The modern chef’s imperative to create flavorful menus and bring surprising elements to familiar fare is driven by consumer demand for novelty. Authentic global cuisine, whether it’s Asian, Indian, Latin or Middle Eastern, requires chefs to engineer taste with knowledge and efficiency. Fruit purées, zests and blends help chefs add precisely the right flavor to a curried ginger peach sauce, instantly transforming Moroccan chicken brochettes into a menu best-seller.
One purée, many ways
Today’s chefs are challenged by consumers’ ever-changing tastes and, when time is money, deciding exactly how to refresh menus is overwhelming. Use a 30-oz. container of Mango Purée to magically upgrade starters and bar bites like Crab & Rock Shrimp Cakes with Mango Sauce. Accent fruited chicken salad or salmon, or elevate ever-popular vegan and vegetarian plates to tempting main dishes with Creamy Mango-Honey Dressing.
Cocktail book author and Beverage Consultant Kim Haasarud uses The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley for complex, authentic flavor in cocktails. Her current favorites are Pink Guava, Kiwi and Carmelized Pineapple. “They have some unique flavors that you can’t find anywhere else,” she says.
Emily Luchetti, the Chief Pastry Officer for San Francisco’s Big Night Restaurant Group, uses fresh fruit purées to flavor her signature caramel sauce and bind seasonal sauces. “In the summer I’ll use Red Raspberry for a sauce that glues the raspberries together and gives them a gloss,” she says.
The Perfect Purée’s 40-plus fresh flavors offer chefs and bartenders endless opportunities to exercise their artistry. They have the added bonus of meeting consumer demand for more plant-based ingredients in every menu category. Crab cakes are good, but crab cakes with mango sauce are even better!
Brew better with purées
The intense, aromatic flavor of Blood Orange Concentrate has made many seasonal one-offs permanent favorites at breweries across the nation. Trending tropicals like Papaya, Coconut and Prickly Pear are increasingly finding their way into the fermenter. Jeremiah Zimmer, co-founder of Chicago’s Hop Butcher for The World, says when he needs to transcend the world of typical brewing ingredients to elevate and complement a beer’s color, flavor and aroma — fruit purées are ideal.
“Fruit is such a perfect ingredient in the brewing process that there’s a beer style out there for all of their offerings,” he says.
Why choose The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley?
- Versatile, multi-application possibilities with every flavor
- Pure flavor from fruit picked at the peak of ripeness and frozen to ensure freshness and consistency
- Precise portioning helps control costs and reduce waste
- Strict standards and processing specifications for Brix, fruit pectin and pH
- Crops sourced from farmers who use sustainable farming practices
The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2018, proving that good taste is enduring. The Perfect Purée’s complimentary direct sample program makes it easy for qualifying food and beverage professionals to explore their array of flavors.
Qualified chef and bartenders who enter The Perfect Purée’s newest sweepstakes, Savor the Flavor, will receive complimentary samples and a chance to win a culinary excursion for two to Napa Valley, including tickets to Cochon Heritage Fire Napa at Charles Krug Winery.
For recipes and samples, visit www.perfectpuree.com
