They say, that in one's lifetime, you can have 3 career shifts. At this stage of my life, I am at my third. The first being in the Gift, Toys and Housewares Industry, where I was an exhibitor of shows and exporter, and the second was in the furniture industry. But if there's one thing that is more exciting, it is in the service and food industry which I am now presently engaged in.
Every year, the Fancy Food Show has an exhibit in California, and New York and wherever state I am , I try to attend , which I just did today. This is the only show that when you come in, you have to be hungry, because by day's end, you feel like throwing up after having consumed the whole world.
You don't have to travel far in order to taste the Halloumi cheese of Cypres, the Jamon Serano of Spain, the gourmet cheeses of France and the prosciuto/pancetta of Italy. Truffle chocolates, peregina Baci, gourmet jelly beans, wine sticks which is actually wine jelly wrapped in chocolate (yummm) and other kinds of taffies and organic candies are all for the taking.
Although this year, I have lost sight of some regulars, new exhibitors have emerged. New packaging and service molds such as platters, individual servings for the caterers are being introduced to the high end market. Innovations and finds have also been presented.
If you think water is ordinary, think again. There are booths catering to different flavors and still retain that transparent water color. The ginger lemongrass is my favorite, against all those pomegranate, manggo, and different kinds of berries.
Olive, which is very visible in many European countries, has made its mark in many an exhibitors booth, either as brined, in olive oil or processed such as tapanade.
Cheese is another favorite ranging for the gourmet kraft to the 'cave aged' which is literally cured inside a cave. Truffles, foie gras and caviar which is the trinity of luxury dining is also part of the exhibit. They are all for display only ;except for truffle oil which I have generously indulged myself wherever booth I find, dipping small portions of bread and tasting its buttery strength.
What impressed me most in this years exhibit, as against last year, was the presence of many Asian counterparts. Aside from China and Japan who are regulars, The Thais are very strong with their processed fruits, from mangosteen, pineapples, longans and even their own rice. Some selling plain dried fruits, others processed gourmet. The Indians will not be outdone with their curries and basmati rice plus some processed spices. The Koreans had kimchi, and were giving out recipes that contained fusion inspiration like Kimchi quesedilla and tuna sashimi kimchi. Even the vietnamese had pho noodles similar to our mami instant noodles. If there is one country that impressed me, it was the Indonesian booth, which was a family owned business but had lots of promise. And Sri Lanka had tasty teas, while the little city of Singapore had its presentation of gourmet foods.
Most of the Asian countries are supported by their own governments, as explained by some of the exhibitors. These were countries that helped their farmers market their produce, of which only a minimal handling fee is taken for facilitation of shipment and communication. All profit goes to the farmer.
After the last leg of my walk around the whole show, stomach full and light headed from the sampling of wines, I felt depressed at not seeing a single Filipino exhbitor, much less even just a product. Deep inside me I felt so pissed off at our own government in not making its presence in these kinds of shows.
We have been sprouting culinary schools all over the Philippines, yet not one has ventured into gourmet food export. The fancy food show by its name caters to a special kind of clientelle and I am very sure, the Filipino can fill a spot anyway.
Here are some suggestions:
1) Did you know that a piece of balimbing the fruit sells at an organic store for at least 2 dollars a piece? Yes....it's that expensive here, and in the Philippines, it's just so ordinary...so if you can process it and send it over...that's a thought
2) Duhat or Lumboy...The beverage industry is always innovating. There's a booth that just sells tea galore...and another, flavored sodas...chile is the only booth that sells carica which is some sort of mountain papaya. It has a cross taste of mango and pineapple. Really good and something new.
3)Where's the durian? Not even the Asian neighbors have that
4) And talking about piaya. In spain, Ines Rosales sweet olive oil tortas is so good! We can flavor our own piayas and not make it simply boring.
5) and of course, lets not forget kamunggay, medicinal as well as yummy..someone has to do something on what we have there....and make it gourmet...
I can go on and on and on......
By the way, the balsamic vinegars are also awesome. And there were other flavored vinegars as well. That's another thing.
A few years ago, I told my good friend Mark, that I wanted to gather some vinegars aroung the country... Just like Italian wine, having distinct taste by region, our cane and coconut vinegar are the same way. Now that's another project. Anyway, I told Mark that I would re-bottle the vinegar and make the logo, "sawsawan ng Bayan". He didn't approve of the name because it had a bad tagalog conotation. I'm bisaya so I couldn't care less. Besides, who knows it might just click because of the name..Sex names could be catching. But eventually, I shoved that project too.
Okay, so I'd like to blabber some more, but I guess am too tired from too much walking, too much eating and too much just everything...But I did have so much fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment