My month began with a fabulous foodist event in SoHo. On Sunday, 1 April, over 100 exhibitors strutted their stuff at the Culinary Expo and Book & Blog Festival, part of a five-day conference celebrating "The Fashion of Food" by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The 2012 installment marked the 34th anniversary of the IACP conference.
So much food and only four hours! Not wishing to resurrect ancient Roman rituals, I refrained from sampling everything (though I was tempted). Below are some of the highlights.
Roelli Cheese Haus's shelf-cured Red Rock
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board offered several fine cheese samples as well as a Grilled Cheese Academy demo.
Carr Valley's Caso Bolo Mellage
Sartori's Pastorale Blend
Back in my SoHo days, it was called The French Culinary Institute. Since that time, the school has expanded and broadened its scope to become The International Culinary Center. Sampling their innovative Gazpacho evoked memories of dining at FCI's L'Ecole restaurant. This unusual preparation comprised Greek yogurt, grapes, cucumbers, almonds, white bread, pickled shrimp, smoked paprika, olive oil, and sherry vinegar.
The International Culinary Center's Gazpacho
A few of the big names were on hand to demonstrate their wares.
Cuisinart's new Griddler turned out some tasty Reubens.
And, a little jolt to cure one's illys …
What more is there to say about this familiar name in the coffee world?
Or is Runa's guayusa more your cup of tea? Made from a native Amazonian tree leaf, brewed guayusa packs more caffeine and twice the antioxidants of any other tea.
Left to Right: Spice, Ginger Citrus, Peppermint, Traditional
Kikkoman, another well-known brand, earned its fame with soy sauce. Over the years, the company's product line has widened considerably. I particularly enjoyed the fiery Thai Style Chili Sauce.
Left to Right: Thai Style Chili, Wasabi, and Sriracha
Strategically situated at the adjacent booth, Alaska Seafood served savory salmon sliders with Asian slaw that I spiced up with Kikkoman's Wasabi Sauce. This was one of the highlights of the festival.
Alaska Seafood's Mini Salmon Sliders with Asian Slaw
From Berkeley, California, Diane Lee's 7th Taste infused olive oils contain no extracts or artificial flavorings. Smooth and tasty!
Left to Right: Mushroom, Ancho Chili, Lavender, Truffle, Curry
"The chef's in the jar" with these hand-harvested, artisanal salts from Chef Salt.
Nueske's applewood-smoked meats were a pleasant discovery.
With the recent addition of wild cherrywood-smoked bacon to their lineup, what's not to love?
Tanya L. Nueske, Executive Vice President
Don't forget the California veggies. Let there be no confusion with regard to the proper pronunciation of endive.
"No, it's absolutely pronounced on-deev."
I am not now, nor do I plan to ever be, a vegan. Nevertheless, these samples from Ella Nemcova's The Regal Vegan were quite alluring. Best of all, at 50 calories, a one-ounce serving of the delectable Faux Gras walnut-lentil pâté contains only three grams of fat. A guiltless pleasure!
Faux Gras: A Toasted Walnut-Lentil Pâté.
Basilicotta: A Basil-Cashew Cheese Spread
Pâté certainly pairs well with wine. While there was no Sauternes in sight, there were a few sippable vinos from Brooklyn Oenology.
From fermented grapes to carbonated ginger. Fresh Ginger, Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost is a refreshing alternative to mainstream sodas. Unfiltered, and made with fresh ginger, this sparkling soft drink is as aptly named as it is delicious. Other flavors include Jasmine Green Tea, Pomegranate (with Hibiscus), and Passion Fruit (with Turmeric).
Fresh Ginger Effervescence by Bruce Cost
A few more cheeses …
Kerrygold's Aged Cheddar with Irish Whiskey (left) and Dubliner (right)
Lucy's Whey offered several artisanal curds, including Capriole's Sofia (an ash-ripened chèvre), Consider Bardwell Farm's Pawlet, (a Vermont version of Toma), Vermont Creamery's Cremont (a cheese of blended goat's and cow's milk), and Jasper Hill Farm's Winnimere.
Lucy's Whey: American Artisanal Cheeses
I tried to save the sweets for last, but, sadly, I had reached my capacity before I could sample them. They certainly looked good!
It was delightful to see a couple of familiar names and faces from the QEDC Entrepreneur Space.
Uliana and Maria of Santé Bakery
Comestiblog wishes to extend special thanks to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.
IACP Culinary Expo and Book & Blog Festival
82 Mercer Street, SoHo, Manhattan (map)
love the gastronomic display of creative food.
Posted by: lamb recipes | 23 April 2012 at 07:18 PM
Great content
Posted by: cuisinart griddler | 22 April 2012 at 08:46 AM
I wanted to share the first post of our Aroma Cucina blog series on what it took to put together this monster of a conference. Thought your readers might enjoy this insider's look. Here is my blurb and a link to the first post:
A Born Again Blogger!
http://bit.ly/JWqNlb
WE’RE BAAACK!!!!!!! Wanna know where we’ve been? We got sucked into ‘IACPNYC Land’ and the journey was extraordinary! If you’ve seen any of the articles, blogs and reviews of IACP’s Annual Conference held in NYC a little over two weeks ago, you could not possibly have been at least a bit intrigued by the breadth of such a monumental undertaking. And how could you have possibly missed the relentless tweets and the deafening buzz in the social media world? Well, here is just the start of a series of blog posts we will share with our followers that will explain in full-on detail what we’ve been up to, and focusing on the players that made it all happen.
We head back to the mother country days from now, with the great satisfaction of knowing we pulled off a Cecil B. DeMille production on the NYC stage and made IACP a stronger and more relevant organization in the process. For us, it’s always the people you meet and those friendships developed, that allow us to measure our success on a project. We have been thusly rewarded!
Posted by: Jeff Albucher | 21 April 2012 at 02:18 PM
Thanks so much for your kind comments, Jeff. Congratulations on such a fine show!
Posted by: Comestiblog | 16 April 2012 at 12:25 PM
Great review of IACP's Culinary Expo! We the CulXpo Team: myself, Renee Walton, Polly Adema and Kathy Blake) worked hard to make it a good mix. I noticed that you enjoyed our Taste of 5 Boros section which was specifically small local artisanal purveyors that produce their products within the NYC Metro area. Thanks for sharing, and thrilled you enjoyed!
Jeff Albucher
Aroma Cucina
Posted by: Jeff Albucher | 16 April 2012 at 11:36 AM