Tracking Food Trends

The fascinating food business is so multifaceted that it's always changing and evolving. On this week’s show, we look at how delicious new products make it from concept to dinner table and how one simple product turned ordinary folks into food celebrities. We begin with actor Harry Hamlin and his niece, veteran food-industry leader Renee Guilbault. They tell us how serving lunch to some famous TV housewives led them to host the AMC cooking show, In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin. We also learn about their innovative new enterprise, Harry's Famous Pasta Sauce. Next, Pepper Baumer of Crystal Hot Sauce and Ti Martin from Commander's Palace recount the Cinderella story of leftover pepper pulp's transformation into a hot new condiment – a smash of a mash called Crystal Pepper Pulp. Remember the chicken sandwich wars that pitted fast-food chains against each other? This year, the Louisiana Fried Chicken Sandwich Challenge set out to show that the best chicken sandwich in America was actually created in a home cook’s kitchen. We learn about the event and meet the national winner, Mindea Pituk. Finally, we chat with Samantha Stein and Dan Trahant of Reily Foods, the company behind Blue Plate Mayonnaise. We learn how they set out to create a new twist on two southern sauces – tartar and cocktail. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.