The fall season is almost here, and the summer items are starting to disappear from the Gourmet Fusion Store to make way for our fall collection. This week we introduced some exciting new chocolate and nut items from Torn Ranch into the Solana Beach store. First are our Zozo Beans. These are rich Colombian coffee beans that have been dark roasted, then coated with premium dark, milk or white chocolate. Great to eat by themselves, or while sipping your cappuccino or espresso.
Then try a bag of Torn Ranch's famous Mashuga Nuts, named after the Yiddish word mashuga, meaning "crazy". These all natural sweet and savory pecans come in a fun, whimsical bag that really is crazy! The history of these nuts is also unusual. Torn Ranch originated as a retail store located in Marin County that was renowned for its Jumbo Cashews. As a warm welcome, the owner would place a jumbo cashew in each of its customer's hands. So, if you are in our store in the Leaping Lotus, why not pick up a bag and share them with a friend or two and keep the tradition alive.
Torn Ranch's delicious gourmet foods are all natural Kosher dairy.
The great thing about going to Food Shows is that you not only have the opportunity to find out about, and sample, some wonderful food from all over the world, you also learn that the common love of food overrides any issues involving race or religion. The New York Fancy Food show featured food produced in all regions of the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa - some of the vendors were seasoned producers and others were new companies from developing countries just starting out. It was also great to see the large number of companies promoting Fair Trade and organic produce.
One of the exhibitors we came across was PeaceWorks International who were promoting a selection of food products from different regions of the world, and educating people about of their mission. The concept of their organization is that they are a not-only-for-profit organization, and they believe that people working together under conditions of equality learn to shatter cultural stereotypes and humanize their former enemies. In fact, the PeaceWorks Foundation has fostered co-existence between many regions of conflict, proving the theory that when people work together striving to co-exist and prosper, amazing things can happen!
PeaceWorks currently does business with Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, South Africans, Turks, Indonesians and Sri Lankans and they have created some unique and exciting specialty foods using all natural, fresh ingredients. Some of the products we came across were Kind Fruit and Nut Bars, a health food bar from Australia made from whole nuts; Indonesian Bali Spice, a women-owned company producing sauces, seasonings and noodles that create a fusion of Indian and Thai flavors; Meditalia Pestos and Tapenades. These Mediterranean flavors are created through a partnership between Arabs and Israelis. PeaceWorks have proved that they can build and sustain a profitable company while doing a little good in the world, so who can complain about that?
The fall season is almost here, and the summer items are starting to disappear from the Gourmet Fusion Store to make way for our fall collection. This week we introduced some exciting new chocolate and nut items from Torn Ranch into the Solana Beach store. 
Then try a bag of Torn Ranch's famous Mashuga Nuts, named after the Yiddish word mashuga, meaning "crazy". These all natural sweet and savory pecans come in a fun, whimsical bag that really is crazy! 
