Kosher Critic: Kosherfest 2011 samples from Peru to Thailand

I love Kosherfest, and this year record crowds packed the sold-out Meadowlands venue. The aisles were quite literally choked with people and vendors were feeling edgy because of the people who were “over sampling” and stealing products right off of tables. If you are fortunate enough to get into Kosherfest, please behave yourself. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us. After being shoved one too many times I managed to finally get to the best and newest products at Kosherfest 2011. Here are a few:

• The Gelato Shoppe: One of Boca Raton’s most popular kosher destinations is branching out. Its Peanut Butter Gelato personally floored me, with a smooth, creamy and flavorful appeal. The Gelato Shoppe also makes a number of mind-blowing parve items as well as Kosher for Passover products. All of them are truly wonderful.

• California Delight Hot Sriracha Sauce: Sriracha is an Asian chili based hot sauce originating from Thailand, and is to the Thai and Vietnamese what ketchup is to Americans. This was quite a doozy of a Sriracha. This was not a product for the weak of taste buds. Smoking hot! The flavor however was solid and really highlighted the subtle fruitiness of the chili.

• Michel Cluizel Chocolates: Let no one ever cast aspersions on parve chocolates. Gourmet Chocolatier Michel Cluizel has one of the best products I have seen in years. Their high-end chocolates were simply fantastic and I liked their parve chocolate product more than many of the dairy chocolate offerings at other Kosherfest booths. This company is based on Fifth avenue and 47th street. It definitely merits a closer look.