SAN FRANCISCO -- Call it the Comdex of culinary treats.
The National Association for the Fancy Food Trade held its annual winter show here Sunday through Tuesday, attracting purveyors from around the world and the foodies who love to sample -- and sell -- these unique treats.
Grilled Halloumi cheese from Cyprus, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (Harry Potter's favorite candy), tinned Swiss Army cheese and endless varieties of olives, salsas and jams tempted discerning palates.
While the show is not really known to attract techies, pairing gourmet food and technology is not unheard of. Perhaps the most bizarre collision of the two was San Francisco's Venture Frogs Restaurant, which used to serve Softbank Chicken Satay, DSL Don-Don Noodle and Cisco Chinese Chicken Salad at the height of the dot-com boom.
Wired News checked out the Fancy Food Show, diligently sampling sauces, cookies and fizzy drinks to find unique products to satisfy (and entertain):
For geeks with a sweet tooth: As a corporate communications manager at Microsoft, Jean Thompson worked on the launch of Excel for Windows and database management software, among many other products.
But three years ago the CEO of Seattle Chocolates made the switch from pitching software to fine chocolate when she and her husband, still a Microsoft employee, bought the sweets company.
Though Thompson enjoyed her work at Microsoft, she's excited to be in a tastier industry.
"It's a very warm and friendly kind of industry," Thompson said. "It's definitely a lot more fun."
The atmosphere at technology trade shows, on the other hand, is "very intense" and "very competitive," she said.
Thompson said pitching the high-end truffles, bars and dessert shells is a lot easier, too, because she's the target demographic.
"The primary audience for chocolate is forty-something and female -- that's me!"
Still, Thompson hasn't forgotten her technology roots. Much like Bill Gates' plan to put a PC on every desk and in every home, she hopes to copy his strategy and pop "a chocolate in every mouth."
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A new culinary import: With the mission "to supply a heart-warming dream to the customers" (according to its website), Japan's Art Candy corporation showcased sugar sculptures designed for cake tops.
The edible cartoon-like figurines are handmade and sell in Baskin-Robbins stores in Japan and South Korea. Sculpture subjects on display included a manger scene titled "The Birth of Christ," Kabuki performers and an Alice in Wonderland confection.
The company attended the show in hopes of attracting a distributor in the United States.
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A bad taste in journalists' mouths: Vitalicious suckered the media with its alleged plan to unveil "the new and improved apple" at the Fancy Food Show.
"A breakthrough in its category, the new apple offers more nutrients and less sugar, as well as a gourmet taste that provides long-lasting satisfaction," read the press release.
The company compared the old and new apples in its press materials, pointing out that the new apple contained 100 percent of the recommended daily allowances for vitamins C, A, D, E, B6, B12 and other nutrients.
Eager to see this genetically modified apple, Wired News paid a visit to Adam and Eve at Vitalicious' booth, only to discover that the new apple was ... a muffin.
Vitalicious President Aryeh Hecht said they sent the fliers with false information "to get the attention of people."
Hecht said the ploy fooled other publications, too, including Discover, which called to get the scoop on the genetically modified apple before the East Coast NASFT show.
"We wanted to reposition the muffin against what is a symbol of health -- the apple," Hecht said. "It is just a new product that is better than an apple."
Not according to our taste buds.
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Do you (eat) Ya-Hoo (cakes)? The Original Ya-Hoo Baking Company was formed long before the popular portal of the same name and has no association with the Internet company.
The Texas company has been selling all types of fruitcakes since 1944.
According to company history on the website, the desserts "produced howls, hollers and cheers of delight from ... customers. And if they really liked it, it was customary to shout "Ya-Hoo!"
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Keep your veggies fresher, longer: An inventor duo, Mary Lou and Dennis Green, came to the Fancy Food Show to spread the word about ExtraLife, a product that purports to keep vegetables fresher in the fridge. (Incidentally, the Greens' first invention was Sneaker Balls, ball-shaped odor blockers for athletic shoes.)
As fruits and vegetables sit in refrigerated bins, they release ethylene gas. ExtraLife, a green hockey-puck-like gadget, contains potassium permanganate, which neutralizes the ethylene gas and converts it to water vapor, extending the life of the peppers, lettuce and cukes chilling in the fridge.
ExtraLife retails for about $4 and lasts for three months. The product is available at Bed Bath & Beyond and Whole Foods, and is coming soon to Albertsons.
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Color my cookie: Why bother with a coloring book when you can color your dessert? Color-a-Cookie sells cookies topped with plain white frosting and the outline of kids' favorite television characters.
Markers made with flavored food coloring can be used to color Elmo, SpongeBob SquarePants and Big Bird, to name a few.
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Every day's a snow day: The fish-out-of-water award goes to a line of products known as The Snowing Machine. Christmas trees, oversize wedding cakes, Easter bunnies and snowmen were just a few of the "indoor ornaments" available to trade show attendees as window displays, or adornments to storefronts or homes.
"Each piece literally snows on itself," according to the literature. What does this mean? Once the machine is plugged in, air sucks polystyrene beads up through a tube in the center of the display, and the fake snow cascades down the object. Once the beads collect at the bottom, they are whisked up through the tube all over again.
A full display costs about $300. Company representative Lisa Swartley said Snowing Machine products had attracted interest from a number of catering companies at the show.
