2012 Summer Fancy Food Show Top 15 Sweet and Savory Foods

The spork has been thrown- to wrap up our third Fancy Food Show, here are our top fifteen sweet foods and top fifteen salty favorites. If we missed something that you think was incredible, tell us in the comments! What were your favorite products and companies?
Top 15 Savories
1. American Spoon Whole Seed Mustard: This was nominated for a gold sofi award and received a silver award, and for good reason. A briny, sweet condiment that perfectly mimicked the silky popping texture of caviar, but with an acidic twist.
2. First Field Ketchup: Sophisticated and sweet and from New Jersey? Consider my mind blown. A delicious, flavorful condiment for any manner of burger.
3. Jelly Belly Tabasco: You heard correctly. It's hot sauce meets beloved candy in one of the most awesome collaborations yet. Quick, somebody get me a Jelly Belly Tomato and we'll do brunch.
4. Coedo Brewery Beniaka Sweet Potato Lager: Japanese sweet potato microbrew! The only one in the world, too. With a crisp, malty flavor and deliciously clean finish, this was one of our favorite beverages.
5. Needo Designs Salsabol: I can finally shop at Brooks Brothers again without fearing the dreaded salsa splatter! This ingenious bowl features curved edges (for his and her pleasure) to prevent spillage and splatter.
6. Robinhood Free Meetinghouse Triple Ginger Biscuits: These straddle the line between sweet and savory, but ultimately won a place on this list because visions of fried chicken and ginger biscuits kept dancing through my head. YUM.

7. Queen City Cookies Bacon Schnecken: Is it breakfast or dessert? Sweet or savory? This bold pastry was crammed with crispy bacon, so we're calling it savory. Besides, you could do worse than eat one of these for dinner.

8. Cypress Grove Sgt. Pepper Goat Cheese: A peppery, sweet and spicy delight, this creamy goat cheese was great on bread, on meat, and just eaten out of the package by itself.
9. Skillet Foods Fennel and Black Pepper Bacon Jam: This was the tweak that the original bacon jam needed. This version is fresh, fruity, and has a killer kick, making it perfect for pasta.
 10. Lord Nut Levington Bloody Mary Peanuts: Bar nuts who? This Lord of the Nuts makes an amazing cocktail snack, with fresh herb and tomato zest abound.
11. Lillie's Q E.N.C Sauce: This tangy treat woke us up at the beginning of the show, and its minimal label design and wax-sealed top kept us intrigued. 
12. Junior Merino Atomic Cocktails Verde Fresco: Freaking genius. A salsa verde-inspired cocktail in a portable spray bottle straight out of 1999?! With avocado oil, agave, tequila, marmalade, cilantro, and cucumber, this was one of my favorite drinks of the show.
13. Sauces 'n' Love Cilantro Chimichurri and Bacon Alfredo: Couldn't pick one, so we dipped our bread in both! Creamy meets acidic and does a little dance. So, so smooth.
14. Original Juan Most Wanted Sriracha Sauce: Sriracha's sweeter cousin still crams in a ton of flavor with this honey-tinged garlic sauce.

15. O Olive Oil Meyer Lemon Picholine Olive Champagne Vinegar Tapenade: Also the product with the longest name, this medley of delicate ingredients packed a powerful punch. Easily versatile on sandwiches or salads, this had a clean, floral flavor and sweet aftertaste.
Top 15 Sweets
1. Black and Blanco Marzipan Rye Cookie: Rye flour in a cookie sounds bizarre, but the flavor is gravitating and curious. The marzipan's sweet nuttiness helped round out the cookie in a beautiful way.
2. Chuao Salted Chocolate Crunch Bar: The bar formerly known as Panko has been given new garb and a saltier bite. So tasty.
3. Bissinger's Maple Bacon Caramel: With a salty crust and lingering porcine flavor, this dark chocolate enrobed truffle added a touch of sweetness to the classic flavor. Breakfast, anyone?
4. Spindrift Raspberry Lime Water: A new line of waters from one of our favorite companies brings a light, crisp alternative to soda. Raspberry lime was a thirst-quenching, quintessentially nostalgic version of a beloved beverage.

5. Fresh Ginger Ale Jasmine Green Tea Ginger Soda: Delicious and fresh, with a floral, light body and effervescence.
6. Happy Goat Coconut Lime Caramels: Smooth and chewy, creamy and dreamy, and distinctly tropical caramels with a tangy, goaty edge.

7. Steve's Ice Cream Southern Banana Pudding: Flavorful and fresh, with huge chunks of graham cookie.
8. Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Oatmeal Creme Pie: Move over, Little Debbie, the queen of snack cakes has been recrowned. Jeni's has done it again with this creamy sweet delight.

9. Taffy Town Maple Bacon Taffy: Maple bacon, frosted cupcake, tangerine, chocolate chip, and candy corn all sound like funky cupcake flavors in a trendy shop, but they're really the newest flavors from Taffy Town, an artisanal saltwater taffy company.
10. Lark Fine Foods Fennel and Burnt Sugar Cookies: These sophisticated cookies with notes of anise and caramel would be perfect as a miniature dessert or alongside cocktails at a party.

11. Hagensborg White Chocolate Bubblegum Bar: You got chocolate in my bubblegum! You got bubblegum in my chocolate! Rest assured, though, the combination is magnificent.
12. Chozen Vegan Halvah Ice Cream: This ice cream was enough to make me flirt with the idea of veganism if only to eat pints and pints of this dessert. Nutty, gummy, and smooth.
13. Moorenko's White Chocolate Mint Ice Cream: For a mint fan, it's a dream. Mint skeptics can rejoice, too- the fresh, herbaceous flavor has some seriously creamy backup from the white chocolate base.
14. High Road Craft Ice Cream Mango-Chili Sorbet: Frozen foods were clearly in our favor this year, and this creamy, spicy delight was no exception. Imagine a frozen mango lassi with a hot kick.

15. Haribo Lemon Ginger Gummies: Fresh, soothing, fruit and spice...in a gummy? The flavor is currently only available in bulk but if enough consumers demand it, they'll package it for the regular market. It's a fresh take on a cold-weather combination.


That concludes our wrap-up of the 2012 Summer Fancy Food Show. We'll be posting photos of our afterparties and dinners on Facebook throughout the week, as well as a huge review of Rogue24 sometime soon! Thanks for reading!

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