Meet the Producer: Lenny and Barbara Macaluso

After successful careers in the music industry, Lenny and Barbara Macaluso retired to a country estate in Florida, where they began cultivating orchards and gardens. Combining Lenny’s love of global cuisine, which he discovered while touring with Tina Turner (see photo), and Barbara’s flair for creating unique sauces and condiments, they were inspired to start Delicaé Gourmet in 1997. They soon made a name for themselves by producing award-winning products from their homegrown foods, such as Bread Toppers, Fruit & Wine Infused Balsamic Glazes, Sweet & Savory Jams and Jellies and Sea Salt Rubs.

Branching out to meet the needs of today’s time-crunched consumers, in 2008 Delicaé introduced a line of 20 all-natural, gourmet slow-cooker dinner and soup kits. “My inspiration was my appreciation for working mothers and the difficulties they have creating nutritious meals for their families,” says Barbara. “With my gourmet dinners and soups, she can start dinner in five minutes in the morning and come home to a complete meal ready to serve for her family after work.”

The meals take only 5 to 8 minutes of prep time and offer simple, tasty options, including French Bistro Short Ribs, Homemade Turkey Barley, French Pork & White Bean and Big Easy Jambalaya. For more-advanced cooks, recipe suggestions are provided to add a more international flair to each dish. “Being a very busy family ourselves, running a full time business and an orchard and farm, we frequently make up our slow-cooker meals for dinner,” Barbara adds.—Denise Shoukas

Barbara Macaluso shares more of their story with us:

Do you find your prior career experience in the music industry plays a role in your food business today?

Yes. In touring the world with Tina Turner, I experienced fine dining and cuisine from so many different cultures and countries, including great dining in the U.S. This reflects in our flavor profiles, versatility and quality of our products.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Creating new and exciting products and flavor profiles that bring so much satisfaction and enjoyment to our customers.  We receive wonderful emails complimenting our products.

What is your least favorite task?

There isn’t a least favorite. Each and every task, fun or not, is necessary to address when you are in business for yourself. Not having enough hours in the day to complete them all is what is least favorable.

If someone could shadow you for one day at your job, what would surprise that person most?

I think they would be surprised at the number of hats we each wear. From supervising the installation of new fruit trees in our orchard to developing new and innovative slow-cooker dinners and soups, our days start early and end late. I think anyone who followed us around for a day would be amazed at the number of things that are required to run a business.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Being a major animal lover, I was headed in the direction of being a veterinarian. I was strongly influenced in music by my dad, who was a guitarist and singer. That ultimately became the driving force in my life and lead to a successful musical career. But in all honesty, I really wanted a hot-dog stand.

Aside from your products, what three items can you always find in your kitchen?

Organic baby greens, rice milk and Arizona Green Tea (sugar-free).

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor
and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.

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