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General News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS JANUARY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 4 AmericasMart-Atlanta Hosts Gift Market The Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market returns to AmericasMart-Atlanta January 6-13. Discover unique products, new trends, key market destinations and features – all in one comprehensive marketplace. Floor space at The Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market is divided into several key areas, featuring home décor, linens, furniture, holiday items, gifts, rugs, tabletop, apparel, jewelry and more. Inside AmericasMart's doors you will find more products than anywhere else, with unmatched styles of the latest design in every area on the floor. AmericasMart-Atlanta is a wholesale facility open to the trade only. To enter, you must be affiliated with a business that resells products represented at the Market. In order to submit your credentials and register to attend The Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market, visit www.americasmart.com, call 404.220.2446, or email webmaster@americasmart.com ZestFest: The Zestiest Weekend of the Year Lovers of everything hot and spicy are invited to a unique fiery food experience January 23- 25 at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. ZestFest brings together the spiciest exhibitors and products from around the country for three days of spicy fun. ZestFest is the ultimate go-to destination for bold and flavorful food enthusiasts. The weekend-long event will include cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, interactive contests and thousands of bold food samples. In addition, ZestFest will also feature The Fiery Food Challenge, the longest running, most prestigious competition of zesty products in the industry. Tickets to ZestFest are available online or can be purchased at the box office during the event. For more information, to purchase tickets or to see images of the 2012 and 2013 ZestFests, visit www.zestfest.net. Las Vegas Market Lights Up the Strip January 18-22 Market registration is now open for the upcoming Las Vegas Winter Market, to be held January 18- 22 at the World Market Center. Market organizers promise 850,000 square feet of new products and sources added in the last year, including thousands of new product introductions from every area of the market. In total, Las Vegas Market's 5 million square feet of exhibit space will host over 2,000 unique resources. Las Vegas Market is the most comprehensive furniture, home décor and gift market in the United States. With two markets each year, retailers and designers can shop a broad assortment of products from thousands of manufacturers of furniture, mattresses, lighting, decorative accessories, floor coverings, home textiles, tabletop, general gift and more – delivering the most complete, cross-category wholesale tradeshow for the furniture, home décor and gift industries in the United States. Bath Blue, a classic blue-veined cheese made by UK-based Bath Soft Cheese Co. took home the highest honor at this year's World Cheese Awards, being named World Champion Cheese 2014. The cheese was chosen for the honor from a larger pool of 62 Super Gold medal-winning cheeses. Judges at this year's World Cheese Awards, held in conjunction with the BBC Good Food Show in London, tasted 2,600 entries in front of a live consumer audi- ence. The event brought together 250 ex- perts from around the world who worked in teams of four to determine which prod- ucts were worthy of medals. Each team awarded gold, silver, bronze or no award to each cheese based on its own individual merits. At the end of the initial judging, each team selected a favorite cheese, awarding that cheese a Super Gold medal. The 62 Super Gold winners were then judged again by another jury and whittled down to just 16 trophy-winning cheeses. A final panel then decided the World Champion in front of a packed consumer and trade audience. Several American-made cheesemakers won trophies at this year's World Cheese Awards, including Vermont's Cellars at Jasper Hill, whose Bayley Hazen Blue was honored as World's Best Unpasteurized Cheese. Bayley Hazen Blue won a Super Gold award, and subsequently made it into the final round of 16 cheeses, where it was officially recognized as a trophy winner. Cellars at Jasper Hill also took home gold awards for the company's Cabot Cloth- bound and Moses Sleeper, silver awards for its Harbison and Oma and bronze awards for Weybridge and Kinsman Ridge. Wisconsin-based Sartori received