Tantalizing new products at Fancy Food Show

By L. PIERCE CARSON, Register Staff Writer

Pink salt from the Himalayan Mountains. Goat's milk ice cream from Sonoma County. Super-antioxidant green tea from Japan. Pesto made from a Salvadorean orchid. Butter toffee from wine country.

These are but a few of the new products consumers are discovering -- or about to discover -- on retail store shelves this year -- products just introduced to thousands of retailers and wholesalers at the annual Fancy Food Show held each January in San Francisco's Moscone Center.

If there was any consistent theme at last week's show, it came in the form of products that, reportedly, are "good for you" as well as those addressing a healthy lifestyle and/or dietary restrictions.

Vendors come from all over the world in an effort to catch the eye of retailers, restaurateurs and other food service buyers eager to latch onto the latest fad or newest discovery. Staged each year by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, the three-day show attracted more than 16,000 attendees this year who checked out more than 80,000 specialty food products -- ranging from Japanese sweet potato vodka to chocolate-covered tortilla chips -- as well as gift packages, cooking gadgets and food packaging.

One of the interesting debates at this year's show focused on salt. Not too long ago, chefs debated the merits of sea salt -- that top layer of salt from the oceanic salt bed -- versus kosher salt. Now some maintain sea salt is subjected to a myriad and pollutants and can't be trusted.

Those who advance that polemic are fiercely advocating the new pink salt from the Himalayas. They contend it has strong nutritional and health properties because it is unrefined and unpolluted -- marine fossil salt formed in the foothills of the Himalayas more than 200 million years ago during the Mesozoic era. Marketed as Himalania pink salt, it comes crushed in a box or coarse in a ceramic grinder. You can purchase the salt locally at Sunshine Foods and Dean & DeLuca. The 8.8 ounce container retails for approximately $11.

Saltworks, a wholesale catalog firm, had more than a dozen varieties of salt on display, including Peruvian pink salt, flower salt from Bali and Hawaiian sea salt that's the color of red clay. At yet another booth, Hawaii Kai had three distinct salts to offer -- red, black and silver solar sea salts from the island of Molokai. You'll find some of these salts at area food stores like the aforementioned St. Helena establishments, as well as at Oakville Grocery and Vallerga's in Napa.

Unique ice cream

And now to health issues. Ice cream lovers who are lactose intolerant have cause to rejoice. LaLoo's, a new Sonoma County based company, is making ice cream from goat's milk -- goats that graze in meadows not too far from prized North Bay vineyards.

These farmstead ice creams, also low in fat, come in eight delicious flavors, ranging from Black Mission fig to pumpkin spice. Other flavors are vanilla, strawberry, deep chocolate (made with Scharffen Berger cacao), molasses tipsycake, chocolate cabernet and lemon chiffon (made with Napa Valley Meyer lemons).

Palapa Azul is introducing a number of Mexican-style sorbets and ice creams to the California marketplace this year. Sorbet flavors include mango, Jamaica hibiscus flower and coconut, while ice creams are Mexican chocolate, cajeta (goat's milk caramel), flan and elote (sweet corn). Locally, these sorbets and ice creams can be found at Vallerga's and the College Market in Angwin.

Appealing to Asian and Filipino shoppers is the new line of Magnolia tropical ice cream. Flavors include buko (young coconut), lychee, green tea, cashew jackfruit and coconut with lychee. These ice creams are available at a number of Asian markets in the Bay Area.

An Australian firm, Australian Harvest Fine Foods from the Yarra Valley, is promoting the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) diet -- consumption of foods high in antioxidants, particularly dark blue color pigments.

These folks are marketing Bio-Grape red wine jus (for cooking), Bio-Grape red wine chilli sauce (for spicing up our foods) and Bio-Grape plum and grape paste (a spreadable thick jam that goes well with crackers and cheese). Spokesmen maintain their products help neutralize free radicals and protect the body from aging and degenerative disease. Look for Bio-Grape products to hit these shores any day now.

Old and new

Nordic Ware is celebrating its 60th anniversary by bringing back the original Bundt cake pan, a close replica of the firm's first cast aluminum pan. This anniversary pan will accommodate today's 10 cup recipes as well as 12-15 cup recipes from years past because of the pan's extra tall sides and added capacity. Nordic Ware even brought back the original side handles for easy lifting in and out of the oven and added a modern non-stick coating so the cakes release perfectly from the pan every time.

And there's a variety of new shapes and sizes, including a turreted castle, chrysanthemum pan, plus the popular rose and Bavarian pans.

Nordic Ware is also adding new flavors to its lineup of Bundt cake mixes -- chocolate macaroon Bundt and mocha latte Bundt coffee cake. These are now available at Dean & DeLuca -- along with the pans -- and such popular flavors as sticky toffee pudding and tunnel of fudge.

