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GOURMET NEWS MAY 2014 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 4 Spicy Flavors Continued from PAGE 1 spices, and growth in the Asia-Pacific spice trade is riding on the developing spice mar- kets in India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, historically each a net ex- porter of spices. "What's really changed in the spice business in the past couple of years— 'Spice 2.0'—is that 300 million Indians and 400 million Chinese have entered the middle class and want to eat the food of their cultures. American spice prices have gone through the roof, as the Chinese and Indians buy more spice," said Tim Ziegler, Spice Master for Italco Food Products, Inc. a specialty food distributor in Col- orado. Along with Brian Keating, Ziegler co-authored "Spices and Culinary Herbs," a poster presentation designed to aid chefs in creating flavors by pairing spices and herbs from the same culinary family. "India is now a net black pepper importer. It is the most staggering development in the spice business in the past 25 years," said Ziegler Spices are defined as vegetable products used for flavoring, seasoning and importing aroma in foods. Herbs are leafy spices. Some plants, such as dill and coriander, provide both spice seeds and leafy herbs. Around 50 spice and herb plants are of global trade importance, but many other spices and herbs are used in local tradi- tional cooking. There is also an overlap be- tween spices and herbs and vegetables. Some mushrooms, for example, are used as spices in China and Pakistan. Most herbs and spices are endemic to a particular geographic area. Paprika, for ex- ample, is widely grown by small-scale farm- ers in Africa, while chilies are widely grown in Central America, Asia and Africa. Cloves are grown in low-lying tropical areas, in- cluding Indonesia, Madagascar and Zanz- ibar. Pepper, the world's most important spice crop, is grown in areas of South America, Africa and India, as well as in some Pacific Ocean countries that have high rainfall and low elevation. Lemon- grass, an important herb, is grown widely in the tropics. International trade in spices is domi- nated by dried products. However, in re- cent years, fresh herbs have become more popular, as well as spice- and herb-de- rived essential oils and oleoresins. In ad- dition, the growing interest in organic food and beverages is also affecting the world of seasonings and spices, as, ac- cording to Transparency Market Research, large amounts of certified organic spices have been introduced to the market over the past few years. The international spice trend is already having a noticeable effect on home and restaurant kitchens across the United States. "If the melting pot is true anywhere in America, it's true in the kitchen," Ziegler said. "American cuisine is not roast beef and mashed potatoes and asparagus spears anymore." He said that Americans are growing more interested in the flavor pro- files that originated in Middle Eastern and southwest Asian cuisines. "I'm a history major, and I'm a chef. I sell spices on a daily basis, and … the flavor profiles that even the young chefs are ask- ing me for are increasingly southwest Asian," Ziegler said. "I believe that 3 and a half million to 5 and a half million Ameri- cans have traveled or lived extensively in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bahrein and the Middle East, and those flavor profiles have come back to the United States. And I think that's going to be a burgeoning trend." New Dehli-born Chef Suvir Saran, Exec- utive Chef at Devi in New York City and Chairman of Asian Culinary Studies for the Culinary Institute of America, says that he sees Americans' growing interest in spices as an indication that this country's residents are becoming more mindful about how they cook and eat. "My feeling is that we've been a nation that's reactionary and loves fads and diets and trends. With the eco- nomic recession ending, people have be- come less reactionary, and they're becoming more mindful," he said. "Taking Mediter- ranean or whatever comfort food we were already doing and adding more herbs and flavors and spices will be a way that we can cook and eat more mindfully and also save money in the end." "Spices and flavoring ingredients are cheap. They're wallet-friendly and last a lifetime," Saran added. "They give you great joy and great flavor without spending too much … As there is more availability for aromatics and spices, we can incorpo- rate these into what we already know and create more breadth and depth in our repertoire." Staffan Terje, Chef and owner of Per- bacco restaurant in San Francisco, agrees with Saran. "I don't think food ever gets boring. I never think flavors go out of style. I think that people find new things and dis- cover new things for themselves, whether they're eating or cooking. But I never think that basil and tomato is going to be boring," he said. "Chefs are exploring other spices and herbs and flavors that might not be fa- miliar to people. Spices had a place that's been pretty constant for a long time in dif- ferent foods, but I see that people are ex- ploring things in the spice realm itself. It's not so much about the heat of spiciness, but about different flavor combinations. You'll see things like cloves and allspice sneaking their way in." "I look at how I flavor my own dishes, cooking northern Italian food, and I look at history. Italians were part of the early spice market and adapted things that came from the East and from the New World," Terje continued. "You start look- ing at old European recipes, and you'll find some very interesting things—the use of cinnamon, the use of ginger— things that came from the Middle East. It's not just about chili peppers." Chef Hosea Rosenberg, owner of Black- belly Catering in Boulder, Colo. and winner of the fifth season of "Top Chef," says he is hearing a lot from his fellow chefs about their interest in the cuisines of Morocco and Latin America. "Everyone's familiar with Americanized Mexican, but there are so many regional cuisines in Mexico that have not been highlighted, such as Oaxa- can," he said. "I see a few chefs that are starting to get a lot more press attention that are either from Morocco or have Mo- roccan heritage. It's an amazing cuisine, and I don't think there's enough attention to it as of yet." Rosenberg is exploring both of these cuisines in his own cooking, especially the characteristic Moroccan tagines. "I just love the slow cooking, especially in the winter- time, slow braises of meat. I have a farm, and we raise our own lamb, and I'm always looking for creative ways to cook and serve lamb," he said. "This type of cuisine really lends itself into turning a cheaper cut, if you will, into a remarkable centerpiece- type dish." "Now that it's so easy to access all these spices, I see people really taking regional American cuisine and applying global spices to them as well to enhance those dishes," said Chef Matt Greco, Executive Chef at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards in California. "People are using spices that, not long ago, no one had ever heard of." "You're definitely seeing a lot of that cross between American, especially south- ern American, with Asian flavors," Greco continued. "I definitely see a lot more fer- mented products. Korea uses so many fer- mented products in their food. I definitely see those types of influences applied to American cuisine." GN Cerberus Continued from PAGE 1 customers by adapting more quickly to evolving shopping preferences in diverse re- gions across the country," said Bob Miller, CEO of Albertsons. "It also brings together two great organizations with talented man- agement teams … Working together will enable us to create cost savings that trans- late into price reductions for our customers. Together, we will be able to respond to local needs more quickly and deliver outstanding products at the lowest possible price, more efficiently than ever before." Not everyone is in agreement that this merger is in the best interest either of these two grocery behemoths or their customers, however. Harvey Hartman, founder and Chairman of consumer culture experts and market research firm The Hartman Group, argues that there is reason to be cautious when smaller supermarket chains merge to become true food industry titans. "I have an opinion that in the large gro- cery, there are only going to be two or three players in the U.S. long term," said Hart- man. "You've got Walmart. You've got Kroger. You've got Safeway now. And look at the ones that have been failing. There's this whole idea that the mass market is dying to a certain extent if it is not already dead. It's hard for large companies to un- derstand the specialization that consumers are really looking for." According to Hartman, the pitfall that a merged Safeway-Albertsons chain could fall into is that in trying to fulfill every grocery need, the company could end up alienating those customers looking for a more special- ized experience. "People are becoming more literate about different kinds of food. All of this plays against a large format store that tries to be everything for everybody and is viewed by the consumer as some- what schizophrenic," he said. "You can't say that you're going to be merchandising high quality food all the time—then you walk in, and they're selling four pasta sauces for a buck each." Hartman argues that many consumers today prefer smaller more specialized gro- cery stores that might offer a somewhat limited product selection, but with which the customer has a more personal relation- ship. As Safeway and Albertsons plan their merged identity, he argues that it is impor- tant that the revamped stores operate as part of their specific neighborhood, focus- ing on the particular demographics and so- cioeconomics of a store's community and building up a loyal local customer base. "What they have to do is decentralize rather than centralize," said Hartman. "That way you can personalize to a partic- ular neighborhood. That's where local can play a big role." Privately owned by Cerberus Capital Management, Albertsons operates stores under a number of banners, including ACME, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw's, Star Market, Super Saver, Amigos, Market Street and United Supermarkets. The company currently operates 1,075 stores in 29 states and employs approximately 115,000 indi- viduals. Safeway Inc. is one of the largest grocers in the United States, operating stores under the Vons, Pavilion's, Randall's, Tom Thumb and Carrs banners. The company currently operates 1,335 stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia and employs approx- imately 138,000 employees. GN

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