It’s Hard Work, But Someone Has To Taste It

SAN FRANCISCO — At first glance, walking through the 32nd annual Fancy Food Show in San Francisco seems like paradise on Earth. More than 1,100 vendors of the newest food products from around the world vie for the attention of more than 16,000 retailers, chefs, food buyers, and journalists, plying them with free samples and smooth sales pitches. The Fancy Food Show runs three times a year, in New York City during the summer, on the West Coast during the winter, and in Chicago in the spring, and there are always plenty of new tastes to explore. But wading through can be a Herculean (and dehydrating) task for even the most passionate foodie.Not five minutes after I arrived Sunday, I had already nibbled on a tandoori chicken wing, a mini allergen-free brownie, a chili-spiced Australian macadamia nut, and a squid salad drizzled with grapeseed oil. Luckily, there was a tray filled with samples of Hint Pomegranate-Tangerine Water just around the corner.It’s hard not to feel the world’s your oyster — or, shall we say, your Kona Kampachi sashimi at the food show. I tried sea-salt caramels from Fran’s Chocolates, freshly pressed Bariani olive oil, and perfectly ripe Spanish Toma Blu cheese in quick succession. But an hour or two of flip-flopping between savory and sweet samples leads to a very grave condition that I’ve informally termed Fancy Food Stomach.But once I trekked across aisle after aisle (and took a few breathers), even the seemingly endless array of new products began to make sense, and trends began to come into focus. A new generation of healthful foods manages to be delicious, not drudgery.Tea is a big trend again this year, and it’s becoming ever more traditional and fancy. Tréleela Tea’s new line of whole-leaf teas, which won the award for Most Outstanding New Beverage at this year’s show, doesn’t even come in teabags: Natural-fiber infusers cradle the tea leaves instead, allowing them to expand prettily right in the mug.Other superfoods are becoming popular, too. Himalayan goji berries, packed with antioxidants, are becoming mainstream, and now come in cute little snack packs. Lotus Foods’s Jade Pearl Rice is infused with green bamboo extract, adding vitamins and phytonutrients to the delicate grain. And there’s a new superjuice, too: Chinese Yumberry juice is a tasty, bright-red juice filled with vitamins and antioxidants.Even oils have gotten healthy. The macadamia nut, which has always had the reputation of being a fatty, unhealthy nut, could be redeemed by Brookfarm’s new line of macadamia oils. These cold-pressed Australian oils have a remarkably buttery taste and a high smoke point, and they’re healthy, too — higher in healthy monounsaturated fats than olive oil. Infused oils are also becoming more sophisticated. Brookfarm also makes an aromatic macadamia nut oil infused with lemon myrtle, and Salute Santé makes a basil-infused grapeseed oil that smells like a bunch of the fresh herb.A new batch of allergen-free foods are here, too, promising to banish bad memories of leaden cake and bland Tofutti. Cherrybrook Kitchen’s line of gluten-free cookie and cake mixes taste like the real thing, and the ingredient list is simple and natural. The chocolate chip cookie mix switches out wheat flour in favor of potato and tapioca starch, and though the texture is a little light, the luscious chocolate chips more than make up for it.And the lactose-intolerant can rejoice in goat’s milk ice cream from La-Loo’s. Many people who can’t tolerate cow’s milk can enjoy goat’s milk, especially when it’s whipped into Black Mission Fig or Deep Chocolate flavors. The final kicker: The ice cream is low-fat, too.Even the humble tuna fish sandwich is getting a healthy makeover. Ecofish and Wild Planet both specialize in wild tuna with the highest levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and the lowest levels of mercury. Cooked just once right in the can, it’s good enough to eat plain, and even better drizzled with a topnotch olive oil — which, luckily, was served at a booth nearby.It’s not all wine and rose-petal jelly, though. There are plenty of products that are over-sugared, under-flavored, or just plain wacky. I stopped in my tracks in front of the Japanese “Hello Beauty” booth, where the gracious staff was offering samples of Oligo Collagen Marshmallow, squishy round snacks filled with lactosucrose that promise “beauty from inside of your body.”I think I’ll stick to flavored water.Most of the products listed above are now available in New York City. Look for them at fancier supermarkets such as Whole Foods, Zabar’s, Citarella, and Fairway. Wild Planet tuna is available at Natural Frontier Markets, and Jade Pearl Rice is currently sold only in bulk through lotusfoods.com.

It’s Hard Work, But Someone Has To Taste It

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