I took the day off from work on Monday in order to head up to New York for a day of the Fancy Food Show. Last summer, I went for two and a half days, but this year, since I’m not writing for a general interest food site at the moment, I decided to just spend a single day wandering the show floor. I had a good time, tasting and chatting, but the whole time I was there, I kept feeling like I didn’t quite belong.
As I looked at all the available products, I realized how little I’m interested in promoting things for people to buy (despite all the wonderful things available out there in the world). I’m far more interested in encouraging people to shop their farmers market, plant a garden and make their jams, spread, pickles and condiments on their own. However, the show was great in that it planted many seeds in my canning brain, that are now germinating and growing into recipes. Here are some of the best examples of foods in jars that I saw, maybe they’ll help inspire some of you as well!
This Black Olive with Ginger Jam was amazing – sweet, sharp and poignant in the very same bite.
These were some of the best pickled veggies I’ve ever tasted, they manage to be crisp, bright and shelf stable. As some of you might know, when you can pickled vegetables, it can be a challenge to keep them crunchy and safe for storage at the same time. This company has figured out a magic solution (when I pressed them about their process, they clammed up).
Carrot jam? Carrot jam! As far as I could tell, this was shredded carrots, cooked with sugar, spices and a bit of vinegar. It’s going on my list of things I’d like to do someday.
These port wine and fruit jams were just lovely. Sweet and rich, the port wasn’t overpowered, but was definitely there. They’d be excellent with cheese (and wouldn’t be hard to make at home).
Actually, here’s one product that I do love, that you can’t really make at home. Organic peanut butter from the folks who bring you Cream Nut (the most delicious and expensive peanut butter around). This one might be worth buying (probably only as a special treat though, it is quite pricey).
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That spicy plum chutney is pretty good on a grilled cheese sandwich.
Marissa– I had the same problem with all of my pickles last year. Everything I canned came out soggy. This year I plan on doing more refrigerator pickles, and spending more time canning tomatoes. I get more use out of canned tomatoes than anything else.
I’ve seen recipes for marmalade-like jams with carrots that incorporated shredded carrots in lieu of oranges. I think the recipes date to a time when oranges were expensive and hard to get. I’ve never made any of these recipes, but they’ve always intrigued me.
Thank you for your blog! It’s exactly what I have been looking for.
Hey! The virginia Chutney Company are (almost) neighbors of mine in Washington, VA. How fun to see photo of Clare’s and Neville’s chutney’s here. My favorite is the hot peach and the spicy plum.
[...] Fancy Food Show 2009 SandyHuFm.com, Food for Thought: Walking the Fancy Food Show Foodinjars.com: Food in Jars at the Fancy Food Show Animalwelfareapproved.org/blog: Report from the Trade Show Trenches: Whats this Fancy Food Show All [...]
I must say that those Tillen Farm pickles are consistently crunchy and yummy (having gotten to this blog via GRS’s pickle post, I was reminded of this and had to go get some) but at $8/bottle … clearly, I need to learn to make my own pickles. I plan on spending a lot of time in your archives….
Jeliza, welcome! I was really impressed with the crispness of the Tillen Farms pickles as well. It’s hard to get them so crunchy when making them at home for shelf stability, but you can get homemade refrigerator pickles pleasingly toothsome.
[...] about trying the pickled asparagus and carrots. I’ve been meaning to order some ever since Marisa over at Food In Jars recommended them after trying some at the NYC Fancy Food [...]