Archive Issue - Monthly Tidbits Article
January 2008

New Tastes for the New Year
by Jill Jackson

Stick a fork in me, I’m done!

Every year at about this time I recuperate from the months before. I’ve wrapped, unwrapped, baked, served, borrowed, given, received and yes, even found time to celebrate a moment or two with those closest to me.

Now it is the time to reestablish some sense of normalcy and get back to the business at hand. For us at work, that means creating new masterpieces for our customers, and it is exciting. The New Year almost begs for new tastes, new twists, and new trends.

People often ask, “What is the impetus for creating new products for the dessert lover in all of us?” The answer is simple. What does the public want? What is the standard and how do we rise above it?

Because the beginning of the calendar year represents a clean slate of sorts, I thought it would be appropriate to add a bit of symbolism to our menu and the recipes that we will create in the coming months. Because desserts are renowned no matter the region of your residence, I came to the conclusion that I go both within and outside the domestic boundaries and do some research on intercontinental flavor.

Did you know that the Orange represents wealth and good fortune during the Chinese New Year? This is because it is the most plentiful fruit in China. I don’t know anyone who does not want more good fortune or wealth for that matter, in any sense of the word.
While we use lemon a lot in our recipes, look for an infusion of orange to permeate through the kitchen—we want to spread great taste and share prosperity.

China is not the only country to revere fruit as a symbol of prosperity. For example, in the Philippines, fruit is considered to bring wealth in the coming year, especially when featured during the New Years’ Eve dinner. The shape and the number of fruits displayed on the table are both important here. In order to be effective, the fruit has to be round and there must be seven of them, as this is a lucky number in this Asian-Pacific culture. We can work with that!

Vegetables also can grace the dessert table and provide good luck in the coming months. Zucchini? Corn? Both of these breads are considered to have symbolic overtones, especially in the Southern States.

Personally, I cannot wait to take out my recipe book and expand our revelations of taste during the New Year. Get ready, it’s going to be fun!