Photo: Anisa/Food and Whine

The other day, I thought I hallucinated when I saw a woman carrying a cup of swirly soft-serve from Ben & Jerry’s in Grand Central Station. Could it be? Did Ben & Jerry’s finally replace its synthetic Tasti D-Lite with real frozen yogurt? Yes, not only was Tasti out, but the best brand of frozen yogurt took its place: Frogurt.

Frogurt is smooth and thick, almost like frozen custard. If you’ve had the misfortune of tasting Pinkberry, give the plain Frogurt a try. It’s my favorite out of all the brands I’ve tried, including Columbo, TCBY, Yolato and Canada’s Yogen Fruz. It’s also the most economical option at Ben & Jerry’s for $2.75 for a small. Pinkberry is $5 for an icy mound with a hole in the middle.

Up until recently, Frogurt was the foodie’s secret at 40 Carrots Cafe in Bloomingdale’s. The problem is, the “small” can feed two ravenous people. But I might have to frequent Bloomingdale’s, since Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t stock the tangy plain flavor.

Here’s other locations to get plain Frogurt. Or, try making your own.

40 Carrots at Bloomingdale’s
59 Street & Lexington Avenue
1000 Third Avenue (Upper East Side)
504 Broadway (Soho)

Zabar’s Cafe (sold as Zaberry)
2245 Broadway (at 80th St.), New York, NY 10024
212-787-2000

Cafe Lalo
201 W 83rd St (between Broadway & Amsterdam)
212-496-6031

Lord and Taylor
424 Fifth Ave. (at 38 St.)
212-391-3344

Although my relief trip to New Orleans was only a couple months ago, I didn’t want my team mates to fade into obscurity. A CulinaryCorps update was in order, so we met for a gluttonous potluck a couple weeks ago.

Jeff graciously opened up his apartment and made Sullivan Street Bakery’s crusty no-knead bread (I make mine with 100% whole wheat flour), chilled zucchini soup and about three other dishes. He also biked in the rain to get heirloom tomatoes for the tuna nicoise salad. Sandy donated kobe beef at $98 a pound, foie gras and aged balsamic vinegar. Everything was in such excess that the foie gras terrine, which is normally spread as sparingly as butter, was cut as if it were cake. The best balsamic vinegars can cost a couple bucks a drizzle, but we poured it like pancake syrup. Man, I felt cheap bringing in stewed chickpeas. Kelli made her famous chocolate-peanut butter mousse cake with an Oreo cookie crust, two layers of crushed corn flakes (if it sounds weird, they’re similar to Rice Krispies) and ganache topping. Oops, I forgot to mention the cheese plate!

My favorite of the lot? The bread, tomatoes and cake. Go figure.

Besides enjoying the meal, there was another reason to celebrate. Christine, the founder of CulinaryCorps, reported that things were getting better in New Orleans. It seemed like a miracle, since some of the conditions seemed hopeless when I went in June. You might remember the Emergency Communities relief kitchen, which had about 2,000 pounds of pre-Katrina chicken. Or how the Cafe Reconcile restaurant was missing 73% of its teen workers and was arguably dirtier than Emergency Communities.

Look at this glowing e-mail from Christine:

1. Emergency Communities looks fantastic! Mark made it very clear that without our wake-up call the days we were there, EC was headed down a very slippery-slope. So thanks to all of you for stepping up to the challenge and getting things back on track. Looks like they will be serving meals through December and possibly into next year.

2. Cafe Reconcile is a sight to behold! Not only did Chef Jo keep the kitchen to the standard that we left it that day, he has improved upon a lot of the other issues we mentioned. He bought a power-washer for the floors, those gritty and gross storage shelves that Courtney scrubbed have been painted, the outdoor “storage” is being phased out and the students are learning how to plate starting with the desserts (the shortcake was very pretty).

3. The Edible Schoolyard garden is totally transformed! From the flat, packed dirt wasteland rises a beautiful arbored landscape. It’s still in its very first stages but things are looking up.

4. Holy Angels Market is still going strong! The vendors are happy, the community is coming out to shop and they even have a local chef (Chef Chris DeBarr of Delachaise) signed on to do execute the ongoing brunches.

However, much work still needs to be done in New Orleans. In June, about half of the hospitals remained closed. A school in the Ninth Ward was still closed despite being fully operable. The levees are so thin that Katrina could happen all over again.

The NY Times and Time Inc. have done a great job raising these issues. Unfortunately, I predict they will be forgotten in the next couple of months. Stories run in the media because of a news peg: an anniversary, a new study, a new book, etc. Since rebuilding has been slow, there isn’t much to report on, except during the obligatory anniversary.

I urge you not to forget about New Orleans. I’m guilty of wanting to shut it out, too. It’s so emotionally overwhelming that it’s easier to pretend that the problems don’t exist. Remember, you can help in these ways:

• Pray for hope, volunteers and leadership in New Orleans.
• Volunteer for organization like these…
  • If you are a professional chef or culinary student, sign up for the next

Graphic created from an Echocolates.com tree and a Michael Recchiuti bar

Money doesn’t grow on trees, but at least chocolate does. But unless you have a machete and want to travel through the rain forest, you probably won’t get to the source of your favorite food, until now.

Echocolates.com ships live chocolate trees and includes two free Vintage Plantations chocolate bars for $9.95 plus $8.30 shipping. This type of plant is native to the Amazon basin. Besides growing cacao fruit, these trees provide shelter for frogs, birds and other small mammals. By growing the tree inside your home, hopefully you’ll appreciate where your chocolate comes from.

Because the trees are sensitive to cold weather, they are only shipped on the first of June to October. So, you have five days to put in your September order, or else you’ll have to wait till October first. After that, you’ll have to wait another eight months.

If you’re deciding which chocolate bars to pick, my favorite is the 90%. That may sound awfully dark, but “Arriba” Ecuadorian cacao tends to be mild, it’s best without a lot of sugar. This tastes nothing like Baker’s unsweetened chocolate; I promise it’s not bitter.

Here’s my tasting notes on the other bars:

38% milk – toasted almond/pine nut aroma. Tastes like toffee, a bit salty.

65% dark – couldn’t make out the subtle flavors, but the texture was a bit coarse. No added cocoa butter.

75% with salted peanuts – chewy texture.

75% plain – surprisingly different from the peanut version. The chocolate was harder and tasted more fermented

90% – best texture. Very chocolaty without any bitterness.

100% unsweetened – spicy flavor. No sugar, vanilla, added cocoa butter or lecithin (a smoothing agent). A good effort for “pure” chocolate, but it’s an acquired taste.

Four ways to order:

• Visit Echocolates.com ($20 minimum order)
• Call 800-207-7058 x104, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST
• Fax an order form to 908-354-9265
• Mail the form to Chocolate Tree Offer, Vintage Plantations Chocolates, 1 Atalanta Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ, 07206

The fine print: Technically, cacao plants don’t grow chocolate as we know it. They grow cacao, whose fruit is fermented and seeds are later processed into chocolate. Also, it takes two plants to cross-pollinate and produce fruit. So unless you have two plants and have lots of bees, you won’t grow cacao.

As promised, here’s the remainder of my favorite items from this year’s Fancy Food Show. Sorry for the delay. I’ll be on vacation for the next 10 days, but in the mean time, why don’t you make an ice cream float with cold-brew iced coffee?

Best novelty oil

There was tea oil (how do they get the oil out of those leaves?) and stoplight-green avocado oil, but at the end of the day, those novelty oils tasted as plain as canola. Not Miguel & Valentino’s smoked olive oil. It had the heady aroma of pine cones and borderline bitterness to go along with it.

Best novelty oil runner-up

J. Leblanc roasted hazelnut oil– Used at the French Laundry and other fine restaurants, this oil is best for “finishing” a dish, since heat destroys its flavor. Try it in salad dressings, or let it soak into crusty bread.

Best cocktail nuts

Brookfarm macadamias with bush pepper spice have bush tomatoes, Tasmanian mountain peppers, Dorrigo pepper, Byron Hinterland Lemon Myrtle and Australian sea salt. I don’t know what half of those things are, but they had the perfect balance of sage-like herbs and salt.

Best cocktail peanuts

Technically, peanuts aren’t nuts, so I had to give out an separate award to Earth Family’s salt-blistered peanuts. The ridges give the peanuts extra crunch. In an age where green packaging is largely marketing, the words “organic” and “sea salt” really do mean something here. These are worlds beyond Planter’s.

Best savory sweet

Salt in caramel and chocolate is becoming common nowadays, so I thought the most creative salty sweet was Blue Bay Crab Co.’s peanut brittle with bay seasoning. Salty toffee peanuts are as old as Crackerjack, but sweet nuts with paprika, mustard and herbs is a new taste sensation.

Best gourmet chips

Tyrells from the UK makes parsnip, beetroot and carrot chips. If you like Terra chips, you’ll love these. They are hearty, so they won’t get crushed under the pressure of your fingers. They also have five varieties of potato chips, including jalapeno and sausage.

Best fruit-sweetened soda

In the realm of designer drinks, there was mint-flavored water, calorie-free drinks and fruit-sweetened sodas. Wild Fruitz’s sodas stood out because they taste just like the fruit itself.

Best gluten-free product

Michael’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had, and they don’t even have wheat flour! I’m even biting my tongue because I’ve previously said that all-butter cookies are the only way to go. These gluten-free cookies have palm oil margarine (gasp!), but at least they’re free of trans fat.

Best ice cream flavors

Max & Mina’s in Queens has kitschy flavors: rugelach, halavah (sesame candy) birthday cake and if you can stomach it — garlic and lox. Their flavors are creative enough to satisfy adult palates, but they also bring you back to your childhood. Sometimes I just want fun ice cream without all the shiso-Meyer lemon bla bla bla madness.

Best packaged cookie line

I just about gave up on Chips Ahoy and the like because I can taste the chemicals. If I wanted a cookie, I’d usually bake it, until now. Immaculate Baking Co.’s all-natural chocolate chunk, key lime and pumpkin ginger cookies are great for snacking. May they replace all your Famous Amoses. They also have organic bake-at-home cookie dough. The only drawback is that their bagged cookies are all crispy; I don’t think it’s possible to make soft packaged cookies without preservatives.

Best sandwich cookies

Late July Organic Snacks make great Oreo knock-offs. I couldn’t make something better if I tried. Too bad they don’t have as many flavors as Immaculate Baking Co.

Complete Fancy Food Show 2007 Gallery

Related posts:

Fancy Food Show 2007 Favorites, the Chocolate
Fancy Food Show 2006 Favorites, part 1
Fancy Food Show 2006 Favorites, part 2