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Sonoma Syrup - best foodie gift

It’s that time of year again when the Fancy Food Show has been on in New York, and the NASFT sofi Awards are handed out. Last year it was all about blood oranges, which I have seen making appearances in various forms in delis, but not in huge quantities.

And this year? Well, no such clear cut trend, although the blood orange still featured in one Gold winning product: a Blood Orange Sorbetto from G.S. Gelato & Desserts. Some interesting flavours on offer, and a tasty choice for those on dairy or gluten free diets.

A special mention for the team at Fever-Tree, as their Ginger Beer won outstanding cold beverage. Fantastic news, love their products, and love that they doing well in the US. For a place full of corn syrup sweetened sodas, this must come as a refreshing change with a bit of bite. I might need the ginger beer to take away the taste of another winner though: peach balsamic vinegar. Sounds revolting to me, and why does it need messing with? But hey, I’d give it a try, in the name of research.

American chocolate has had a bad name for a long time, and certainly the count bar type stuff is terrible, but the artisan stuff that has been going on has been fantastic. I like the sound of the Sesame Toffee Tiles from Poco Dolce, perfect combinations of sweet and salty: toasted sesame seeds, toffee, plain chocolate and grey sea salt.

Winner of their food gift category was the Extract Gift Set from Sonoma Syrup Co. This is a box of multi-purpose syrups, that you could use in everything from coffees to pouring over ice creams. The gift set contains three bottles, one each of Vanilla, Almond and Lemon. I can’t see a source for them here in the UK, so one to look out for on my next trip to the US.

If you want to check out the full list of winners, to perhaps gain points on the unusual foodstuffs in your cupboard awards, then you can see the list here. Have fun!