top honors at the awards, earning 14 medals in total, including three gold medals and a Super Gold. The cheesemaker's Sartori Re- serve Kentucky Bourbon BellaVitano earned the cheesemaker its highest honor, receiving a trophy as Best Overseas Addi- tive Cheese. "We're very humbled to have Sartori cheese place in the top-16 in each of the past four years. We're competing against the best from all across the world," said Sar- tori President, Jeff Schwager. "Last year, we received two Super Gold medals, and in 2011 our Cognac BellaVitano was honored as the third best cheese in the world, the highest finish ever for a U.S. cheese. For Sartori, it's about consistency and quality and having the dedication each day to make the best cheese in the world." In addition to Sartori Reserve Kentucky Bourbon BellaVitano, the cheesemaker re- ceived gold medals for its Chai BellaVitano and Espresso BellaVitano. Ten additional medals were awarded to Sartori, including silver for Extra-Aged Goat, Merlot, Bal- samic, Black Pepper and BellaVitano Gold and bronze for Rosemary Asiago, Cognac BellaVitano, and Pastorale Blend ® . A third American cheesemaker also won a trophy at this year's World Cheese Awards: California's Fiscalini Cheese Company. The company's Bandage Wrapped Cheddar was honored as Best Mature Traditional Cheddar Cheese. Fis- calini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar is renowned for its firm, crumbly texture and smoky, lingering aftertaste. GN Three American Cheesemakers Win Trophies at 2014 World Cheese Awards The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled, and Ricardo Heredia has been named the 2014 World Food Champion, winning $100,000 and bragging rights to last a year. Heredia, who competed in and took the category title in the Bacon World Championship – one of nine cate- gories represented at the World Food Championships – bested a packed playing field of more than 400 competitors over the week- long, tournament-style event. The World Food Championships took place in Las Vegas, November 12- 18, culminating in a Final Table throwdown between the nine cate- gory champions for the World Food Champion title. Heredia's final award-winning dish at the competition, Bacon Tamal with Bacon Salsa Verde, was inspired by Mexican street food. The dish was judged based on the World Food Championships' EAT™ Methodology, weighing the combination of execution, ap- pearance and taste. "I'm ecstatic. I can't believe that I won," said Heredia. "The key is not only your planning and proper execution, but it's about bringing your full A-game. If you hinder or hesitate one second, then you're second or third place. You're not number one." Heredia presented his Bacon Tamal with Salsa Verde to a discerning panel of culi- nary celebrities and Las Vegas notables, in- cluding comedian Louie Anderson, competition barbecue pitmaster Melissa Cookston, "Food Network Star" contest- ant Emily Ellyn, Kenmore Brand's Execu- tive Chef Kari Karch, model Sabina Kelley, celebrity reporter Robin Leach, "The Next Iron Chef" judge Simon Majumdar, Presi- dent of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culi- nary Arts in Las Vegas Lachlan Sands and World Food Championship co-founder Larry Oliphant. "I think it's true what they say about the third time being the charm," said Mike McCloud, President of the World Food Championships. "This year's champi- onship was absolutely the best ever. Food- sport has reached a new level, thanks to the passion, creativity and performance of 400 of the best culinary competitors we have ever seen." Now $110,000 richer, Heredia plans to spend some time traveling to different countries and working on getting his own 501c3 started to serve his neighborhood youth. Heredia is preceded by Dave Elliott of Olathe, Kansas (2013 winner) and Robert Butler of Las Vegas (2012 winner). Major brand partners of the World Food Championships include Alaska Seafood ® , Bull Outdoor ® Products, Kenmore ® Brand, US Potato Board ® , Red Robin ® , Sandwich America, Taylor Farms, American Culinary Federation, the happy egg co. ® , Sam's Club ® , Humm Systems ® , Southern Pride, Reser's Fine Foods ® , Le Cordon Bleu, Cup- cake Vineyards ® , Wright ® Brand Bacon, Chef's Roll, Challenge Butter, Gunter Wil- helm ® , Downtown Las Vegas Events Cen- ter, Just a Pinch™, Hammer-Stahl Cutlery, GrillGrate, and Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada. For more information on the World Food Championships or for a complete list of 2014 winners, visit www.world foodchampionships.com. GN Ricardo Heredia of San Diego Wins $100,000, Named World Food Champion