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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2019 n GOURMET NEWS 2 8 Holiday Baking Kits from The Invisible Chef The Invisible Chef wants your holiday bak- ing season to be filled with joy and cheer. With The Chef's Cookie Exchange Kit and a few basic ingredients, you can go from box to oven to party in minutes. Plan a cookie ex- change or attend a cookie exchange ... now you have more time to enjoy the holiday sea- son with your family and friends. The Invisible Chef introduced new cookie baking kits this past holiday season and will be expanding its baking mix collection with other seasonal and novelty baking kits launching throughout 2019. The cookie kits are specifically geared to- wards the fun tradition of a holiday cookie exchange where each guest brings a batch of delicious cookies to exchange with friends. The Cookie Exchange kits make four dozen cookies each and are offered in two flavors: Vanilla Sugar and Chocolate Peppermint. Each kit includes the cookie mix and holiday sprinkles. The Invisible Chef will be adding new seasonal baking kits for Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween, as well as everyday novelty kits to be geared towards children of all ages and will include kits to make unicorn, princess, di- nosaur and mermaid themed cupcakes and cookies. These baking mix kits will all have mul- tiple components for a complete baking ex- perience. Also, new this year is the Vanilla Sprin- kle Pancake & Waffle Mix. A dash of this, a sprinkle of that. Whisk together The Chef's colorful, vanilla flavored pancakes, and turn your ordinary morning into an ex- traordinary morning. About The Invisible Chef The Invisible Chef offers coffee and tea cakes, breads, muffins, pancakes and waffles, blondies, brownies and bars, cupcake kits and scone baking mixes which can be found at upscale food and gift stores across the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. Visit The Invisible Chef at booth #5321, North Hall. For more information, call 800.456.7115, email contactus@theinvisiblechef.com or go to www.theinvisiblechef.com, www.facebook.com/ theinvisiblechefmixes and www.instagram.com/ theinvisiblechef. The French Farm Expands Pasta Selection The French Farm has expanded its Italian pasta selection to include Verrigni. Rooted in quality and tradition, Verrigni's bronze cut pastas have superior texture and flavor. Verrigni has been producing high-end pastas for 110 years. Considered one of the ancient "Pastifici Abruzzesi," Verrigni has started a new phase by expanding its prod- uct line and refreshing its packaging. The highest quality ingredients and traditional production methods have been carried over into the refresh, as this is the heart of the company. Today, the superior quality of the pasta is rooted in selecting the highest qual- ity durum wheat, which is exclusively Ital- ian. The wheat comes from the Abruzzo region, from a family owned farm. Verrigni prides itself on its traditional pasta making style. The wheat is still to this day stone ground using water from the Gran Sasso and then it is air-dried using the drying cab- inets invented by the founder's son. Along with high quality durum wheat, the pastas are bronze cut, meaning the dies used to cut and shape the noodles are made from bronze. The bronze cut gives the noodles a coarser texture. The coarse texture allows the noodles to hold onto the sauce. Verrigni truly takes Italian pasta to the next level in terms of quality and tradition. With seven different noodle shapes to choose from, The French Farm has an option for all your pasta needs. Whether you are searching for a classic spaghetti shaped noodle, or something a little more unique like the Radiatori, these high-quality pastas will exceed your expecta- tions. All of the noodle shape options from Ver- rigni come packaged in cases of 12 and pair fantastically with Fran- toi Cutrera's Norma Tomato Sauce or La Fa- vorita's Genovese Pesto. Visit The French Farm at booth #2342. For more information, go to www.the frenchfarm.com. Experience Ginger in a New Way with Savortree Herb Crystals Ginger Savortree™ Ginger Crystals are the newest flavor in the Herb Crystals ® line by Fresh Origins, a San Diego-based company. Made from real ginger, these Crystals have a re- freshing and authentic ginger taste and they are the hottest new ingredient for spicing up cooking at home. Not only does ginger have health and medicinal benefits, these Crystals will add delight and balance to any meal. They are zesty and crunchy with just the right amount of ginger spice. From sweet to savory, add Ginger Crystals to salads, meats, seafood, pastries, fresh fruit, gelato, choco- late and even cocktails. "I love the Herb Crystals not only for their vibrant flavor, but also for the unique texture they impart to my desserts," says Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini. Savortree Crystals are an original concept by Fresh Origins. They have