Oser Communications Group

Special Feature GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2014 www.gourmetnews.com SPECIAL FEATURE 2 0 J A M S , J E L L I E S & P R E S E R V E S There are plenty of grocery store jams that work just fine on a pb&j, but for the home entertainer who wants to wow guests with a brie en croute filled with gooey fig preserves or for the restaurant chef crafting artisan grilled cheese sandwiches from tallegio and spiced apple butter, only the best will do. Here are 10 companies that are bringing consumers the best when it comes to gourmet jams, jellies and preserves. 1. Blake Hill Preserves Third generation English preserve makers combine their family traditions of jam making with a unique Mediterranean culinary palate spanning southern Spain, North Africa and the Middle East, to create some of the finest chutneys, jams and marmalades on the market today. www.blakehillpreserves.com 2. Braswell's A former sofi Award winner in the Outstanding Preserve or Jam category, Braswell's markets many preserves, jams, jellies, fruit butters and marmalades in attractive glass jars. Unique offerings include Chocolate Raspberry Preserves, Key Lime Marmalade and Rhubarb Ginger Preserves. www.braswells.com 3. Can Bech Can Bech is a family-owned business from the small Spanish village of Girona. Original founder and restaurant chef Gerard Bech still oversees every aspect of the business and puts his pizzazz into the company's unique preserves, which feature unique ingredients like coffee, bitter orange and rose petals. www.canbech.com 4. Colorado Mountain Jams & Jellies The apricots, peaches and plums used in Colorado Mountain Jams & Jellies are sourced from the company's own orchards, located in Palisade, Colo. Consumers can taste the beautiful Rocky Mountain landscape in each delicious spoonful. www.plumdaisy.com 5. The French Farm The people at The French Farm go out of their way to locate the finest European products from small artisan producers and to get them into the hands of U.S. consumers. The company offers a variety of gourmet spreads, including everything from green tomato jam to Lavender Flower Confit. www.thefrenchfarm.com 6. Fruit of the Land Fruit of the Land imports and distributes several Israeli product lines, including the Beit Yitzhak and Tishbi preserves lines. The Tishbi line of wine and fruit preserves features wines from the award-winning Tishbi Estate winery, combined with ingredients like onion, apple and fig. www.fruitoftheland.com 7. The Gracious Gourmet Chutneys and fruit spreads from The Gracious Gourmet are all-natural, low in sugar, healthful, easy to use and, most importantly, delicious. The company offers both savory and sweet pairings gift sets, perfect for inspiring home cooks to develop interesting new recipes. www.thegraciousgourmet.com 8. The Jam Stand Based in Brooklyn, N.Y., The Jam Stand strives to push the limits of what consumers think jam can be. By combining seemingly disparate ingredients like peaches and sriracha, blueberries and bourbon and onions and red wine, the Jam Stand is changing the jam world for the better. www.thej.am 9. Preservation Society Founded in 2011, The Preservation Society plays with the classic American craft of jam making by introducing unconventional ingredients into the mix like fresh herbs, tea, chili peppers, juniper berries and unique fruits. www.preservation-society.com 10. Virginia Chutney Co. Celebrating the American South's rich tradition of chutney making, The Virginia Chutney Co. offers consumers an eclectic product line. Highlights include Sweet Peach Chutney, Major Grey's Mango Chutney, Seasonal Rhubarb Chutney and Pepper Jelly. www.virginiachutney.com 10 Companies Mixing Up the Market for Jams, Jellies and Preserves BY LUCAS WITMAN Grape jelly. Strawberry jam. Raspberry pre- serves. Orange marmalade. One would be hard-pressed to open a refrigerator or pantry door in any kitchen in this country and not find at least one or two of these classic grocery staples. However, this does not mean that there is not room alongside these indispensable jars for a savory onion and herb spread or a spicy pumpkin chut- ney. Today, companies specializing in gour- met jams, jellies and preserves are introducing consumers to a wealth of new products and flavor combinations designed to excite the palate and liven up mealtime. Perhaps the most important trend influ- encing gourmet preserves today is the movement toward sourcing the best quality ingredients available. For the makers of Can Bech, a Spanish line of fruit sauces, jel- lies and chutneys, it is of paramount impor- tance that only in-season produce makes it into their jars. In particular, the company's Four Seasons line highlights the ingredi- ents, flavors and even colors of the season in each jar. The Summer Fruit Jam, for ex- ample, is made from the strawberries, rasp- berries, red currants and blueberries that populate the Catalonian countryside in summertime. "It is an all-natural fruit-based [jam, made from] selected fruits that were appro- priately in-season during the summer," said Aaron Fuchs, Principal at Wagshal's Im- ports, U.S. importer of the Can Bech prod- uct line. "You're not going to get any wild exotic fruits that were available in the win- ter in the summer fruit spread." It is not only the seasonality of the fruits being incorporated into preserves today that is impressing shoppers, but also the im- mense variety of fruits that companies are packing into jars. Fruit of the Land, for ex- ample, importers and distributors for sev- eral specialty food brands from Israel, offers fruits spreads and preserves made from açai, feijoa, guava, mango, passion fruit, pear, quince, pomegranate, kiwi and more. "We call our products beautiful from the inside out—something unique, special that you can't find in North America yet and that is delicious with great packaging," said Stacey Kurtz, Vice President of Marketing for Fruit of the Land When crafting new varieties of jams, jel- lies and preserves, food companies today are looking for inspiration just about every- where in the world of food. Nancy Weksel- baum, owner of artisan chutney, fruit spread and tapenade company The Gra- cious Gourmet, said that her general pas- sion for food fuels her interest in this niche segment of the industry. "I love food. I love to cook. I love to eat. We go out to a lot of restaurants. I read a lot of cookbooks. I talk to a lot of people," she said. Wekselbaum recounted one inspi- rational meal she enjoyed recently, where she dined on a terrine of foie gras, dates, figs and apricots. This dish eventually spawned The Gracious Gourmet's newest offering: Date Apricot Spread. International ingredients and flavors are also an important factor influencing today's preserves mar- ket. The makers of both Fruit of the Land and Can Bech products derive a great deal of in- spiration from global tastes. Can Bech, for example, searches across the globe for the ingredients it uses in its products. In Can Bech's jars, consumers will find Sri Lankan cinnamon, Szechuan peppercorns, Turkish pistachios, Australian macadamia nuts and a wealth of high quality Spanish produce. A traditionally sweet mealtime accompa- niment, jams, jellies and preserves are be- coming increasingly savory. Can Bech, for example, offers a number of savory chut- neys in flavors like pear-ginger and rata- touille. Fruit of the Land's Onion Cabernet Wine and Fruit Preserve sits perfectly atop a hamburger. And The Gracious Gourmet's Smoky Pepper Pineapple and Balsamic Four Onion Spreads are just two of the company's savory offerings. Another trend that has invaded the world of gourmet jams, jellies and preserves is the move toward incorporating interesting tex- tures into the product. "I don't want some- thing homogeneous," said Wekselbaum. "It's not just about flavor profile. It's also about texture," agreed Fuchs. By loading a pomegranate jam with whole pomegranate seeds or incorporating nuts into a savory conserve, for example, it adds a whole new dimension to the finished product. When it comes to marketing their un- conventional preserves, gourmet compa- nies today are going out of their way to offer consumers creative ways that they can use these products in their cooking. "The whole basis behind The Gracious Gourmet is people love good food and they have no time to cook any- more," said Wekselbaum. "So you can take our products and very simply add one or two ingredients and make really delicious things." She recommends combining The Gracious Gourmet's Dried Fruit Chutney with chicken and sour cream for a unique chicken salad. Both Can Bech and Fruit of the Land products are designed with an eye toward cheese pairing. "[Fruit of the Land's] Onion Cabernet would go really well with a Camembert. The Cherry Shiraz is great with a goat cheese," said Kurtz. Fuchs recommends' Can Bech's Rose Petal Jelly with a goat cheese or salty feta. "It's just a little bit sweeter. And it pairs up with the salty brine of that feta. It's just wonderful how they mesh together. They don't overpower. They're supposed to ac- centuate," he said. Despite how much jams, jellies and pre- serves have evolved over recent years, gourmet companies realize that each jar contains only a small handful of ingredi- ents, and thus it is vital that they choose these ingredients carefully, prepare them simply and do not overcomplicate. "It's just simple good food. You don't need anything more than that," said Fuchs. GN From Unconventional Conserves to Maverick Marmalades, Preserves Producers Think outside the Jar

• Cover