By Susie Timm, Chief Operating Foodie

Having lived the past 10 years as a banker, the only job specific conventions I have ever attended in the past were banking related. Yawn. Not much more boring or lame than spending 4 days with stuffy, black suit wearing old white guys.

My convention life got a major facelift/upgrade as Jay and I embarked on a 6-day NYC adventure to attend the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center.

I received a huge amount of pre-show advice like, “don’t eat everything at once or you’ll puke,” and “it’s the most overwhelming amount of food you’ll ever witness,” etc.

As we entered the show with our mighty press badges dangling from our necks, we were indeed, awestruck.

We spent 2 days at the show exploring various food trends and taking diligent notes so we could report back to our loyal foodie following on interesting and new food products and trends.

1)    Indian Flavors Go Mainstream: In the past year or so I have been seeking some excellent Indian food in Phoenix—I’ve found a few places but nothing that would stack up to a major metropolis. Now I can have those flavors at home with some of the MANY products I encountered at the Fancy Food Show. The Tandoor Chef (http://www.deepfoods.com/Tandoor-Chef.asp) has a Naan Pizza, which combines robust and authentic Indian spices on Naan bread that creates a crunchy and spicy masterpiece.  Bombay Authentics by Roland Foods http://www.rolandfoods.com and Spicy Nothings (http://www.spicynothings.com/) both launched jarred curry products that are as simple to use as: cook meat or veggies of choice, add jar of sauce, serve over rice. I also saw Indian flavor influence in everything from chocolate, to cheese to marinara sauce.

2)    Unique packaging that makes life at least 10% better. The Savannah Bee Company (http://www.savannahbee.com/) introduced a no drip, pump honey product that will keep your cabinets ant and sticky mess free. One of my most favorite products of the entire show was the 100 calorie green olive pouches by Mario Camacho Foods (http://www.mariocamachofoods.com). These babies are packed in a little olive oil, but no brine and are portable. They are great for picnics and to throw in my purse for an afternoon snack. Another innovative “pouch” product is by French company Andre Laurent. These guys created side dish sauerkraut made from only the best cabbage and packaged again, in a pouch, without that weird and overly stinky brine.

3)    Vegetarian Bacon: So I fully expected to see real bacon on and in EVERYTHING this year, but perhaps that moment has passed? Instead I encountered the impossible….vegetarian friendly bacon flavored treats. From Bacon Krisps (http://www.acmeimport.com/products.php) that are air puffed chunks of fake bacon to Bacon Salt and Baconnayse (http://www.baconsalt.com), these products will light up the flavor palate of those veg heads who have been yearning for bacon without having to sacrifice their convictions.

4)    Hibiscus Teas: First of all there was a HUGE abundance of coffees and teas this year at the show. The stand out flavor seemed to be hibiscus infused with various fruits. I spent a long time tasting the iced versions of this trend at the Republic of Tea (http://www.republicoftea.com) and found flavors like Vanilla Apple, Blueberry, Key Lime and Pineapple. All were refreshing and light with that special crispness that only hibiscus can impart.

5)    Ghost Pepper: Opposite of hibiscus and its friendly, skipping in the street holding hands mentality, I found the Ghost Pepper. Deemed the world’s hottest pepper, this guy made his debut in everything from chocolate to salsa to BBQ sauce. Mrs. Renfro’s Salsa (http://www.renfrofoods.com/) debuted their Ghost Pepper salsa at the show to rave reviews. This product will be on the shelves in the next month or so. No specialty goggles required to eat it, but it certainly did have QUITE a burn.

6)    Healthy and crunchy snack overload! Around every corner I found air-puffed chips, veggies, fruits, even French fries. Health being the ultimate goal—flavor perhaps not? One company with an interesting spin on snack foods is Corazonas (http://www.corazonas.com), whose line of tortilla and potato chips and oatmeal snack squares were clinically shown to lower cholesterol. The line has plant sterols that are infused in the snacks. I was impressed with how good their snack foods tasted and coming from a long line of high cholesterol family members, I was excited to know I could snack delicious!

7)    The electric meat smoker: So when we got invited to meet with the folks from Bradley Smokers (http://www.bradleysmoker.com), I was hugely skeptical. Especially considering I am a competitive BBQ-er and there’s NO way I thought a plug in smoker could ever do what a real live Diamond Plate bad boy could accomplish. This gadget that looks suspiciously like a dorm refrigerator has been around for many years actually and has a pretty slick method of smoking and rotisserie inside it. I am not 100% convinced since I’ve not used it, but for a cool gadget perhaps in an apartment complex on a covered 2^nd story patio, this might be one way to get your ribs on?

We had a blast for 2 days wandering miles and miles of various gourmet food products. We stuffed ourselves silly. It was truly one of the high points of 2010 and we are looking forward to the Winter show in San Francisco in January!