A Tale of Two Trade Show Booths

While we’re on the subject of drinks I tried at the
NASFT Fancy Food Show, I want to mention other two non-alcoholic beverages I tried besides my beloved Dry Soda.

Vignette Wine Country Soda is sweetened only with wine grape juice and comes in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Rosé flavors. The flavor is not at all like wine, but rather a refreshing, fruity, but not overly sweet soda.

My friends and I walked up to the booth, which was small and out of the way, not one of those big glossy monsters on the end of a aisle.

We were greeted by the founder’s brother, who, after giving us tastes of the product, talked warmly and effusively about Vignette. I could just feel the pride and excitement he had for the business. He didn't care who WE were - he cared that he had a product he loved.

We complimented the flavor and the labeling, and he thanked us and gave us promotional materials. It was a short, simple trade-show encounter, but we left impressed by both the product and by the guy we had talked to.

Contrast that with another non-alcoholic beverage, Bionade, which is made in Germany.

The product was tasty, another not-too-sweet bubbly beverage. Their booth was big and on the end of an aisle. They had such impressive-looking packaging, all modern and cool, and they were serving their tastes in screen-printed glasses, not plastic cups.

But they wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t interact with me. At first I thought the guy couldn’t speak English (a problem at a few of the French and Italian booths) but then I thought “Hey! Doesn’t everybody in Germany speak pretty good English?” And if they don’t, why are they sending them to rep their product in San Diego?

I know I’m not a trade-show big fish, but being a rep at a trade show is kind of like being a politician. You should really try to be at least polite and efficient with everyone because you never know who you are dealing with. It's a trade show fergoodnesssake, so put your game face on.

And there was another booth that I won't even mention by name. Let's just say they were selling tea products. The problem is that they wanted to control their image so tightly that, when they found out I write about food, they freaked out a bit. Um, nameless tea company - consider your image controlled. Thx.

My small-fish recommendation - If you want some flavorful, non-alcoholic beverages made by super nice people for your next event or for your restaurant, check out Dry Soda or Vignette Wine Country Soda. Those are my recommendations and I’m sticking to them.

Dry Soda

My very favorite new product from the NASFT Fancy Food Show in San Diego a couple weeks ago was Dry Soda.

Not only did they have one of the most stylish booths, their product rocked my tastebuds like a hurricane.

Let me state for the record: I want to have a long-term, meaningful relationship with Dry Soda. I want to have a Dry Soda fountain in my house. I want to have a Dry Soda megachurch with 5,000 members.

Did I mention that I never drink soda? If ever ordered a soda when out with friends, all conversation at the table would stop.


But this is different...better.

It is "lightly sweetened." About 50 calories a pop, instead of 120 for your average carbonated beverage. In other words, it isn't like drinking candy.

The flavors are different, too - kumquat, lavender, lemongrass, rhubarb. Did I hear you making gagging sounds? Shut up! They're GOOD. Well, I didn't try the lavender because I have a strong aversion to All Things Lavender, but the other flavors made my mouth very, very happy.

It is available at BevMo, but I am going to start nagging more places around here to carry it because it is such a delightful, adult-style beverage.

Added bonus: their packaging rocks, too.

Swiss Chard and Tomato Casserole

I buy a lot of Swiss Chard because it is so pretty. The big green leaves and the colorful stems - the rainbow kind is especially festive.

Then I don't know what to do with it. There is only so much pasta fazool one girl can eat, and I don't really like it by itself.

I found a recipe for Swiss Chard, Tomato and Cheese casserole on Epicurious.com and thought the late-summer combination of big ripe tomatoes and rainbow chard would be perfect.

I should have chosen slightly less-ripe tomatoes than I did, because it is hard to make nice, neat slices out of large soft tomatoes. Live and learn.

This is also one of those recipes that takes every pot and pan in the house - wash the chard, stem and chop it, wilt it, saute onions and peppers, shred cheese, put it all in a baking dish...your mileage may vary, but my kitchen looked like a disaster area.

The results were really good, if a little too cheesy for my taste. Next time I'll cut back and I think it will be just as tasty.

What Am I Eating?

I am serious. I really DON'T know what I am eating.

I had lunch at Jay Bharat on Pioneer Blvd. in Artesia, CA - the street known as "Little India." After lunch I decided to buy a snack and this is what I ended up with.

It is spicy puffed rice and nuts. I remember it had "Poha" in the name, which I have found means "flattened rice." But there was another word that began with P in the name, and it is not printed on the packaging.

All I know is that it is wonderful and addictive. I am eating it just like it is, out of hand. Should I be doing something else with it?

Book Review: Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking

Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking
Masaharu Morimoto
DK Publishing 2007
272 pp, hardbound, $40 US, $50 Canada


Everything about this book is as beautiful and stylish as you would expect from something connected to Iron Chef Japanese, Masaharu Morimoto.

The plentiful photos, the clever printing on the cover, the typeface - all of it makes a gorgeous, impressive package that would make a great gift for a foodie in your life.

Morimoto explains his philosophy of food and shows the exceptional attention to detail that has made him world-famous.

His section on sushi should be a must-read for any American commits the trifecta of sushi faux pas - mixing wasabi into the soy sauce, dunking the rice into the resulting mixture and letting it soak.

This is more of a cook's book than a cookbook, however. Many of the explanations - preparing salmon roe, milling sushi rice - are for procedures that even the most obsessive home cook is unlikely to try.

The recipes given rely on ingredients that most people outside of Asia will have a hard time finding - lotus leaves, sweetfish liver, Japanese soy lecithin sheets. Yuzu is a common ingredient, and even here is southern California with our plentiful Asian population, I only see that fruit on rare occasions.

Vegetarians won't have much luck finding anything to eat in here. Even one of the ice creams has squid (Squid Strawberry Ice Cream) in it.

This is a book for those who love Morimoto, who want to know more about East-West fusion gourmet cuisine, or who have dined with Morimoto and who want to relive the experience through his words and photos.