At my house we are fortunate to always have homemade jams and preserved fruits courtesy of my amazingly talented Mom. I’ve always thought that there was a place for these old style foods in modern cooking. Unbeknownst to me, Chef Paul Virant has launched two highly proclaimed restaurants, based on this concept.

What a delight! With Chef Charlie Baggs and Chef Shane Zimmerman, we enjoyed a sumptuous meal last week at “The Perennial Virant”, before the NRA show in Chicago.

We selected a menu of local greens, a spring garlic custard and Lake Perch to start off our meal. Each of these items was simply delicious with a balance of fresh local ingredients and an exciting zip and flavor burst of pickled veggies or vibrant preserves. Then we followed with a whitefish with in-house cured bacon and pickled ramps and lamb that was melt in your mouth delicious. Over dessert and coffee we enjoyed a special highlight, when Chef Paul joined us and we chatted for some time about his thoughts on food and preservation’s role in cuisine.

Some points of the discussion that resonated with me were how Paul balances each season’s finest ingredients and blends them carefully with preserved specialties using culinary techniques to make uniquely memorable dishes. Paul was humble, kind and generous with his time and obviously extremely passionate about serving carefully prepared food to his guests.

I strongly recommend visiting either the Vie Restaurant or the Perennial Virant next time your travels take you into Chicago. I bought one of his cook books, and thus plan to enjoy some of the delectable preserves and pickled produce with my family at home. Also, if you are looking to add that special pickled taste to your menu, please contact the team at Kagome.

http://perennialchicago.com/

Enjoy!
Gwen – Culinary enthusiast

Welcome to our exciting new blog center! Since we have a talented Culinary R&D team at Kagome, we thought it would be fun for each of us to share our culinary comments, nutritional news, and other food ideas on this blog spot. Please enjoy these stories and let us know if you want to hear something more by emailing us at KagomeMarketing@kagomeusa.com

One of the hot trends was creative and fun fusions of international flavors, ingredients and cooking styles. Exotic fruits (rambutan, passion fruit, dragon fruit, lychee, mangosteen, interesting citrus (Buddha’s hand and Yazu) were showcased in many sauces, teas, snacks and dressings. Chefs from many regions enticed visitors to sample their delicious sauces, dips and spreads on samosas, latkes, flat breads and pilafs of ancient grains.

Another major trend was the exploration into regional Asian flavors and ingredients that were once only found in specific ethnic circles. Indian, Philippines, and Vietnamese join regional Chinese and Thai cuisine with exciting sauces, meals, snacks, drinks, and disserts. Intriguing combinations of ingredients were utilized such as: coconut, lime, cilantro, new soy ingredients, sesame, poi (taro), fish sauce, tamarind, rice flours, nori, regional herbs, and Asian alcoholic beverages.

Intensity is how I would describe the third major trend. Bold flavors and vibrant (not always natural) colors grabbed everyone’s attention. Latin peppers of many varieties were found spicing up products well outside Latin genre. Many of these products were personified with wild names like Original Juan’s “Pain is Good, Hott Nuts” and Guy Fieri’s “7 Pepper “Burn Baby Burn” Salsa. Also, there were cocktails, teas, sauces and confections in all colors of the rainbow.

Finally, emotional concepts like homemade, traditional, old world, natural and local were common marketing themes. These phrases and imagery were used across the product lines and people were responding to them, perhaps remembering good times and places. Gluten free, low salt, and other health spins were found but not as promoted as “green” products. Call outs to social responsibility and environmental sustainability were found an increasing number of products as compared with past years.

I’m enjoying working with these trends and anticipating what will be shown next year at the Fancy Food Show!

Are you ready for some football?!

The Kagome Culinary Team is making extra salsas for this upcoming Super Bowl weekend. We are frying fresh tortillas and getting all the fixings ready for a great taco party. Kagome makes a number of premium and authentic salsas. One of my favorite is our Rojo Salsa, which is similar to a traditional salsa. The Rojo Salsa is also great mixed in with sour cream and fresh lime juice.

The other salsas we are highlighting for Super Bowl are the Chunky Salsa and the Salsa Casera, which are great for topping tacos and tostadas. There’s just something about salsas that have a more diced tomato and a chunky texture that I enjoy with all the fixings that go into a taco or tostada build.
Below is a recipe for Margherita Pork, great for Super Bowl and can easily be made in the crock pot.

Ingredients
• 3 lbs pork shoulder
• 3 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup triple sec
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 cup Kagome Salsa

Directions
1. Trim any visible fat from the pork shoulder.
2. Rub the seasoning into the meat and let rest for 20 minutes.
3. Place the pork shoulder in a crock pot and pour in the remaining ingredients. Use enough Salsa and liquid to cover the meat. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.
4. Remove the shoulder from the crock pot and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
5. Reserve some of the cooking liquid, but avoid the fat on top.
6. Pull the pork apart using forks.
7. Rehydrate with some of the liquid, season and serve.

Enjoy!

Ryan Scott spent some of his high school years in Los Banos and you could see him visiting old teachers and friends. Ryan crafted a stage presence that left the ladies of all ages, swooning. Lou Petrozza, a great story teller, showcased creative dishes that are very easy to prepare at home. Many of the questions that he answered were geared to his time on “Hell’s Kitchen” and the taping process. My “tomato-centric” dishes were presented with a focus on simply delicious taste, health, and ease to prepare at home.

In addition to my culinary presentations outdoors and on the Celebrity Stage, I was asked to judge both the Salsa and Bloody Mary creating competitions. There was much excitement by the recipe entrants as well as all of the samplers, and the quality and creativity of all the recipes made judging a difficult task!

Thanks to all the people that put a tremendous effort to may this first year a success! We all look forward to “What’s Cooking” next year!

Watch a snapshot of the Tomato Festival provided by The Tomato Product Wellness Council: