Best in Show

Gummy cola bottles on display at the Haribo booth at the Fancy Food Show.

We came. We saw. We conquered. We also got a little buzzed on Welsh ale. Nevertheless, we bring you a report from this summer's Fancy Food Show at the Jacob Javits Center. If you've never been, it is a giant trade show of specialty foods, with just about everything edible, from the crass to refined. The sheer number of booths representing food purveyors small and large is overwhelming, but just when you think you've tasted your last drop of olive oil, something comes along that surprises you. Below are some highlights from the show, which wraps up tomorrow.

FRUIT Southern Alps, a UK-based company, makes these packs of beautiful sliced and dried fruits -- from figs to mulberries and mangoes -- sourced from around the world for its Slow Fruit line.

CHEESE Coach Farm salts, dries, and ages its signature goat cheese to make these Grating Sticks which can be shredded and used as you would any hard cheese -- such as Parmesan or Pecorino -- on pasta.

SNACK Seapoint Farms has smartly packaged edamame in kid-friendly Goody Bags festooned with cartoon characters (the beans in the Dora pack are shelled, while the Spongebob pack comes unshelled). The "thaw & eat" pouches store in the freezer until ready for packing for lunch.

SWEETS Menozzi & De Rosa's La Fabricca delle Dolcezze licorice comes in multiple pasta shapes (from penne, pictured here, to bucatini and fusilli) and boxes that mimic real pasta packaging. The licorice has an acquired taste, but the design can't be beat.

MEAT This is not your mother's lunch meat. Artisan salumi master Paul Bertolli, founder of Fra'Mani, has launched two new cooked salumi, a fantastic Salame Rossa (left) studded with pistachios, and, on the right Mortadella.

CHOCOLATE Later this year, artisan chocolate maker Scharffen Berger will release this new chocolate bar of milk chocolate packed with "sea salted" (is that a verb?) almonds. Despite its grammatical issues, the sweet and salty combination of flavors taste wonderful.

SWEETS I loved the charming design of Two by Two's upscale animal crackers. The buttery organic biscuits, made in England, come in the shape of an owl, cat, rabbit, turtle, lion, and mouse (pictured here).

DRINK Tomos Watkin's Cwrw Gaef dark beer from Wales, brewed using malted barley and wheat and a blend of crystal and dark chocolate malts, is rich and dark with a faint taste of licorice. The brewery also makes a fine honey-hued apple cider, Taffy Apples.

OIL New from La Tourangelle, the California-based producer of excellent nut oils, is an ultra-green Avocado Oil made from pressed avocado pulp.

DRINK I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much I liked this  fizzy bottled sangria drink, Tinto de Verano, made in Spain by Sandevid. It may be just a step up from a wine cooler, but it sure tasted refreshing.

DRINK Ito En's Matcha Latte blends the Japanese powdered ceremonial green tea with milk and sugar. The flavor and texture sort of resembled melted green tea ice cream.

SWEET Los Angeles-based Palapa Azul produces a line of Mexican-inspired ice creams, sorbets, and fruit bars. The Sweet Corn Ice Cream was outstanding, as was the cinnamon-infused Mexican Chocolate ice cream.

DRINK Sarabeth's has introduced  an ultra-rich and creamy Hot Chocolate Parisienne made from Dutch cocoa and Belgian chocolate.

GRILLING Fire & Flavor, the company that produces flavored cedar grilling planks, has introduced a line of Cedar Grilling Papers, thin veneers of cedar which can be wrapped around meats, fish, and vegetables while they're grilled to impart a smoky flavor. I have no clue if they actually work, but they looked nifty.