Summer Fancy Food Show 2019

Another great year in the books for the Summer Fancy Food Show held at the Javits Center in New York City. I only had time for 1 day this year, but managed to hit almost every aisle. By the end of the day I walked about 8.5 miles…. not bad, snacked along the way too! ;)

As always there are so many innovative and amazing products being introduced and displayed at the show. Things already on shelves and items just being released. I could write a novel if I discussed every single item I saw from National to International! My post will consist of some of my personal highlights and products that peaked my interest.

I started the morning with breakfast; booth #274 had fresh, tasty Mina shakshuka at the ready. Sunny egg with dipping bread! The shakshuka was hot, a little kick at the end, but a great earthy flavor. This product was made by Casablanca Foods. They also had harissa to try but I had a lot of things ahead of me.

I came across a lot of companies selling coconut water, which has its audience (not me) but there was 1 company Eliya that had a great presentation with the slickest bottle I’ve seen. Very dynamic and peaked my interest to try their coconut water. Other than coconut water there was a spike in oxygenated water brands showing. Being an avid exerciser I’ve seen and read about these brands but never decided to try them. I know it has its benefits, it’s better for you than Gatorade, but I still need to do more research on my part.

On the topic of drinks, today’s consumers are drinking less alcohol. The market for non-alcoholic drinks is climbing. Consumers want to enjoy the drink, socialize, and not leave with a buzz. The show usually has companies promoting their drink mixers, but also a handful of companies were playing off the flavorful drinks without the alcohol. One company showing was called Mingle Mocktails. I believe they were at the show before? Either way, this is a great time to be in the market. Their flavors were great and I felt worked really well in this marketplace. Also their drinks are available on Amazon!! Perfect for our generation. A new vendor showcasing their sparkling drink was Spindrift Beverage Co. Again, a great stand along sparkling water with real fruit. Their website does offer drink recipes but this can be consumed as is. I tried it and really loved the flavors they offered.

The list goes on with drink vendors, coconut water, and cold brew coffee. If I had more time I would love to talk more about the drinks.

Overall I’m a healthy conscience eater and I do love cauliflower. So it was exciting to see the company Caulipower at the show. I believe they have showed in the past. I got to try their pizza and chicken tenders, boy were they amazing! Coming to stores in September, I think they are going to do really well. I highly recommend checking out their products. YUMM.

Some buzz words shown around the show were KETO, Protein! Nothing wrong with that, and they were great products to back up the names. These products relate really well to today’s consumers so it is important to see those and try them. Dang Foods was premiering their new keto bar which was amazing. The right chewy texture and bite your looking for. Will keep you full and feeling good. A product under Elma Farms was The Protein Ball Co. Again that was really tasty. A good amount of chewiness and flavor. To wrap up my post I was lucky enough to try BNutty! Beyond peanut butter, gourmet peanut butter. I had irresistible pretzel and was hooked. Check these guys out!

Already planning for next year. If you want me to come by your booth and check out your latest products just let me know. In the meantime, send me an email or connect on LinkedIN!

-Felicia

https://www.specialtyfood.com/shows-events/summer-fancy-food-show/

https://www.casablancafoods.com/products/mina-shakshuka-16oz

https://www.eliyanyc.com/

https://www.drinkoxigen.com/

https://www.minglemocktails.com/

https://spindriftfresh.com/

https://eatcaulipower.com/

https://dangfoods.com/

http://www.elmafarms.com/

https://www.bnutty.com/

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Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

Photo Shoot Recap: Reynard

Despite the crazy snow we had the shoot must go on! Reynard; a great restaurant in Brooklyn below the Wythe Hotel, and steps from The Brooklyn Brewery. I got to work with the new chef Christina Lecki who worked under April Bloomfield in the past. The kitchen has an amazing wood-fired hearth perfect for photo backdrops. Chef Lecki is really experimenting with simple, meaningful dishes packed with honest flavors. Keeping it simple I feel is always best and not going crazy with 100 ingredients for a dish. We were there capturing all her new dishes which are seasonal. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so there was quite the array of food. My personal favorite was the Socca dish. Runner up was the bone broth soup poured table side. Delicious! Especially with the snow falling outside. The plates were made by Jono Pandolfi which had some weight and earthiness to them, tying in great with the food palate. If you haven’t been here in the past make sure to stop by soon!

Photo Shoot Recap: Stevia In The Raw

    This was such a fun day and everything went smoothly. I can’t stress enough how important pre production to a photo shoot really is. The more planning, communicating with agency, client, and team the better the day will go. We finished our shoot on time if not a little early! Also it’s really nice when you have two amazing assistants on hand. This shoot for Stevia In The Raw was highlighting their newly designed packaging for print ads across many popular food magazines in addition some very tasty recipes using the product. The hero shot was really cool because we worked with Hinge; a 2D/3D animation studio in Portland that created a really cute gingerbread man character that they placed in my photograph for the final!
    For the recipes they were all amazing, but I think my personal favorite was the chocolate espresso pizzelles. The expresso buttercream sandwiched between the two pizzelles was so good! Luckily Lisa my stylist made extras, haha! Lisa did a fantastic job creating the other recipes as well. She made the gingerbread butterscotch trifle cups that created these beautiful layers. The grand finale recipe was the chocolate peppermint truffle tart. She had sourced spearmint leaves fresh from a garden that topped the tart so perfectly. It made it picture perfect! Make sure to keep an eye out for my Stevia In The Raw shots and take a minute to see our B.T.S. video.

Preparing A Perfect Poached Egg

I know poached eggs look difficult and have a delicate quality to them. If you follow some basic steps to making these you will have no problem whipping them up next time for a weekend brunch at home!

Use fresh cold eggs.
Use the right vessel to get the eggs to the pot such as a large spoon.
Use the right vessel to get the eggs out of the water such as a slotted spoon.

Recipe for making perfect poached eggs

- Fill your pot with water that comes up to the edge about 1-2inches.
- Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsps of white vinegar.
- Bring the water to a simmer
- Crack your very fresh and cold egg into large spoon.
**If doing 2-3 eggs swirling the water in the pot like a whirlpool then dropping the egg in the center helps keep the egg white together.
Patience: Once eggs are added to the pot turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Do Not Touch.
Remove egg with slotted spoon and serve!

IACP 2017 Winner Food Photography & Styling Awards

This was exciting news to find out I won The Culinary Trust Award for Food Photography That Makes a Difference for 2017! IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) is the food industry community you need to be apart of. First started by Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Anne Willan in the mid 70’s. This organization has evolved into bigger and better offerings with today including people in the food industry beyond chefs. The photography aspect of IACP is very important to me because it’s my specialty; food and beverage. The opportunities to network and get my work noticed like entering their contest is very valuable for me. My personal series I did on chicken processing was so unique I had to enter it in this years contest. It was exciting news when I heard I was a nominee for my category!

You can see the full series from this shoot on my past blog post here: http://www.perrettiphotography.com/perrettiphotography/2016/10/6/personal-series-from-the-farm-chicken-slaughter

See all nominees for categories here: http://www.iacp.com/awards/food-photography-awards/2017-food-photography-styling-finalists/

Recipe Poached Pears

Pears are a great alternate to apples and can be available in the summer and winter. They are great for table presentations and just as easy to cook with. Poaching is cooking in a gently-heated liquid. It’s not just boiling water like poaching eggs. With this method of cooking the liquid can be stock, wine, or another sugar mixture. You can use different types of fruit like pears. Personally I thought it would be pretty to top the bundt cake with poached pears and drizzle with the poaching liquid over top! The French word for this is “Frissonne”, meaning that the liquid should be just hot enough to make the surface shiver.

Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 bosc pears (peeled)
1 star anise

Directions

Combine the water, sugar, cinnamon, and star anise in saucepan over low heat. Cook stirring for 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Add the pears and cook covered for 15 minutes or until soft. Use a slotted spoon to remove.

Take the liquid in the pot and transfer to a pan and boil high uncovered for 15 minutes until reduced to half.

Drizzle syrup over pears (or bundt cake) and serve

Photo Shoot: Village Voice Magazine

    The holidays are an exciting time with the music, snow, gift shopping, and seasonal cocktails. It was exciting when a friend and photo editor reached out to me for a project for Village Voice! Myself and food stylist Jill Keller got to go around to 6 different bars in New York photographing 6 signature drinks the bar and bartenders worked on. Also it was great to reference if you wanted to try and make it at home for yourself. Each bar was very unique and fun to check out. I think my personal favorite was Miracle On 9th Street pop up bar by Nico de Soto. The bar was decorated like my grandma’s house around the holidays. There were so many nostalgic Christmas decorations. The drinks were served in these cute cups that looked like Santa. It was really exciting because after the story ran Bon Appetit Magazine was also doing coverage of the bar! Nico was doing live demo of making the drinks. I got to work with talented food stylists Jill Keller and we hopped around town going to each bar. It was fun!

