Working the sofis: Truffles, Sweet Potato Chocolate and Pigs

Last week was a bit of a diversion for me—a culinary one, thankfully. I had the opportunity to help out during Part 1 finalist judging at the annual sofi™ Awards at the NASFT (National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) offices on Madison Avenue in New York City. The sofis are like the Academy Awards for specialty foods. In Part 1, there are 31 categories—ranging from Outstanding Appetizer, Antipasto, Salsa or Dip and Outstanding Cold Beverage to Outstanding Chocolate and Outstanding Meat, Pate or Seafood—to be judged by nine members of the industry. Judges included buyers from esteemed specialty stores and supermarkets from around the country and culinary writers. (Part 2 judging of Outstanding Product Line and Outstanding New Product 2010 takes place next month.)

My week-long gig as culinary manager began by ordering ingredients to prepare 1,570 products. I bought more than six dozen eggs, five pounds of butter, plenty of sour cream and a lot of milk and cream. The baked goods category alone had more than 60 entries, everything from cupcakes to gluten-free brownies. (I recall eating a lot of tasty brownies made with rice flour.) I also had to hit a liquor store for some rum and tequila because there were plenty of drink mixers to be made, many that were tea infused—a big trend.

Once the judging started from April 14-16, the judges needed to taste each product in each category. One of my major responsibilities was to make sure all products made it out of the kitchen and to the judges on time to keep the process moving. Helping me pull this off were two talented veteran sofi chefs, Chef David Ward and Sous Chef Allistair Smith, and a staff of five well-organized helpers.

Amid what I’ll describe as organized chaos, I managed to spot a lot of food trends: Truffles were everywhere (pasta, honey, cheese) and sweet potatoes seemed to be the hot new ingredient (I tasted them in crackers, butter and even chocolate.) Coconut and cocoa made appearances in tea while black sesame seeds also paired well with chocolate. I even tasted ‘Green Noodles’ made out of a nutritious vegetable called Moroheiya, prized by the Egyptians for its healthful properties. I am definitely going to get Gianna to eat these. They came in soy sauce flavor, her favorite.

All in all, I was so happy to get my fix working in a professional kitchen with professional chefs (for those who don’t know, in my former life I was a line cook for a three-star Manhattan restaurant and also interned with some celebrity chefs after graduating culinary school). It was also exciting to see hundreds of innovative food products. However, three straight 10-hour days on my feet reminded me of one of the reasons why I left the restaurant business. Thank God for my desk job. –Nicole Denis

Click here to see FULL Coverage of the 2010 sofi Awards as it happens