More than 17,000 attendees nibbled, munched and sipped their way through 80,000 specialty food products at last week's 37th Winter Fancy Food Show at Moscone Center.
Organized by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, the show gives restaurateurs, retailers, importers, distributors and producers an opportunity to discover new products for consumers.
Here are some standouts that should be appearing on store shelves in the next few months.
We were intrigued by Arette's organic tea seed oil that is 90 percent unsaturated fat has a 485° smoke point. The tea seeds are hand-picked and contain one of the highest amounts of omega9/oleic acid of any oil (aretteorganic.com).
For just a hint of sweetness, we liked the Slims Collection, dessert crackers that are essentially crisp quick breads. Our favorite: banana bread.
Equally good with cheese and coffee, Paso Robles' Vin' Tucci bite-size wine cookies are dairy- and oil-free; the crisper-than-biscotti wafers come in anise, spice and honey flavors (vintucci.com).
Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free anythings are still on the upswing. The Good Bean fruit and no-nut bar from a Berkeley company features chickpeas instead of nuts, so has 40 to 60 percent less fat than many other similar products (thegoodbean.com).
Also local is Petaluma's Redwood Hill Farm and its Green Valley Organics lactose-free product line. The "I can't believe it's lactose-free" sour cream tastes and feels more like creme fraiche (greenvalleylactosefree.com).
Ginger is big in beverages and Q Ginger, an adult ginger ale from Q Drinks, is made with real ginger, lightly sweetened with organic agave, and flavored with spices to deepen its great gingery bite ( www.qginger.com).
Aptly-named Raaw produces raw fruit and vegetable juices that contain no added sugar, and are flash-pasteurized to preserve intense flavors like beets and pineapple-cucumber (rawfoods.com).
Rancho Gordo, the Napa company responsible for bringing heirloom beans to the fore, is expanding its offerings to include banana vinegar made from fallen fruit (ranchogordo.com).
Vinegar is also a new venture for the beekeepers at Slide Ridge in Utah. We could slurp their terrific honey wine vinegar by the spoonful (slideridge.com).
We usually prefer our chocolate straight, but did like the green and Bergamot teas incorporated into Tea Room's gourmet chocolate fusion bars (tea-room.stores.yahoo.net).
For baking, San Francisco's Tcho introduced 99 percent dark unsweetened pieces. For unsweetened chocolate, it has a pleasingly smooth mouthfeel and rich cacao flavor without bitterness - perfect for brownies ( www.tcho.com).