8 Scrumptious Summer Snacks You Must Try!

Every year since 1955, the Summer Fancy Food Show has rolled into New York during the last week of June. More than 2,000 food producers, from artisanal to ultra-commercial, converge upon the Javits Center to show off their wares, talk shop, and share samples with the food professionals in attendance. 

TLK was on the scene this year, scouting out Latin-inspired and sourced products, and testing everything from chips and salsa to chipotle mustard. Here are some of our favorite products spotted (and tasted!) at the show, each of which makes for a great summer snack or condiment. Put them together for an epic Latin-flavored picnic. Here's what to what to slice up, snack on, and sprinkle on your fave summer dishes. 

Savory

RW García Tortato Chips

Marketed as “the first-ever half tortilla chip, half potato chip,” RW García's “Tortatos” are made with white, non-GMO certified organic stone-ground corn and red potatoes. They're as thick and crunchy as a regular tortilla chip, perfect for dipping in your homemade salsa or guacamole, but lack the full count of fat grams typical of regular potato chips (25% less, according to the makers).

Current flavors on the market are original, salt and pepper, salt and vinegar, and barbeque. We tasted all four and couldn't choose a favorite; they were all that good.

Imperial Chorizos

We tried this Spanish-style ready-to-use chorizo (right) sliced straight out of the package with crusty bread brushed with the slightest bit of olive oil. Served this way, they're the perfect savory picnic snack, an entrada before the main course or part of a picadera smorgasbord for grazing. We also added the chorizo, which comes in mild and spicy varieties, to an arroz con pollo and loved the result. Imperial's chorizos were heads above Goya's harder, smaller chorizos sold in your local supermarket.

Sweet

Chuao Chocolate

Made by Venezuelan biomedical engineer and tech-preneur turned chef, Michael Antonorsi, Chuao's milk and dark chocolate bars are made of ethically sourced cacao from his home country. The flavor combinations are often surprising, pairing intriguing counterpoints of sweet and savory.

We sampled several (just to make sure they were all as tasty as the first one, you know), including Pretzel Toffee Twirl and Oh My S'mores!, but weeks after the show, we're still jonesing for the chocolates that are directly inspired by Latin flavors, including the Spicy Maya (dark chocolate with cinnamon, pasilla chile, and cayenne) and the Firecracker (dark chocolate with sea salt, chipotle, and popping candy crackle).

Next, must-try drinks, condiments, and garnishes… [pagebreak]

Drinks, Condiments, and Garnishes

Numi Organic Tea paired with Habanero HoneyStix

Numi, a popular organic, non-GMO, fair trade certified tea brand recently introduced some new flavors, all four of which pair cacao from Peru with traditional tea leaves. The line, called “Numi Indulgent Teas,” includes chocolate earl grey, chocolate mint, chocolate rooibos, and chocolate spice.

Available online only for now (they'll be in stores this fall), all four of the Indulgent Teas pair really well with another product we tried, GloryBee Foods' habanero honey sticks (or, as the company markets them, Habanero HoneyStix), which are just the right amount of spicy to draw out optimal flavor. (They're also perfect for packing in a picnic basket- packaged as straws you can clip and add to an individual serving of tea.) The teas are delicious hot, of course, but we took some home and made iced tea, too, and decided they'd be perfect for a summer picnic.

Stoneridge Orchards' Chili Lime Cherries with Tajín

This company carries the usual range of dried fruits, both plain and in all the classic combinations that make for healthy snacks: dried cherries dipped in chocolate, cranberries dipped in yogurt. But they've also just introduced a new product with a Latin twist: chili lime cherries seasoned with Tajín. You can eat them straight out of the bag, but we also tried them out in a variety of salads, including a mixed green salad and a quinoa-veggie salad, and we loved the flavor and pop of color they gave to both. 

NAR Gourmet's Naturally Chili Pepper Flavored Olive Oil

Some people think flavored oils are passé, but we're not among them. A well-infused oil can add some serious life and taste to a dish that would otherwise be humdrum and we loved this oil mixed into a vinaigrette (paired with Nar's powdered sumac, a spice that has a taste akin to lemon) that we served over grilled veggies. Nar has a huge inventory of oils, vinegars, spices, and jams, and all of the ones we tried—including pistachio oil and basil oil—were winners.

Green Mountain Mustard: Jalapeño and Red Habanero Mustards

They're made in Vermont's Green Mountains, but the “Sweet Sombrero” (aka jalapeño) and “Barn Burner” (aka red habanero) Green Mountain Mustards are wholly Latin-inspired. Part of their line of “wacky flavors,” (others include an apple-cinnamon mustard and an everything bagel mustard), these two are spice-packed powerhouses that we loved on sandwiches and, especially, in a homemade potato salad.

Nielsen Massey's Pure Vanilla Extract

Ok, we confess: sometimes we buy imitation vanilla extract because it's just so much cheaper than the real deal. But then we taste the difference between pure and imitation and… we're reminded why. For an ingredient that gets used so sparingly, should we really be so stingy? A taste of Nielsen Massey's Mexican Pure Vanilla Extract sold us: we won't buy cheap vanilla again. We added their extract and, in a second trial, their pure vanilla bean paste, to coconut-preserved walnut ice cream we made at home and it was the epitome of summer happiness served up in a bowl.