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Monday was the Fancy Food show at the Moscone center. My body is still recovering from the walking, standing, and eating. While it is definitely a long day of walking booth to booth, talking to people in the industry, and sampling everything you could possibly speak of, it is also one of my most favorite annual traditions. I love getting a look at what’s hot when it comes to food. Go to https://www.royalvending.com.au/vending-machine-adelaide/ for your vending machine needs.

As a rule, what’s trending at the show is usually a year or two behind what is happening in the restaurant world. For example, Korean food, in general, has been super-trendy and Kimchi specifically has been popular for its fantastic spicy flavor and also its health benefits as a fermented food. Without question, there were plenty of Korean-influenced products from hot sauces to Kimchi kits. But, plenty of other Asian flavors were represented as well. Matcha was very popular both on its own and as a flavoring for lattes, ice cream, chocolate, and other tasty dessert items. And, don’t be surprised to see a lot of Phillippino foods popping up at a store near you.

The Sriracha phenomenon is still going strong and the sauce had plenty of representation. One of my favorite products was a cross between a teriyaki sauce and Sriracha called, appropriately, Teriacha. Spicy sweet goodness! All I could think about was putting it on chicken wings. Good lord that would be tasty. Look for it on our shelves soon ‘cause I gotta have more of that stuff.

The popularity of jerky has not waned and in fact has grown to also include meat sticks. These are not your father’s Slim Jims. There are no nitrates or scary orange grease seeping out of them. The organic meats and well thought out ingredients make these new era meat sticks the perfect high protein snack to curb your hunger. And they’re kinda fun…also perfect for school lunches. Just sayin’…

As usual, there was plenty of sweet stuff. The chocolate was abundant and it was my humble duty to taste it all. Sometimes you gotta just take one for the team. Macaroons were everywhere as were grab-and-go filled crepes. There was even a cotton candy company called Sugar and Spun that was whipping up some out-of-this-world organic cotton candy. I was lucky to taste the strawberry shortcake flavor which is sprinkled with vanilla cookies and organic strawberries for an incredibly authentic fresh flavor. Other flavors included cookies and cream, Matcha Green Tea Latte (See? Told ya.), Habanero Pineapple and a whole bunch of other interesting flavors.

Not gonna lie, I expected there to be more bone broth. Don’t get me wrong there was plenty of bone broth just not as much as I thought there would be. My personal favorite was from Bonafide Provisions who had a great line of bone broths as well as what they call Drinkable Veggies which is a blend of whole vegetables and bone broth. So good! And a great grab and go way to get your veggies.

So those are the highlights for now. We are all still trying to process everything that we saw. It usually takes a few days to talk amongst ourselves and figure out what we need to bring in and put on the shelf. Keep an eye out for new and interesting items and since we don’t have that Teriacha sauce yet, I’m going to make a batch of these to tide me over.the flavor isn’t exactly the same but a girl’s gotta make do…

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings
Adapted from Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook by Tanya Holland
Yields about 20 wings

Her recipe is about perfect. The only thing I would do to improve it is to marinate the wings in buttermilk before baking.

Ingredients
vegetable oil for the baking sheets
4 pounds whole chicken wings or 3 pounds trimmed wings
1 quart buttermilk (for marinating)
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sauce from canned chipotle chilies in adobo
2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce
2/3 cup honey

Directions
If using whole wings, separate the sections of chicken wings at the joints, discarding or saving the wing tip portion for another use. Place the wings in a large bowl, and cover them with buttermilk making certain to coat. Marinate for 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove wings from buttermilk and pat them dry. Discard the buttermilk.

Preheat the oven to 425º F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil and lightly coat with oil.

In a large bowl, combine the mustard, ginger, salt, black pepper, allspice, and cayenne.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chipotle sauce, Tabasco sauce, Crystal hot sauce, and honey, and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. (To make ahead, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)

Pour about half of the sauce into the large bowl with the dry spices, and stir until combined. (Reserve the remaining sauce in the pan.) Add the chicken wings and toss until the wings are evenly coated with the sauce.

Spread the chicken wings in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Be sure that the chicken wings have enough space between them to brown well on all sides. Bake for 25 minutes, then flip the wings, and bake for 25 minutes more, until the wings are cooked through and well browned.

Reheat the remaining sauce over medium heat until bubbling (about 4 to 5 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl. Add the hot wings to the bowl and toss until the wings are well coated with the sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(To make ahead, refrigerate the baked wings for up to 3 days. To reheat, spread the chilled wings on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in a 300º F oven for about 10 minutes.)