Chef Mark's Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 3

02 Jul Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 3

Posted at 18:13h in Podcasts, Quick Bites, Travel & Places by Chef Mark Tafoya

I conclude my annual exploration of The NASFT Fancy Food Show on the 3rd and final day. I catch up with Mari Tuttle from Mari’s NY, the day after she won a Sofi Award for her Caramel Sea Salt Brownie, and also speak with Mark Hutchison from Porchetta Primata about his Italian Style Porchetta made in Kentucky.

I then visited with Mott Green from the Grenada Chocolate Company, is a co-operative owned by its 10 workers. Mott says Grenada Chocolate is the only “tree to bar” chocolate company which grows, ferments, roasts and produces chocolate bars. They’re making a 99% chocolate that I got to taste, and which blew me away with its rich chocolaty taste without the bitterness of most “baking chocolate”.

Manuel Conti from Conti – I Sapori Della Toscana in Florence, shared with me some of the new products Conti is releasing in the US under the Tuscany Flavors line. I love cinghiale sausage, which is made from wild boar, and Manuel gives me a taste of his wild boar ragu, with 55% meat! I then discover his latest product, which I’d never heard of before (and that’s not very common!). Manuel gives me a taste of Pascolini, tiny dwarf peaches which have been cured with vinegar, oilve oil and sliced black truffles, which gives them an amazing flavor. They can be used as an appetizer like olives, but with a different flavor, one that’s less briny and more sweet, with the hint of truffle.

And finally, I spoke with Brian Han from the Black Garlic Company, which produces one of the most interesting products I’ve come across in a long time. I was lucky enough to get to play with black garlic, which is fermented using a special process, a few months ago at our last “Food Blogger Playdate“, which me made a video of. Brian explains the different forms they sell the black garlic in, and introduces me to a new drink they unveiled at the show.