Junk Food Nation, I had all the best intentions of doing my “Best Of The Fancy Food Show” post this morning, but I am BEAT.  STILL.  Behind the scenes, anyone who knows me knows that I actually eat VERY healthy, I hardly go out to eat at all during the week, so while four straight days of gluttony was very fun, my body is SCREAMING AT ME right now.  My head is spinning, my muscles are sore, sleep was a chore, and let’s not get started with my stomach.  WAAAAH WOE IS ME I GOT TO GO TO A FREE FOOD SHOW AND EAT AWESOME STUFF AND LIFE IS SO HARD WAAAAAAH.  Ok ok, I’ll stop.

Anyways, one thing I WAS able to do this morning was take account of the swag I was able to smuggle out of the show.  The Fancy Food Show always has big signs that say “NO SAMPLES SHALL LEAVE THE FLOOR” but if anyone had even attempted to stop me and ask me to open my bag, I would’ve lawyered their ass.  And even after heaping tons of samples onto my gracious Brooklyn hosts, I still made out big:

Not too shabby

This picture doesn’t even include a few bottles of artisan Q Drinks soda I strapped to my thighs on the way out.

Another win was the fact that the entire weekend, food, travel, lodging, tips, cabs, etc. four straight days of gluttony ran me and the Junk Food Gal less than $350 in total costs.  Not bad for four days in NYC!

Some quick trends amongst new products I saw at the Summer Fancy Food Show:

1) More and more companies testing out various ways to dry fruit. Not sure this was a new thing, so i was very confused that companies were still trotting it out as if it WERE new.  “We do it differently!”  Do you?

2) Truffle everything!  Truffle mac and cheese, truffle infused honey, truffle spread… I thought truffle mushrooms were very expensive, but apparently more and more companies are figuring out how to get that lovely flavor out there in more forms.  Junk Food Guy approves.

3) Things I saw MORE of last year, which I saw LESS of this year: less companies making homemade sodas, less gelato-specific companies (I only saw two), less pistachio based products.

4) Things I saw MORE of, which I’m not a huge fan of: more companies doing squeezable fruit packets (look, I KNOW we are a healthier and healthier society, but do I need more adult baby food?  Or rather, do I need ANY adult baby food?  JUST EAT AN APPLE ONCE IN A WHILE), more companies doing hot peppers and chocolate and/or caramel (I’m sorry – it just does not work for me.  Peppers and sweet citrus, yes.  Otherwise, no).

5) Saw three or four companies making Mochi Ice Creams!  Like, ice cream stuffed into little Mochi Balls.  Some fell flat, but some were VERY good.  Take note, ice cream bloggers!

6) MORE COMPANIES DOING SPECULOOS SPREADS, aka, Biscoff spreads!  UM YUM.  JIF, get on this!

7) I thought salty caramel was over and done with, like bacon, but salty caramel was BACK in full force this year, as more and more companies that aren’t usually associated with caramel sauce began to try their hand at it.  Whatever gets more salt and burnt sugar into my body, I am DOWN with.

8) Finally, plenty of places making more pre-mixed alcoholic martini mixed drinks in a bottle.  For the alcoholic that’s too lazy to even make a drink (I’m looking at you, Jen).

That’s all for now, as I try to heal up.  Hope you’re having a great day, kiddies!  Buy your fireworks today!

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s hang.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy