Category Archives: New Products

The Guys From Incanto Present Boccalone Salumeria

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Boccalone orange and wild fennel salame (foreground); and brown sugar and fennel salame (background).

Mmmm, pork, pork, and more pork.

You’ll find all that and more at the new Boccalone Salumeria in the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace.

It’s the artisan charcuterie mecca founded by the two guys from Incanto restaurant in San Francisco, Proprieter Mark Pastore, and Executive Chef Chris Cosentino.

With more than 20 varieties of handmade cured meats, you’ll be hard pressed to pick just one. Choose from  pancetta, lonza (cured pork loin), hard-to-find lardo (cured pork fat), and out-of-this-world orange & wild fennel salame, among others. Salumi is sliced to order. And hungry customers can order up paninis and salumi platters.

If the Ferry Building is out of your way, you also can order products online to satisfy your cravings.

A New Kind of Drinkable Chocolate

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Cabaret Brewed Chocolate

It’s not like hot cocoa. It’s not like hot chocolate. And it’s definitely not at all like chocolate milk.

Cabaret Brewed Chocolate is all together different. Rob Polevoi’s Oakland company brews whole cacao beans in water to extract every last bit of flavor. It’s similar to the way coffee is brewed from coffee beans, only this takes much longer.

The resulting liquid is mixed with just a bit of organic sugar, then reduced down to a concentrated syrup. Stir a teaspoon into a small cup of hot water and — voila! — you have brewed chocolate to enjoy. Each teaspoon weighs in at only 24 calories, too.

Mixed with hot water, it creates a relaxing beverage.The beverage is light in body, akin to coffee. The taste isn’t heavy and super rich like that of hot chocolate. Instead, it is delicate, refreshing, and a little like chocolate-covered toffee in liquid form. It’s a very soothing drink to sip.

A 6-ounce jar is $14.95 and available online at the link above.

Popchips Addiction

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Yes, I have one. But that’s not a bad thing. Not when Popchips are all natural, not fried, have no trans fat, and zero saturated fat (well, except for the wonderful cheddar cheese version that has a pittance).

Never heard of Popchips? Get thee a bag now (about $1.50 for a 1-ounce one). The San Francisco product, which debuted a year ago, is now available in nearly 3,000 retail stores in the Western United States including Safeway, and Whole Foods. A 1-ounce serving has 120 calories, compared to 160 calories for the same serving of Ruffles Original.

Made with potatoes, organic white corn and whole grain brown rice, the Popchips are made using heat and pressure. The resulting chips are light and crispy in texture. They come in nine flavors, including new “salt and pepper” (with a subtle seasoned taste); and “sea salt and vinegar” (the bold vinegar tartness tickles your nose the second you open the bag). Whatever flavor you choose, you’ll be hard pressed to eat just one.

Your Chance To Try the Most Delicious Fruit Ever

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Mangosteens in the shell (back) and peeled (foreground)

That’s what mangosteen has been called. Until this year, the only way to try the fresh tropical fruit was to travel to Southeast Asia, where it originated; or to get your hands on others grown in Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture once banned the importation of mangosteens and other fruits from Thailand because of the concern that they might harbor fruit flies that could infect citrus trees in the United States. Thailand, though, agreed to irradiate its shipments (a method that kills pests with radiation). The first shipments now have arrived in the United States, just at the peak harvest season of the fruit.

You’ll pay a dear price for them, too. At 99 Ranch markets, the tangerine- to orange-sized fruit with a dark purple exterior are $8.99 a pound. And finding them is not always easy, either. At 99 Ranch in Cupertino last week, I came up empty-handed. But my trip to the 99 Ranch on Hostetter Road in San Jose a few days later netted me the goods.

So are they really the most amazing fruit you’ll ever taste? I was dubious. I had tried frozen mangosteens in the shell from an Asian market, and wasn’t impressed. I also had tried a mangosteen juice beverage that was just ghastly.

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