It does not bode well that I somehow justified eating Xocolatl de David‘s Raleigh Bar that Foodzie is featuring in their Tasting Box at 5:30am. After all, though, it does include bacon in the caramel, and that isn’t so different from having a sticky bun with a side of bacon. Maybe even healthier. They say “life is short; eat dessert first.” And so I did. And it was good. Very good.
Super soft caramel, delicate pecan nougat, ample salt. The perfect breakfast.
So begins my favorite time of year–a celebration of incredible foods, entrepreneurship, and people connecting in person.
That is–the NASFT’s Fancy Food Show and the Good Food Awards, which took place last night and features the award-winning food crafters in a marketplace at the San Francisco Ferry Building today along with the Saturday farmers market.
Some choice tidbits from the awards ceremony speeches:
Coffee roasters must collaborate and be passionate, patient, and methodical.
Beer makers all want to see each other succeed even though we’re competitors.
Clear Creek Distillery wanted to start making eau de vie in the 80s for a multitude of reasons: to provide jobs, save watersheds, avoid losing the farm, and offset bad crop years. Steve McCarthy said:
Spirits makers have to make stuff that wows sommeliers. Forget about the branding. Make good products and the brand will follow. We can’t get support from buyers unless they know exactly what they’re getting. The labels should say who made it what is in it, not some puffy language that conceals it was unloaded from a truck and bottled as an artisan product.
Clear Creek bought more than one million pounds of Oregon fruit this year to make its eau de vie.
It was good.
[miniflickr photoset_id=72157628730207535&sortby=date-posted-asc&per_page=50]
