It’s 9:25 A.M. on July 9 and I’m pulling up in a cab in front of the Javits Center on New York’s West Side, just blocks from Manganaro’s, home of the six-food Heroboy sandwich. I’m headed inside to discover what’s new in the world of spice at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade’s 52nd Summer Fancy Food Show.
“This three-day event will feature 300,000 square feet of exhibit space filled with more than 160,000 specialty food and beverage products from more than 1,800 domestic exhibitors and 500 international companies,” says Mayor Bloomberg in his welcome message on page one of the 3/4-inch thick directory. Translation: There will be more food to taste than any sane person could possibly ingest. But I’m willing to try.
Here’s what happening now:
9:28: Glass and steel lobby of the Javits Center, amid a mad swirl of Starbucks-toting, suitcase-lugging buyers fast-walking into the show. I ring Rick Field of Rick’s Picks, a Brooklyn-based gourmet pickle company whose GT 1000 curried green tomato pickles made the Saveur 100 list for 2006. www.rickspicksnyc.com
Rick gave up TV production to follow his bliss—which turned out to be dill. We’ve never met. “How will I know you?” I shout into my phone over the din. “I’m the guy dressed in…..” I lose him, but wait where I think he tells me to, at the main entrance.
9:31: Still waiting.
9:32: My cell vibrates. “I can’t find you,” says Rick. “Where are you?” I turn to see a tallish guy dressed in pickle-green tee-shirt and suede sneakers, plaid cap brim-backwards, waving at me from the far end of the lobby. I wave back.
9:35: Rick’s booth in the show’s New York section is clean and spare, with jars of sassily named pickles lined up on the counter. His gang of three is busy setting out samples of Pepipep Peps, pickled red peppers with garlic and ginger. They’re tangy with the sweetness of ripe Bell red peppers.
All Rick’s Picks have clever names, like Kool Gherks (gherkins, dill flowers, chili peppers, garlic, dill seed) and Windy City Wasabeans (green beans, soy-wasabi brine). Though he likes to describe himself as a fanatical Brooklyn pickle-maker he’s also a Yale grad and former PBS producer for Bill Moyers--a.k.a. natural wordsmith and schmoozer of the first order.
9:39: Notice a vase of enormous buds and gently twisted stems on the counter. “What’s with the garlic scapes?” I ask. Rick produces a big, unlabeled jar of pickles. “We stayed up late making these. The scapes came from an organic farmer in the Hudson Valley,” he says. “We packed them with lemon cucumbers, lemon thyme, green peppercorns—sort of emulating the spirit of béarnaise sauce in a pickle. It’s a conversation piece when chefs stop by.”
Rick Field and his pickling crew at the New York Fancy Food show.
9:46: I take a photo of Rick and his crew.
9:52: The buzz is building, aisles are getting crowded, show’s about to open. A starry-eyed, curly haired buyer stops at Rick’s counter. “How are you? It’s been a while….” Rick turns on the mega-watt charm. “You look fabulous..”
Time to get on to the main event. Here’s what I’m tasting now:
10:01: “Bet you guys never tasted jack fruit before!” Buyers shuffle nervously. “It’s kind of like banana and mango.” I wedge my way in. Bowls of really sweet crispy dried tropical fruit chips.
10:16: Ciao Bella Gelato. Beautiful blood orange sorbet. Sweet, light, perfect for summer. Flavor of fresh oranges and an appealing bitter edge. www.ciaobellagelato.com
10:22: Cookbook author Laxmi Hiremath (Dance of Spices, John Wiley & Sons, 2005) looks serious as she fills small bowls with her new healthy organic flax seed spreads. Really thick. Date, ginger and salty, spicy sundried tomato. “Great on crackers,” she says offering a taste. “I have your cookbook,” I tell her. “I hope you’re using it,” she says with a slight wrinkle of the forehead. www.laxmisdelights.com
10:25: Taste of Malacca. Tiny plates of chicken tikka masala, made from one of four Indian Spice Blends. “You can cook a pound of chicken fast and serve it over rice” says a rep. It’s tasty, actually, something I could make for a quick post-lacrosse-game dinner. www.tasteofmalacca.com
10:27: Susheela Raghavan, a food technologist and founder of Taste of Malacca, shows me a reference book she wrote: Handbook of Spices, Seasonings and Flavorings (CRC Press, 2000). I check the price: $131.95. “We’re raffling a copy during the show if you let us swipe your badge,” she says. I let her swipe it.
Ami Nakanishi displays Benimosu's delectable purple sweet potato vinegar.
10:36: Great discovery: Benimosu vinegar from the Iio Jozo (Brewery) Rice Vinegar Company. Color of bright red strawberries. Plain gold capped bottle with elegant Japanese calligraphy on the label. Made from fermented purple sweet potatos and rice, aged for a year. So soft and mild that you could almost drink it over ice; just enough acidity to make a lovely vinaigrette for salads or fresh vegetables. Rep Ami Nakanishi touts health benefits: “Lot of polyphenols. We’ll be in Whole Foods very, very soon.”
www.nymtc.com
10:43: Creamy Thai tea with a scary chemical aftertaste. A tall buyer sticks his nose in a cup and deliberates: “Really interesting brew.”
10:45: Got grits? Blonde Atlanta ladies hawking tiny cheddar cheese biscuits made with grits. Yummy. In her previous life, owner Diane Pfeifer was a back up singer for Tammy Wynette. www.gritsbits.com
10:49: Screeching halt in front of Vosges Chocolat. Sample bittersweet Calindia bar with green cardamom and walnuts, white chocolate D’Olivia bar with Kalamata olives, exotic caramels with rosewater and pink peppercorns. Going into sugar shock now…
www.vosgeschocolate.com
10:55: Boisterous, regrettably unprintable conversation at K.L. Keller. Total foodie magnet. Importers of artisanal Leblanc oils, lavender honey, membrillo (quince paste), sel gris, to-die-for vinegars and olive oils, all from France and Spain. Sample a sprinkle of really fresh, sweet-hot ground piment d’espelette, legendary Basque red pepper on the cusp of its 15 minutes of fame. Next: Pedro Ximenez (PX) Cream Sherry Vinegar. (“For you, I’ll open the bottle!”) Classic sweet-sour agredolce with succulent sherry undertones. This one I could drink neat. “Are you one of those people who think Picual olive oil tastes like (expletive deleted)?” Sip Castillo De Canena Picual EVO—love its buttery round flavor, faintly bitter edge. Guess I’m not one of them. Crave all three for my pantry. www.klkellerimports.com
11:01: Spicy noodles, something strange with banana in a lettuce leaf.
11:07: Entering Chinese territory. Vendors sitting around looking glum. At Linyi Native Produce and Animal Byproducts Group, peruse dishes of dried garlic flakes, garlic granules, garlic powder, horseradish powder, ginger powder. Ask if I can taste a garlic flake. Vendor hesitates, then nods. So fiery hot that it nearly blisters the skin off my tongue.
www.driedgarlic.cn
11:09: Desperately seeking a glass of water, pursued by Chinese dehydrated vegetable reps waving glossy brochures.
11:12: Gobbling sheep’s milk cheese with black truffle paste. Quells the garlic fire, can’t taste the truffles.
11:28: Ina Garten works the crowd at The Barefoot Contessa. Sits regally on a stool, posing for pictures. Buyers paying homage with business cards and, yes, slightly bowed heads. Sample a coffee-flavored brownie, actually pretty good.
www.barefootcontessa.com
11:36: A cheery gent passes around shrimp on a skewer. New concept; Seasoned skewers--Indian Mango Curry, Mexican Fiesta, Thai Coconut Lime--infuse flavor into grilled food. Brainchild of old Seattle company (100-year old mint oil manufacturer). “We challenged our scientists to come up with something new and this was it,” chirps a Callison’s rep. This item is getting a lot of attention. www.seasonedskewers.com
11:41: Passing by Raye’s Mustard Mill where bowls of stone ground mustards are arrayed. Wholesome 106-year old Maine company, still grinds mustard seed the old-fashioned way. Note to the family mustard fanatic: Let's upgrade with Raye’s Down East Schooner, yellow ballpark-style mustard, 2006 gold medal winner at Napa Valley World-Wide Mustard Competition. www.rayesmustard.com
John Tumiwa from D'Java Spices shows off Indonesian cinnamon and vanilla beans.
11:48: A cheerful John Tumiwa from D’Java Spices brandishes a fistful of Indonesian vanilla beans. Mainly a wholesaler to big spice companies. My eye catches a display bag of thick-barked cassia (a.k.a. cinnamon) sticks, each over an inch in diameter. “From a 25-year old tree!” he exclaims. “From our own plantation! You want to see cinnamon growing? I’ll take you there!” I love Indonesia. This is tempting, very tempting…. www.javaspices.com
11:56: A dark-eyed man runs after me and presses a 2-pound bag of basmati rice into my hands. “Try it! It’s the best!” Time for a break. Oh wait, is that La Cremailliere's ice cream?
Editor’s note: See part 2 of the New York Fancy Food Show Diary soon.