Healthy Food: Organic

Monday, August 15, 2011

Ozganics Taste Test: Jams, salad dressings and simmer sauces

http://www.ozganics.com.au

Certified organic products

Thanks to Neil Sallaway (Sales Manager) and Anni Brownjohn (Director) from Ozganics for providing me a few product samples to taste from the Organic Expo & Green Show 2011. I first came across their stand at the Good Food & Wine Show 2011. I received some jams (pictured above), salad dressings and simmer sauces to try and will work my way through them and provide tasting notes below for each once finalised.

Ozganics jams - 13 Aug 2011

Orange marmalade, Strawberry spread, Fig spread

Orange marmalade

Tasting notes: Nice citrus taste and visible peel. Texture and consistency likable although noticed the fruit content is only 17.5% in total and wondered if it could be higher. Some extra peel for more texture would be welcomed. Probably my favourite out of the three jams sampled.

Strawberry spread

Tasting notes: Distinctive strawberry taste although consistency of jam is not as runny as others and seems more firm which I'm not a huge fan of. It could have more visible strawberry fruit texture for my liking and it tastes rather high in sugar and less fruity than other strawberry jams I've had. Has 33% fruit which is reasonable but there are jams with much higher fruit content, although not necessarily organic.

Fig spread

Tasting notes: Distinctive fig taste and good consistency in texture that's easy to spread. Only has 25% fruit so perhaps could be higher compared to other jams on the market.

Ozganics salad dressings

Salad dressings

STILL TO BE TASTE TESTED

Italian Dressing

Creamy Avocado Dressing

Creamy Caesar Dressing

Ozganics simmer sauces

Simmer Sauces

STILL TO BE TASTE TESTED

Lemon Chicken Simmer Sauce

Thai Red Curry Simmer Sauce

Spicy Lamb Tagine Simmer Sauce

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Organic Expo & Green Show 2011, Darling Harbour (7 Aug 2011)

Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour NSW 2000

http://www.organicexpo.com.au

Organic diversity under one roof

This is the first time I've visited the Organic Expo & Green Show and from the start I noticed it was a lot smaller in size than the Good Food & Wine Show. In the end this was a good thing because it was a lot more achievable to get around to most of the stands and it also seemed less crowded which made it easier to try samples, talk to promotors and move around with ease. If you're into organics then this expo was a good place to check out some of the latest offerings. At times it seemed like a Mind Body Spirit Festival when coming across products I've never seen or heard about before. I thought most of the stands would be about food and wine but found a diverse mix including gardening, baby and kids products, body products, homewares and environmentally sound products. As always I seem to forget about and miss out on watching the cooking demonstrations but perhaps next year. The event certainly made me a lot more aware of the growing and diverse market demand for organic products.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Lots of organic and green products to discover, Seems a lot less crowded and less commercial than the Good Food & Wine Show, Free tastings and discounted show specials

CONS: $18 entry fee (but free for trade — food bloggers this can also mean you), A bit tiring walking around

MUST TRY: Finding organic products that taste good and friendly to the environment

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