dazzling, all- natural colors and incredible flavors that come only from fresh whole herbs and flow- ers with absolutely no added flavors, preser- vatives or coloring and they are kosher certified. Fresh Origins produces the most flavorful fresh herbs and edible flowers, which are carefully hand- harvested at the peak of fla- vor and color content; these are then combined with cane sugar to create beautiful, fla- vorful crystals that look and taste amazing. Savortree Crystals add an enticing and distinctive finishing touch to any culinary creation. Add color, texture and flavor to salads, fresh fruit, chocolates and much more. For Mixology: Savortree Mini Herb Crys- tals ® , Mini Flower Crystals ® and Mini Fruit Crystals ® are the next generation of glass rim- mers. Mini Crystals have a finer granule size than regular Crystals and are perfect for cre- ating distinctive upscale cocktails. For Tea: Savortree Herb Crystals, Flower Crystals ® and Fruit Crys- tals ® dissolve readily in tea. Sweeten hot tea in a distinctive and delicious new way. Savortree Crystals are available in the following flavors: Herb Crys- tals Basil, Cilantro, Ginger, Habañero, Flower Crystals Mint, Fennel, Rose, Hibis- cus, and Fruit Crystals Cranberry and Pump- kin Spice. They are shelf-stable and best used before six months, but can be frozen for a longer shelf life. For more information, visit www.savortree.com. Bellucci EVOO: Harvesting Excellence The morning hours are crisp, and the soft, rolling breeze is accompanied by the strong, rich scent of olives. The time has come to harvest – and Bellucci's farmers are stead- fastly preparing to take to the trees. In order to produce the finest authentic Italian extra virgin olive oil, the olives must be harvested before the first frost. While the timing of harvest is not an exact science, the quality of the olive oil produced depends on its precision. In fact, the taste, color, nutrient level and overall vitality of extra virgin olive oil is drastically affected by when it is har- vested. The trees are inspected to ensure their olive fruits have reached the perfect level of maturity. Firm, bright green fruits produce a verdant, grassy flavor with a strong bite and high antioxidant content. These fruits must undergo a longer milling process in order to extract the oil, which may have a bitter, pun- gent flavor profile. Soft, dark fruits produce copious amounts of yellow-gold oil. This oil is sweet and fruity with a mellow flavor pro- file – though it has reduced amounts of chlorophyll and beneficial polyphenols. The ideal olive is found between these two stages, in the veraison phase. Veraison is a term borrowed from French viticulture, which refers to the change of color found in ripening grapes. In olives, this appears as a yellow-green softening of the fruit, touched by the first blush of red or purple. Veraison fruits are the peak of perfection, and will pro- duce an ample quantity of rich, verdant gold oil; dense in nutrients, and with a well- rounded flavor profile. Bellucci's collective of independent farm- ers all hold a strong commitment to steward- ing their family land. The groves in which their olives are grown are largely tended by hand, and the process of harvest is no excep- tion. Trees are carefully raked with handheld branch combs, the fruits caught by nets arranged beneath their branches before being gath- ered and poured into crates for transport. The crates are carefully la- belled, entered into the Bellucci traceability system, and then transported to the mill- house, where the olives will be washed, pressed, ground and spun in a centrifuge. After this journey, it will undergo rigorous testing and verification before it can be la- belled as extra virgin olive oil. It will then receive the mark of Bureau Veritas, which certifies its purity, authenticity and place of origin, before undergoing the journey to the shelves of grocers everywhere. Second only to the perfect timing of har- vest is Bellucci's dedication to ensuring freshness and purity. This means seeing that the olives are pressed into oil within hours of harvest, and that each bottle of Bellucci is transported from tree to table with the utmost care. This dedication has landed Bel- lucci at the forefront of the extra virgin olive oil industry when it comes to matters of traceability and transparency. The com- pany's Trust Through Traceabil- ity program supplies each bottle with a unique code which allows consumers to trace it back to source, increasing visibility and trust. A new partnership with tech leader Oracle is helping Bellucci take traceability to a whole new level, bringing even deeper in- sight into the production of authentic extra virgin olive oil. The additional development will allow blockchain technology to create an unalterable ledger which documents each step of the journey between grove and gro- cer. Visit Bellucci at booth #5249. For more in- formation, go to www.belluccipremium.com.

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