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©2006 Pecinka Dumbach Ferri Associates, Inc. Pecinka Ferri® is a registered trademark

Friday, January 02, 2009 

Today:

1. Lineup 2009

2. Factories: Sparkling Results

3. Wine Barrels

4. Bad Convenience Foods

5. Being Prepared in 2009

6. NAFEM '09

Lineup 2009

Factories

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Wine Barrels

Barrels, like wines, are said to have terroir.  Their wood will impart different characteristics on the wines depending on where the oaks were grown, and the skill of the cooper who crafted them.

Barrels are mostly made in either France or the US.  Wood sources in France include the Limousin and the Vosges forests. In the US, barrels originate in three regions: Appalachia, Missouri, and the area around Minnesota.  Climate has an effect on the wood's character, with the wider-grained Southern oaks exposing more 'white wood', and imparting more tannins to the resulting wine.

Toasting, too, has an effect on the end-product.  Cooperages will custom toast the interior of a wine barrel to the wine-maker's specifications.  Medium toasts will emphasize vanilla flavors from the caramelized sugars in the wood, while coconut aromas will increase steadily in the oak as the toast levels gets higher.

Costing around $1000.00 each, most larger wineries will use each barrel only two or three times, selling them afterwards to smaller producers or to others for repurposing.

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Bad Convenience Foods

The Eight Worst Convenience Foods

And I thought nothing could top Hormel's pickled eggs ...

8. Meeter's Kraut Juice (Stokely USA): Yes, that's sauerkraut juice, which is even worse than it sounds. The taste and smell can be a bit, well, harsh, but KJ is reputed by its fans to have medicinal benefits (as a source of vitamin C, cure for intestinal bugs, etc.), which adds up to a classic case of the cure being worse than the disease.

7. Guycan Corned Mutton with Juices Added (Bedessee Imports): The best thing about this Uruguayan canned good is the very pouty-looking sheep on the package label -- he seems to be saying, "Go on, eat me already." The second-best thing is the presence of both "cooked mutton" and "mutton" in the ingredients listing, which would seem to have all the mutton bases covered.

6. Armour Pork Brains in Milk Gravy (Dial Corp.): If you're really looking to clog up those arteries in a hurry, you'll be pleased to learn that a single serving of pork brains has 1,170 percent of our recommended daily cholesterol intake. All the more ingenious, then, that the label on this product helpfully features a recipe for brains and scrambled eggs.

5. Sweet Sue Canned Whole Chicken (Sweet Sue Kitchens, Inc.): From its size (think growth-impaired Cornish hen) to its overall appearance (it's stewed in a quivering mass of aspic goop), this product may change forever your idea of what constitutes a chicken. Gives new meaning to the old line about meat "falling off the bone."

4. Musk Life Savers (Nestle Confectionery): You may think musk is a scent, but over in Australia, they think it's a candy flavor. A candy flavor that tastes disturbingly like raw meat, to be precise. But what did you expect from a country where everyone happily consumes Vegemite?

3. Blind Robins Smoked Ocean Herring (recently discontinued by Bar Food Products): Possibly the world's most bizarre prepackaged tavern snack. Interestingly, the product's titular robin isn't actually blind, he's blindfolded -- the better, presumably, to avoid looking at these heavily salted herring strips, which look like giant slugs.

2. Kylmaenen Reindeer Pate` (Kylmaenen Oy): This Finnish canned good may not be particularly tasty, but at least it answers the age-old question of why Rudolph was so eager for that safe, steady job on Santa's sleigh team -- he didn't want to end up as a cracker spread.

1. Tengu Clam Jerky (Tengu Co.): Nothing you've ever consumed can prepare you for the horror that is clam jerky. Still, this product does score a sort of conceptual coup: If you're the sort who's always found raw clams too slimy and gelatinous for your taste, these dried, shriveled mollusks will help you dislike clams on a whole new level.

Source: Aha! Jokes, http://www.AhaJokes.com/  
 

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Being Prepared in 2009
 

Do you find yourself spending most of your waking hours behind a windshield? 

You just might be a road warrior!

After witnessing the squirrels eat up all of our Autumn decorations, I realized this year's is going to be a long, cold Winter here in the Northeast.  Now is probably a good time to assess preparedness both at home, and on the road.

Besides the obligatory spare & flare how many of these items do you carry in your vehicle?

• Empty coffee can, candle and matches (survival kit for winter storms)

• Scissor jack - in lieu of  the OEM one

• Spare change of clothes

• Rubber gloves, work gloves

• Paper towel

• Spare oil, transmission fluid, bulbs, fuses...

• Maps (even GPS sometimes fails - go figure)

• "Emergency" snack & beverage

• First aid kit

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Events

Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 through Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009

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Food for Thought  is published weekly by Pecinka Ferri 
and includes advertisements for the products which we represent.

Joseph J. Ferri, CFSP, CPMR  Editor


 
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©2006 Pecinka Dumbach Ferri Associates, Inc. Pecinka Ferri® is a registered trademark