Travel Recap: Bermuda

    Bermuda as they would say was Bermudaful! Any vacation or excuse to get away and relax is a good one. When going into a foreign country I like to keep an open mind and open schedule and really just let the culture guide me. Bermuda is a British territory in the North Atlantic. There is a distinct blend of British and American culture. Everyone on the island is friendly, and everyone knows each other. There was no language barrier, and with everyone being helpful and kind it was a easy place to get around. What I was looking forward to other than the amazing views was the food. Fish is a big competent to the island which makes sense. It was only natural to have their amazing fish chowder. Another great fish dish I had was the local famous fish sandwich from Fish and Tings. Wow! I could not finish this. There were a handful of places on the island that did make this sandwich but I’m glad I went with Fish and Tings because they also had amazing jerk chicken. The fish sandwich traditionally is made with coco bread and filled to the gills (pun intended) with fried fresh fish. Also on the sandwich was lettuce, tomato, and tarter sauce. Yum!
    Overall the food and restaurants were great. I also had dinner at the Pickled Onion and Hog Penny. As far as I had British food I would have to say Hog Penny was the best. I had an amazing yorkshire pudding dinner which really hit the spot after all my rum drinking! haha. The local Gosling’s Rum was great in Eggnog and the signature rum swizzle. Another big drink on the island was the dark and stormy.
    There were plenty of places and food I did not get to try but you can only fit in so much when you do have the time. So I will certainly be planning a trip back and if you haven’t been I highly recommend it. Did I mention it’s only about a 2 hour flight?!

Old Bay Steamed Blue Crabs

It’s summer so why not steam some crabs. Old Bay seasoning is the only way to go when making these. Seafood can be intimidating to make but these are actually easy to cook.

Here’s a basic recipe for making steamed crabs:
Add 1 1/2 cups water, lager, apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons Old Bay to the bottom of the pot. Whisk to combine and bring to a simmer. Layer the crabs in the steamer insert, generously sprinkling with Old Bay on each layer of crabs. Cover the pot and steam the crabs for 30 minutes.

I also added corn on the cobs cut in half and fingerling potatoes at the top!

Photo Shoot New Jersey Monthly: Cave A Paleo Eatery

Just wanted to share a quick recap from a recent shoot for New Jersey Monthly! They asked me to shoot this charming restaurant near Asbury Park, New Jersey called Cave, A Paleo Eatery. I’m always interested in different diet plans people choose to live by and Paleo is certainly one many people know! It was great chatting with Chef Doug Stehle; chef and owner of the restaurant who eats a Paleo diet and runs his restaurant as one. The staff was super friendly and excited to see me there taking photos. The restaurant itself used to be owned by a antique dealer and when it was sold to Doug the previous owner still had some items there for sale. It gave the restaurant a unique feel. Also Doug is a surfer and being near the ocean there was appropriately placed surf boards he owned decorating the restaurant! All the items on his menu were dairy and gluten free. I tasted a couple things from the menu and I have to say their desserts were nothing like I had before. Their brownie was so rich and packed with chocolate it was the best thing I’ve ever had. There was also bacon on top! It probably took me 2 or 3 sittings to actually finish it. Also the chocolate chip cookies were stuffed with chocolate chips and the cookie itself was soft just like a homemade cookie. If you make a trip this way I would certainly stop in for lunch or dinner.

Dry Rub Ribs: Recipe

How was your Memorial Day weekend? What type of grilling did you tackle? For us we did a nice dry rub spare rib recipe. Color is always important and using the right amount of paprika really makes a difference. These were also on the spicy side, a nice change up from the usual BBQ sauce rub.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup turbino sugar
-1/4 cup normal paprika
-1/4 cup smoked paprika
-1 tablespoon salt
-1 tablespoon pepper
-1 tablespoon onion powder
-1 tablespoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/2 teaspoon ground thyme heaping
-1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaves sparingly
-yellow mustard rubbed on base of meat (makes the seasoning stick!)

*Let it soak overnight in fridge

-Baked 300 degrees 3 hours cover in foil
- Uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes

Pasta and Pesto Tips and Recipe

Pesto is a great addition to any pasta dish. Pesto can be high in fat with the oils and pine nuts mixed into it so you have to take it in small amounts. To help lighten your meal use a whole grain pasta instead of a white pasta. In addition to pasta you can use pesto on chicken, crusty bread, or a spread for a sandwich. If you want to have pasta but a sauce that’s a healthier option it’s best to stick with a tomato sauce.

