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Epicurean Delights
Creating magical gifts with food |
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Written by Anja Sonnenberg
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Creating Magical Gifts with Food
Gift baskets have evolved from traditional fruit baskets
to gourmet baskets brimming with scrumptious goodies. As a popular
gift item for the holidays, you can incorporate a few of these tasty
treats into your bouquet and gift baskets. Gift baskets and flowers
are all about indulging in luxury items – especially during the
holidays. The gourmet food industry is constantly developing new treats
to stay current with consumer trends. So here are a few of the latest
products to tantalize your taste buds.
Crazy for Chocolate:
The cacao (kah KOW) tree was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. The Aztecs and Maya, harvested the pods from the tree, and then mixed ground cacao seeds to make a bitter dark chocolate beverage.
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Victoria Creams
Rich, creamy, and smothered in bittersweet chocolate, Victoria Creams are available in 17 flavours. (Roger’s Chocolates)
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When early Spanish explorers were introduced to the drink, they decided to bring some cacao seeds back with them. Spanish monks experimented with various recipes and created a sweeter version of the chocolate beverage by adding sugar. It didn’t take long for this delicious beverage to gain popularity across Europe, and in fact it became the royal drink at the Court of France.
The chocolate beverage eventually made its way to Great Britain, and by 1657, the first of many famous English Chocolate Houses appeared. The cocoa press, which was invented in 1828, helped improve the quality of the beverage. By the 19th century, an English company introduced a solid ‘eating chocolate’ and in Switzerland, a method was devised to add milk to the chocolate to create milk chocolate.
Today, chocolate’s popularity as a sweet indulgence is unprecedented. It’s available in dark, milk, bittersweet, Swiss, Belgian, German – and countless others. Whether enjoyed plain or covering nuts, fruit and berries, creams, pretzels – there is something available for everyone’s palette.
Comfort Collection Truffles
These pure Belgian chocolate truffles, are available in five versatile colours – red, black, gold, beige, and blue. Each pack contains three truffles with an assortment of caramel, truffle cream, and chocolate flavours. (Saksco Gourmet Basket Supplies)
Tradition Ste-Julie Cream Fudge
This traditional cream fudge is homage to the sweet tooth.
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Crème Brulee Mixes
Extraordinary flavour with foolproof results. Available in white chocolate raspberry and dark chocolate. Each 149g box yields four half-cup servings. (Gourmet Depot)
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Available in cream fudge, fudge, and cream fudge with nuts. (Gift-Pak Gourmet Food and Basket Supplies)
Breakfast Beverages:
Tea and coffee are by far the most popular breakfast beverages consumed to start the day. In fact, 57 per cent of coffee is drunk at breakfast, 34 per cent between meals, and 13 per cent at other meals. On average 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide each year. Flavoured coffees are created after the roasting process by applying flavoured oils specially created to use on coffee beans.
Canadians drink over seven billion cups of tea each year. There are three basic types of tea, all of which come from the Camellia sinensis bush – black, green, and oolong tea. Black tea, most commonly used in tea bags, is made from leaves that have been fully oxidized, producing a hearty deep rich flavour. Green tea is not oxidized, which creates a delicate and refreshing beverage. Oolong tea combines the taste and colour qualities of black and green tea because the leaves are partly oxidized.
The Joy of Tea
Since 1850, Ashby’s Tea has created blends and flavours with incomparable standards. Its quality and freshness reflects the heritage and reputation that the English have come to expect of a great tea. This gift set includes 6 popular flavours: Raspberry, Apricot, English Breakfast, Japanese Green Tea, Earl Grey and Cinnamon Plum. (Gift-Pak Gourmet Food & Basket Supplies)
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Cutter Dan Olives
Even the olives are bigger in Texas. Texas Martooni Olives are jalapeno and garlic stuffed, while Smokey Pokey are chipotle stuffed olives. (Gourmet Depot)
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Appealing Appetizers:
Whether you call them appetizers or hors d’oeuvres, these delectable morsels have been served as meal starters since Roman times. Antipasto, gustus, tapas, maza, mezze, zakuski, dim sum, smorgasbord, crackers, and dips – the variety is incredible.
Harvest Song Apricot Preserve
Harvest Song’s artisanal preserves are created with the finest hand-selected Armenian- grown fruit. Delectable flavours include: apricot, apricot and white cherry, wild strawberry, tea-rose petals, baby walnut, quince, peach, apple, pear, and for this year’s harvest, sour cherry and golden figs will be included. (KIS Global Flavors Inc.)
Garlic Mango Dressing
Premium mango puree and select local garlic combines into a lush, smooth salad dressing perfectly balanced for spinach, fruit salads and stir-frys. (The Garlic Box)
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Gourmet Ice Tea Collection
Each box contains 12 packets that make two 8oz servings. Add to your 500ml-bottled water and experience a refreshing taste sensation.
(Gourmet Depot) |
Comfort Collection Gourmet Cheese Spread
Delicious as an appetizer when spread on crackers or as dip with fresh vegetables. Cheese spread has a shelf life of one year without refrigeration and offered in black, burgundy and beige colours with bold, gold foil print. (Saksco Gourmet Basket Supplies)
Cooking Accompaniments:
Food trends are constantly changing, and cooking methods are influenced by those changes. Consumers are shying away from processes and packaged foods, and instead they’re looking for items, which include organic, farm-friendly, trans-fat free, low sodium, healthy, and exotic flavours.
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