By Bracha Schwartz

JFood at the NJ Expo Center in Edison, New Jersey on June 13-14 was a showcase for kosher food and food related products for businesses and consumers at different times. Producer of the show, Shmiel Stern, CEO of Compass Conferences, said: “We wanted to make sure the first day was pure buyers from supermarkets, restaurants, caterers, camps, nursing homes. But people love food shows. So instead of having them try to get in through family or friends, we had a second day just for them. It was more fun with influencers and tastings.” Stern said talking to consumers was a form of marketing for many vendors who sell directly to consumers, or want to encourage them to look for the product at their local grocery store.

An eager consumer, I visited on the second day where hundreds of exhibitors, from wholesale distributors to one person startups, beautifully displayed their tempting products. After several years of attending food shows, I knew to stroll around first to view the mix of milchig and fleishig samples. You don’t want to have meat too early, only to look longingly at the ice cream and pizza. Here are some highlights.

Spice and Zest (www.spiceandzest.com) might be the answer to a baker’s prayer. Owner Sarah Leitner makes a sourdough dry starter powder that eliminates the hardest part of making sourdough bread. Add flour and water to get a fresh starter in a few days. “The starter is the number-one problem people have when they want to make sourdough bread,” she said. “Everything that’s overwhelming and daunting, I’ve cut out.” The package comes with recipes and instructions. Leitner no longer makes loaves of bread for sale but she had some at the show, and the samples proved she knows what she’s doing!

Twisty (www.eattwisty.com), is a direct-to-consumer collection of delicious pareve, gluten-free baked goods made by the owner of the Cookie Corner in Lakewood. After hearing many requests for gluten-free products from customers, Miriam Lopiansky partnered with her friend Sara Wenger to create the line. “We started gluten-free pastry so everyone can enjoy it,” said Lopiansky. “It looks regular and tastes regular and it’s made in a separate facility with our own blends.” She gave me a box of samples to take home, including a yummy carrot muffin and fudgy chocolate muffin with what I think was marshmallow filling. I would not have guessed they were gluten-free.

There’s always room in the market for a brand of frozen pizza that comes close to the taste of freshly made, and this pizza makes the grade. Pizza on the 9 (www.pizzaonthe9menu.com) sells locally in Lakewood and is expanding their frozen product to kosher markets everywhere. Currently they have an 8-inch size package but will soon be selling a 12-inch size that can be put in a Betty Crocker appliance.

Freund’s Fish (https://freundsfish.com) has expanded way beyond their Brooklyn store. In addition to supplying many markets with fresh fish, the company has a line of ready-made frozen products. At JFood, the company had samples of fish nuggets, kani salad and salmon burgers. I tried the salmon burger, and give it a thumb’s up.

Ari Feferkorn began keeping bees and making honey as a hobby during COVID. A realtor, he began giving honey to his clients. His passion became a business, Donna Bee Honey (www.donnabeehoney.com) with several varieties of honey for sale to the public. Feferkorn began with one hive and now has almost 20, located in different areas like backyards, the Pine Barrens and blueberry farms. I asked him how he decides on the flavors. “I don’t decide; the bees decide,” he said. The flavor is from the flowers where the hives are located. I tasted the raspberry honey and there was a very definite but subtle taste of raspberry in the rich sweetness. “Everything is natural, sifted but not filtered,” he said. “So everything is a little different in taste.” Feferkorn does it all: He takes care of the bees, brings the honey to the production area, puts it in jars and sells on his website.

Meant to Be is the name of a company that produces natural foods according to what they maintain is the highest standard of healthy and nutritional—the way food is meant to be, of course. Meant to Be dairy products are from 100% grass-fed cows. Eggs come from chickens that graze in constantly changing pastures and get a supplemental GMO-free feed with no hormones or antibiotics. At the show I tried some goat milk, a product I just recently became familiar with, and I enjoyed its rich, creamy texture.

David Elliott Poultry (www.davidelliotpoultry.com) had samples of sauteed chicken cutlets, firm but juicy, the way you always want cutlets to be. Sometimes cutlets can taste dry. Not these. The Fink family says the secret to their chickens is the excellent care they’re given, from the way they are raised to how they are processed.

Puff pastry wrapped baby hot dogs are always a nice treat. At this vendor, they were there to be sampled but the main attraction was the appliance keeping them hot. HotMat (www.armadalebrands.com) is a foldable, lightweight set of four round or two square heating units that can be used with a timer or kept on for 72 hours. They take up less space than a hotplate and can easily travel.

Two cooking demos featured the Betty Crocker, an appliance I have been hearing a lot about lately. It’s a round, cast iron electric heating unit that can be used to cook almost anything, and it’s a great travel item for making meals on the go. Naomi Nachman, author of “Perfect Flavors” and “Perfect for Pesach,” showed how to make dumplings and steam them in the Betty Crocker. She demonstrated some valuable knife skills as she chopped vegetables. Rivky Kleiman, author of “Simply,” used the Betty Crocker to make an omelet with sauteed vegetables, and to cook noodles for a lasagna-type dish.

The last speaker I saw was Shloime Zionce, a writer with an insatiable appetite for travel. He spoke about a trip he took to Saudi Arabia and how concerned he was about what food he could bring with him. Although he managed, he discovered when he was in the country that there were many products with OU and other reliable hechsherim. We are fortunate to live in a time when kosher food can be found all around the world.

Bracha Schwartz is the special sections editor at The Jewish Link.