What goes into a basic pesto sauce?

-basil leaves
-garlic
-pine nuts
-olive oil
-cheese

Find a great recipe at Food Network.

Soft Pretzel Month! Recipe

TRIVIA ANSWER: B. BALDIES

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7-8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn and coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets.

4. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in 4 cups hot water; set aside. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda-hot water solution and place pretzels on baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

5. Bake in preheated oven until browned, about 8 minutes.

Ingredients

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup kosher salt (for topping)

Happy Easter Weekend Recipe: Deviled Eggs

Happy Easter Weekend! It is very early this year, I almost forgot about it :) A favorite snack of mine which you can have year round but certainly pops up at the Easter table is deviled eggs. A classic recipe with variations you can choose to do. For me I may use a little white or red onion in the yolk mix. You can certainly jazz is up with sprigs of dill and even bacon bits to the recipe!

Here’s my recipe adopted from Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/classic-deviled-eggs-recipe.html

Food Photography Workshop Saturday March 12th 2016

I'm so excited to be working with The Art Directors Club on a food photography workshop at their NYC headquarters. It will be an exciting day of shooting food discussing how to craft your shot providing tips and tricks! Also touch on the benefits of working with food stylists and prop stylists. At the end will have a fun critique looking at what everyone shot.

You can find more info here and register for the weekend workshop, it will be fun :)

Don't forget, ADC month of March is Photography month.

National Pancake Day- March 8th

It’s National Pancake Day on March 8th! IHOP in the past has had it as today so I'm not sure...

http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/

This form of batter that was fried and considered a flat cake dates back 30,000 years ago. Amelia Simmons’s was the first known American to have a cookbook published which included pancake recipes back in 1796.

My personal favorite style of pancakes are buttermilk pancakes. Please see recipe referenced below from Bon Appetit. Recipe by Jessie Damuck

Ingredients
Servings: Serves 4 (Make About 8 Pancakes)

    1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
    3 tablespoons sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon kosher salt
    2 large eggs
    1¼ cups buttermilk
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    Vegetable oil (for griddle)
    Pure maple syrup (for serving)

    Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, and butter in a medium bowl; stir into dry ingredients until just combined (some lumps are okay).
    Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium; brush with oil. Working in batches, scoop ⅓-cupfuls of batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes until bottoms are golden brown and bubbles form on top, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through and other side of pancakes are golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes with maple syrup.

Recipe: Buffalo Wings

I don’t have a deep fryer at home and buffalo wings make me feel guilty enough so these baked buffalo wings were a good trade off. I was really craving the buffalo style wings with that real orange sauce so this recipe I didn’t need to add to much extra butter. You can buy this style sauce at any supermarket, it’s usually next to the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce which also offers an awesome wing recipe on the bottle.

What you will need:

3/4 cup flour (this yields for about 20 wings, depending on the size and quantity of the wings you may need more or less flour)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 or 1/4 cup melted butter (whatever your feeling!)

1/2 cup of the buffalo sauce

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt into a resealable plastic bag, and shake to mix. Add the chicken wings, seal, and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce in a small bowl. Dip the wings into the butter mixture, and place back on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly.

*I also had a grate between the foiled pan and the wings just so they could get a little crispier.

Friday Farm Follow Up

This mild winter has been great so far. I’ve been continuing my personal project photographing at the farms with weather I’m able to stand in for a few hours! However I would like it to snow at least once so I can get shots of the farms in a wintery setting.

Baby calf being fed milk and nutrients by Andrew the farmer at the dairy farm

Cocktail Recipe: Mint Julep

This was fun to photograph and also very challenging because it involved so much ice! I could see myself revisiting this shoot and re-doing it now knowing the difficulty of shooting so much ice at one time and it all looking good.

The history of the mint julep is interesting but the presentation to me is what really sparked my interest. The stainless steel cup and bright grouping of fresh mint drew my eye in.  After doing research and reading about the drink it was almost like a slushy for adults which I think any adult would be OK with.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Mint Simple Syrup
Crushed ice
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) bourbon
1 (4-inch) cocktail straw or coffee stirrer
1 fresh mint sprig
Powdered sugar (optional)

2015 In Review

2015 is coming to an end. I continue to grow and learn as a photographer and business owner. There are many things I can say about this past year and where I see myself in the future, however I always like to turn to inspirational quotes by successors I’ve learned from who just say it so much better. Let’s raise a glass and cheers to 2016!

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney