Favorite Stories From Kosherfest

I love to meet people who have a real passion for what they are doing.  There is nothing like talking to the owner of a new product line, their enthusiasm and passion for what they have created emanates through everything they say and do.  I am passionate about food and can talk about it all day long, so it is so nice to meet others who can do the same.

This year at Kosherfest I met a few new people and learned about a few new products with heart and soul behind them.

The Burning Bush is a new hot sauce brought to us by a two friends who gave up their day jobs to share their passion with us.  Neil Wernick is a marketer and engineer and the creator of this artisanal hot sauce, Nathan Kruman, his friend and business partner is the creator of the name.  Neil started out making pickles and tinkering until friends began asking for jars, but Nathan said we didn’t need pickles we need kosher hot sauce.  So Neil began experimenting with hot sauce, working and mixing adding a new pepper, a new spice a new element until he found the perfect blend.  A blend of spices and peppers that not only tastes great on its own but magically enhances the flavor of everything it is used on.  The heat it is not overpowering, but just adds a subtle kick at the end and works with almost any dish.

They say they hope to make it kosher for Passover, but it is not yet, I really do hope they make that happen.

I am not gluten free, but we do have a lot of gluten free folks on this site and I am constantly being asked if and how to make some of our recipes gluten free.  So I was very excited to meet Orly, founder and creator of Blends by Orly.  Orly is not gluten free either and she studied french baking in Australia so she knows how things are supposed to taste, but her husband is not so lucky.  His diagnosis of Celiac disease started her on the path to creating these blends.  At first I was going to walk by, thinking they were cake mixes, but they are actually blends that can be used in all our favorite recipes.  She formulated specialty mixes of flours that will work better in specific recipes like cakes versus cookies.  She says her Manhattan Blend is particularly popular with the kosher crowd in making a killer gluten free challah.  Each blend comes with a recipe, but you can use them to make all your old favorites.

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For those have you that follow along on my travel adventures and ethnic cooking you will know that I love Thai food, but that it is not easy to make many traditional foods without chili paste.  I have learned to make my own, but it is not my favorite things to do and now I don’t have to anymore!! When I met the guy behind the new variety of Thai Curry sauces, he actually knew me.  He had seen my answer to others who have been asking for the same thing and he was happy to finally be the one to bring kosher Thai Chili Paste to the market.  (There are a few others, but they have been expensive and hard to get).  It turns out Thai Treat has been a kosher restaurant in Florida since 2001, not sure how I missed that, but they have take then signature blends and made them retail.  Go ahead and get one in every color, they all have slightly different flavor profiles and they will last a while too.  Thanks Thai Treat.

Last, but not least I wanted to share a bit about No Moo Cookies.  They are answering our demands for really good non dairy cookies and I know there are many out there that have been waiting for these.  They have 8 main flavors plus many seasonal varieties throughout the year. I like the feel of this company, they are a group of 6 who basically got together and decided to make and sell cookies.  David, the founder and president, felt for his numerous kosher friends who couldn’t enjoy his chocolate chip cookies as often as he would like.  So he started this company, got a few friends together and they are doing it right.  I waited for my husband to try one before I decided to write about them, he is the cookie lover in our house, and when he gave them two big thumbs up I knew I would include them in this write up.

There were many other new and old companies showcased this year as always and it is always fun to see what is new.  If you were there and want to share any thing please add it in the comments below.

If you are interested in any of the products or companies mentioned, please support them by ordering.