Cheese from the Winter Fancy Food Show 2014

There is a lot of cheese at the Fancy Food Show ! I wait until the last day to indulge and I try to focus on the cheeses that are new or new to me. Here are some of note:  I always make a point of checking out the cheeses at Fresca Italia . The standout this year was Fiore de Bufala from Bergamo. It is the lightest fluffiest cheese I’ve ever tasted and yet unbelievably rich at the same time. Despite my ability to read Italian, the information on the website doesn’t tell me much about the cheese except that it’s new and made from 100% buffalo milk  Miette from Baetje Farms in Missouri is a bloomy rind sheep and goat’s milk cheese that melts in your mouth. It’s mild and sweet and very creamy and a little bit oozy near the rind. A really luscious cheese. All Baetje cheese is Certified Humane.   Milton Creamery makes outstanding clothbound cheeses. The Flory’s Truckle is made in Iowa from milk that comes from Missouri, and is an old fashioned styl......

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Chocolate from the Winter 2014 Fancy Food Show

The Fancy Food Show can be overwhelming since there are more products than it's physically possible to try in three days. Attendees have to decide what they will focus on tasting. I'm always curious to see what's happening in the world of chocolate. Here are some of the most tasty and interesting things I discovered this time around.  I’ve always been impressed by Vosges for their willingness to take a risk. Sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn’t. I didn’t try all of the new Super Dark bars, but I loved the Coconut Ash & Banana Super Dark Chocolate Bar. It’s made with ash from coconut shells burnt into charcoal. The flavors were deep and true, not artificial. It contains Sri Lankan coconut and charcoal coconut ash, Hawaiian banana and 72% cacao.  The other coconut chocolate I liked was the Coco Besas Coconut Kisses bar from Taza . I generally like   Taza's hot chocolate but usually find the texture of their bars too unrefined and rough, but in......

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Top Trends from the Winter 2014 Fancy Food Show

One of the reasons I attend the Fancy Food Show is to see what’s trending. Some flavors and categories just seem to be everywhere. This year was no exception.  The top trends I spotted were vinegar-based drinks , coconut in everything, popped corn and peanut butters .  One of the most exciting trends I saw this year was vinegar-based drinks . Years ago we saw more sophisticated “dry” sodas being introduced, and I think this is a continuation of that, as they are less sweet but generally still fruity and fizzy.  The last couple of years making your own shrubs has been covered in publications like Imbibe: Homemade Drinking Vinegars ,  Serious Eats: How to Make Shrub Syrups  and The Kitchn: The Tale of the Shrub .  Here are the ones I saw at the show:  Silk Road Soda is based near Sacramento. They make three varieties based on a Middle Eastern recipe, cucumber and mint, pomegranate mint and original mint, which also has pear. They are each ......

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Paiche Recipe and Giveaway

It’s not everyday that you get the chance to try a fish you’ve never even heard of before. Last week I cooked paiche (pie-chay) a fish from the Amazon, also known as arapaima or pirarucu. Freshwater paiche are huge, growing be up to near 500 pounds, and breathe through lungs rather than gills. Considered a prehistoric fish, the flesh is very firm, but also rich and high in omega-3 fatty acids. Endangered in the wild from overfishing, paiche is now raised commercially in ponds so wild fish remain protected, and free of any antibiotics or mercury. It’s one of the top fish farmed in Peru, and you may find it on restaurant menus or at Whole Foods, the only retailer currently selling it in the US.  It’s easy to cook paiche for a couple of reasons, because it’s dense and firm it won’t easily fall apart and because it’s rich it doesn’t get dry, even if you overcook it. It has a very clean, buttery slightly sweet flavor and is somewhat similar to sea bass or cod in texture.  ......

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