Wine country toffee

Napans Mike and Jeanette Beatty have launched Napa Valley Toffee Company with two well-received confections -- dark chocolate and milk chocolate English toffee. The Beattys said their startup company will soon offer additional flavors and add a line of biscotti later this year.

The toffees are available in attractive eight ounce boxes as well as with gift baskets, wine glasses and coffee mugs. Napa Valley Toffee is available at Napa General Store, Napa Wine Merchants at online at www.napavalleytoffeeco.com.

We also discovered the most heavenly Granny Smith apple caramel sauce from the King's Cupboard. It's ideal for drizzling over pies, tarts, cheesecakes and ice cream or for jazzing up your baked apple dessert. To learn where you can buy it, log online at www.kingscupboard.com.

Exotic pesto

From El Salvador comes a unique pesto made from a tropical orchid. Pesto of loroco has a very intriguing flavor, a blend of the orchid, extra virgin olive oil and ricotta cheese. It can be used to enliven any pasta dish or as sauce for broiled meats and fish. It can also dress up everything from sliced tomatoes to boiled potatoes, as can a companion product, pesto of coriander, the more aromatic of the two. Both products are just now coming into the United States and should be available at Latin American markets. For retail and wholesale information, log online at www.olgamiranda.com.

You are what you drink

The Minnesota-based airforce Nutrisoda company was busy dispensing seven of what it claimed to be "the best tasting sodas money can buy." Maintaining the sodas have no carbs, sugar, sodium, calories, caffeine or aspartame, company reps note that airforce Nutrisodas are "refreshingly carbonated" and "nutrient enhanced."

The "body and mind balancing" flavors are Radiant (pomegranate/blackberry), Immune (tangerine/lime), Focus (mango/peach), Flex (black cherry/apple), Energize (mandarin/mint), Calm (wild berry/citron) and Slender (pink grapefruit/guava). They are quite tasty and will soon be available at health food stores and upscale food stores in northern California. Look for prices of $2-$3 per can.

One of the tastiest new refreshments is the brand new Sumol passion fruit drink from Portugal. It should show up on supermarket shelves by summer. If not, ask for it.

Teas are popular, whether in single serve bottles or in brand new 16-serving boxes. The folks who brought us Jones sodas are now marketing a half dozen organic teas in 14 ounce bottles. The selections include green berry and mandarin, red tropical and peach, plus white cherry and strawberry.

The Republic of Tea is the first to bring us a ready-to-drink boxed Iced Tea Square. These 16 serving boxes are available in three unsweetened, no calorie, organic brewed selections -- Ginger Peach Decaf Black Tea, Raspberry Quince Black Tea and Passionfruit Green Tea. The Iced Tea Squares have a suggested retail price of $11.99.

Coming to market from Republic of Tea on March 1 is a limited edition series of J. Garcia Artisan Teas -- 50 bags per tin with a distinctive label featuring Jerry Garcia's original artwork. Offerings include Morning Brew, Jerry Cherry, Shady Grown, Magic Herb Blend and Spirit of Sage. Retail is $9 per tin.

With a flashpoint of 485 degrees, gourmet Stir Fry Tea Oil is ideal for stir frying, sauting and pan searing quickly at high temperatures - a new product for the home chef. Prized for its yellow jade hue and soft, slightly sweet finish, light and aromatic tea oil has been a part of Asian cookery for generations. Stir Fry Tea Oil from Republic of Tea has a suggested retail price of $14.50 for a 17-ounce tin.

Teas' Tea is introducing Sencha Shot, a canned Japanese green tea with added antioxidants. The 6.4 ounce cans of Sencha Shot contain 152 mg of the powerful antioxidant catechin, more than any other green tea beverage on the market.

Enlighten your mouth

Sencha is touting its Green Tea Mints as "an intoxicating blend of organic green tea known to help inhibit the root causes of bad breath." And if you want a variety of flavors, Sencha mints also come in delicate pear and lively lemongrass.

From New Jersey comes Oral Fixation Mints in six breathtaking flavors -- mojito mint, night light (caffeinated chai), peppermint, 7 deadly cinnamon (hot), sugar free Tibet (wintergreen) and spare mint (spearmint). The colorful tins can be found at Dean & DeLuca.

And just in case you can't get enough caffeine in your life, look to Seattle's Penguin firm. Seems the founder was caught up in traffic one day wishing he had some caffeine to keep him awake. A traveling companion suggested it would be nice if you could pop some gum in your mouth and get that needed jolt. Say no more. Penguin now offers three sugar-free flavors of Energy Gum and two flavors of Caffeinated Mints. Log onto www.peppermints.com to check out where you can find them.

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