Coming soon

Starting Saturday, the Fancy Food Show kicks off, here in San Francisco. This is a huge gathering of people who produce specialty foods, buy specialty foods, import specialty foods, and market specialty foods. Moscone Convention Center is filled to the rafters with tasty consumables from around the world. Walking through the halls you can sample everything. Indian curries, barbecue sauce, chai tea, countless varieties of tea, soft drinks, bottled water, wine, beer, crackers, sausages, serrano ham, spiced nuts, hot chocolate, dark chocolate, candy, marinated duck, cajun seasoning, and of course CHEESE!

The official gathering starts on Sunday and runs through Tuesday. Since everyone is already in town, Cowgirl Creamery is hosting a gathering of the members of the American Cheese Society. Last year the later it got, the more out of hand the gathering became, since the wine was free flowing. I think they want to keep a better lid on things this year. I'm planning on going and reaquainting myself with the folks attending the show. Mary Kehn from Cypress Grove usually attends, as does Alison Hooper from Vermont Butter and Cheese. I'd also like to catch up with Cowgirl Sue since I've been unable to reach her by phone lately. I hope to make it a productive gathering.

I'll be working at Cowgirl on Sunday, so I'll miss the first day of the Food Show. Not a problem, as I'll have two more days to cover the two halves of Moscone Center. I have learned how to pace myself at this thing. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of the show. My trick is to make a list of the booths I want to see and plot my course. Inevitably, I'll come across a new discovery along the way. And then there are the cured meats. Oh so delectible! I love seeing the creative packaging ideas. It just gets my creative juices flowing. My favorite destinations are the Spain, France, and Italy booths. So many good things to try.

Tuesday is the fun day to attend because that's the day of freebies. Folks don't want to take stuff home, so if you can get stuff past security, you can take home some nice things to try in your own kitchen. I stocked up on some nice spices and teas last year.