Five Local Gems from the Fancy Food Show

Besides eating and drinking everything in sight, our chief mission at the Fancy Food Show was to forage for compelling new products and companies from the Bay Area. And it was a success; keep your eyes out for these five new standouts, all available now:

T. Palmer

Kari's Malva Pudding: Ready for Recchiuti.

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5. A common South African sweet treat, Kari's Malva Pudding from Aptos tastes like a hybrid of bread pudding and souffle, and is especially irresistible à la mode. Currently available in the frozen aisles of several S.F. stores including Andronico's (1200 Irving at Funston), we'd bet it'd also score a home run with some Recchiuti Burnt Caramel sauce.

T. Palmer

Numi's Morrocan Mint tea: Light and aromatic.

​4. Far from the cloying sweetness of so many iced teas on the market, the light flavor of Moroccan Mint puerh green tea from Numi Tea was among the best of about a dozen cold green tea beverages we sampled. Treat yourself by sipping it at their tea garden in Oakland (2230 Livingston at Colton). 

T. Palmer

Chile Colonial Chile Crunch: All you need is a spoon.

​3. It's hard to get excited about hot sauce in a trade show with approximately eleventy billion varieties of it on offer, but new S.F.-based company Chile Colonial impressed the heck out of us with its hot crunchy condiment Chile Crunch, a simple yet fierce combo of chile de arbol, canola oil, and crunchy garlic and onion pieces. It hardly needs any accompaniment if you're a spice addict like us, but the product seems suited for endless dipping and saucing possibilities. Find it at Rainbow Grocery (1745 Folsom at 13th St). We actually drove to Rainbow Monday night to snag a jar and a spoon to go with it, temporarily forgetting that the store was closed for the holiday. But we had a dream.

T. Palmer

Scoma's Crab Cakes: Pass 'em off as your own.

​2. We can make a mean batch of crab cakes, and rarely buy the frozen kind, but the new line of frozen crab cakes from Scoma's, the well-known Fisherman's Wharf restaurant, has finally answered the call. While not yet available in retail stores, they can currently be ordered online and are worthy enough to pass off as your own! Seriously.

T. Palmer

Happy Goat caramels: Good without game.

​1. Our Number One was a no-brainer, since we kept dragging people over to the vendor's table for more bites. The brand-new vanilla bean goat milk caramels from Happy Goat are unique and have a lovely, rich taste without a hint of any gaminess. We also tasted a few future products from HG, including a deep dark chocolate and decadent caramel spread. For now, the goat milk caramels are available at the Candy Store (1507 Vallejo at Polk), but interest at the Fancy Food Show was high and more local visibility in the near future is certain.