusable and washable snack bag when my coworker Mary received a sample.

These fun bags and other products from Itzy Ritzy (www.itzyritzy.com) are aimed at parents with small children, but while I have no children of my own, I do bring my own lunch to work, more often than not, and many of the bright patterns available would be just as at home in an adult lunch bag as it would a diaper bag or lunch box. The bags feature a lead-free zipper and are made of 100-percent cotton, with a waterproof interior lining -- no plastic to dry out and crack. Best of all, the bags are machine washable.

With bags like these, I can say good-bye to non-biodegradable plastic sandwich and snack bags!

-Stephanie

July Top Shelf Advice

When do you start decorating your store for the winter holidays?

Summer Fancy Food Show, Part I

Today was day one of the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. I wish I'd have taken pictures yesterday when our sales manager Joanne and I were there to set up and hand out ad boards -- it's like being backstage at a musical or play. You walk the aisles (very carefully! You don't want to get run over by a an electronic cart or cherry-picker!) and see booths in every stage of set-up. As of 12:30, there were booths complete with product displayed, counters draped and ready for the show opening, and there were booths that were still empty, except for a few boxes and crates marked with the company name. Boxes and storage crates of every size and shape were piled around the show floor -- I think it takes seeing the show in that stage to really get an appreciation of what goes into each and every booth on the floor.

Anyway, the first day of the show was great! I made the mistake of starting out up on the first floor, just like everybody else and their mothers. I wandered the 400-1000 aisles for a bit before heading downstairs. Here's a few of the companies I came across today:

The Cooperstown Cookie Company offers baseball-shaped shortbread cookies in officially licensed Major League Baseball packaging. New this year are the Baseball Hall of Fame vintage tins and classic Stadium Tins, including a favorite from my hometown, Wrigley Field. Now baseball fans can hang in through the seventh inning stretch with the Tube of Bunts, a cylindrical tin featuring logos from teams such as the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and of course, the Chicago Cubs. More info at www.cooperstowncookie.com.

New to the Fancy Food Show, Somebody's Mother's Chocolate Sauce (www.somebodysmothers.com) was sampling their Chocolate Sauce, Caramel Sauce (nominated for a 2009 Sofi award) and White Chocolate with Pear William Sauce, which they sampled drizzled over some vanilla ice cream -- delish! Lynn Lasher and her three children, Reese, William and Hayden, were were manning the booth and dishing out samples of all three sauces. Good luck on the nomination, Lasher family!

Local brownie bakers, Mari's of New York (www.marisny.com) was also at the show, featuring "simply marvelous" brownies. These moist little bites come packaged in a coral gift box that you might just see in an upcoming Fancy Food gift guide. The company offers seasonal brownie offers, such as Holiday Cheer and L'Orange.

Tune in tomorrow for more updates from the 2009 Summer Fancy Food Show!

Editor's Choice: Funky Chunky Inc.

It's been busy over here at Fancy Food & Culinary Products while we try to get ready for the Summer Fancy Food Show. I've got an extensive list of booths to visit and people to see. Much of my time will be spent sampling new products and talking to owners of new companies, but there are some companies that I will always take a few moments to visit, even if they aren't introducing any new flavors. One such company is FunkyChunky Inc.

Mother-daughter team Ronni L. Feuer and Erica Feuer-Kopilenko are the masterminds behind an absolutely addictive confection that starts with buttery caramel popcorn. Then layers of milk, dark and white chocolate are drizzled on and glazed whole almonds, pecans and cashews are thrown into the mix for good measure. They also have a pretzel version, drizzling chunks of pretzel in milk, white and dark chocolate, caramel and adding pecans. I can't decide which I like better, and at shows I find myself in front of their booth, gazing over the little sample cups, torn between taking the biggest sample I can find and the hard-learned wisdom of pacing with samples at the show. As it usually happens, this is a moment where caution is thrown into the wind and I end up trying whatever they're offering.

Added incentive for stopping by the FunkyChunky booth however comes in the form of a bar. This summer, the company is launching a brand new line of chocolate bars in four flavors: Chocolate, which blends milk chocolate with dried berries, graham crackers, pecans, crispy rice and chocolate sandwich cookies. The entire bar is then drizzled with white chocolate; Licorice, which packs dark chocolate with chewy caramel and soft red licorice pieces, then is finished with a white chocolate drizzle; Peanut Crunch, jammed with salty, fresh-roasted peanuts and crunchy chocolate puffs smothered in milk chocolate, topped with drizzles of chocolate and peanut butter confection; and Graham Cracker, which melds dark chocolate, fluffy marshmallows and caramel together, then tops the combination with a graham cracker drizzled with dark, milk and white chocolates. Is your stomach growling yet?



The new bars are packaged in a clear acetate bag topped with a black bow and hang tag to best display the premium ingredients used in the small-batch, handcrafted confections. If you're going to the Summer Fancy Food Show, these delightful new products can be found at booth #4734. Otherwise, check back with the website, www.funkychunkyinc.com, after July 1, which is when the bars will be available to ship.

-Stephanie