Food Shows, Vendor Tours, and Buffets at Rutgers University (Week 4!)

This past week has been the much anticipated field trip and project week!

On Monday, our preceptors brought us to the Fancy Food Show in New York, and the experience was so amazing! The Fancy Food Show is a 3-day show with vendors showcasing their local cheese, coffees, spices, spreads, food pairings, ethnic cuisines, and more! Denisse and I had never been to a food show before so we were overjoyed by the variety of unique food options and inventive food substitutions.

From left to right: Denisse, Kristin, Kelly (preceptor), Peggy (preceptor), and Carly (Peggy's Healthy Dining Team Intern)

The food show was split amongst several floors, with each floor circulating on its own theme. For example, the first floor was based on “states” so each row showcased foods from a different state, and the second floor was split based on different countries. We arrived at around 10:30am and decided to peruse the first floor. It took us 5 hours to finish the first floor before we even started the second! Some of the highlights at the show for me were an avocado-based mayonnaise, an almond butter that tasted like cheese, and elderflower & lingoberry extract. The funkiest food we tried was a salt made out of crushed worms and grasshoppers. It was actually pretty good! The worms gave the salt a natural spiciness that was quite appetizing. The key themes seen throughout the day were vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, and plant-based.

A shelf stable spinach wrap that had the consistency of a fruit-roll up, but paired well with the hummus!

Olive Oil Tastings

Different vinaigrettes

So many olives! There were rows and rows of olives.

Overall, attending this food show was such an incredible experience. It was awesome that a lot of companies are recreating popular foods, such as chips, to reach out to gluten-free and dairy-free audiences. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many different types of food at once, but I wouldn’t object to doing it again! ;)  

Sophie, Kristin, Denisse, and Carly (Sophie and Carly are Healthy Dining Team Interns at Rutgers University)

On Tuesday, we went on a vendor tour to J&J Snack Foods. J&J Snack Foods is a big vendor for many of the popular snack foods such as churros, pretzels, Minute Maid frozen lemonade cups, chocolate chip cookies, and funnel fries. One of the inventive products involving pretzels that I found interesting was the pretzel sandwich. After a pretzel was baked, it would be cut in half (hamburger style) and lettuce, tomatoes, or other fillings would be placed between the two halves of the pretzels. The eyes of the pretzel were still visible though, so the placement of the toppings had to be precise. Another interesting snack choice was a giant pretzel that would be placed in a large pizza box and different dips would be placed in the pretzel eyes (alternative to those late night pizza cravings?). We received a comprehensive presentation from the Marketing Manager of J&J Snack Foods and got to taste some of their new products in their Research & Development Lab.

On Wednesday, we went on a vendor tour to the Seviroli Pasta Factory. Anthony, one of the well-rounded employees at the factory, gave us a tour of the facility. Because Seviroli is expanding, they have multiple factories that are adjacent to one another, but not connected. The company was producing tortellini for the day, so we got to walk along the catwalk to view tortellini being produced in the masses. We also got a quick peek at the pasta sauce factory. Afterwards, we attended Pasta Making 101, where the wonderful chefs taught us how to make our own handmade pasta. The session was followed by a wonderful lunch, where we tasted the handmade noodles, tortellini, and chicken ravioli.

The wonderful chefs at the Seviroli Factory taught us how to make pasta and cooked us a delicious lunch!

On Thursday, Denisse and I implemented our buffet line menu at the Rutgers Club. We’ve been preparing for this with the big help of Chef Tommy since the last time we went to the Rutgers Club (two weeks ago!).

Our menu:

Sweet Corn Soup with Leeks and Fresh Basil

Strawberry, Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Hazelnut Salad with a Cherry Vinaigrette

Quinoa Power Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Onions, and Mozzarella Balls Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pan Roasted Salmon with Mango Salsa

Rosemary Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Sauteed Baby Zucchini and Carrots with Roasted Garlic and Parsley

Penne Pasta Tossed with Arugula Pesto and Roasted Red Peppers

Marinated Flank with Chimichurri Sauce

Us with Chef Tommy at the Rutgers Club with our Buffet Line

On Friday, we started preparing the decor for our farewell luncheon, which will be on July 26th. We made some cute props for our photobooth. Rukiah, the marketing manager, helped us create a wonderful animated invitation letter, which will be sent to approximately 200 Rutgers staff. Jenny, the catering manager, also drove us to Hobby Lobby, a large craft store, to pick out some preliminary decorations for our luncheon. We are all super excited to prepare for this event, so more to come about that! This exciting week has been a wonderful segue to a relaxing three-day weekend!