The PanAmerican Seed HandPicked Vegetables team recently participated in “Variety Showcase NYC,” an annual event organized by the Culinary Breeding Network based in Oregon. The event took place at Project Farmhouse in New York City and focused on building community between breeders, farmers, chefs, produce buyers, journalists and consumers.
Each participating breeding company was paired with a chef who created a dish using a new or developmental vegetable variety. Attendees sampled dishes while conversing with breeding company representatives and chefs. Over 400 people attended this year’s event.
PanAmerican Seed collaborated with Chef Luis Herrera of Brunch Gozon/Venezuelan Pantone to create a dish that spotlighted the new Primero Red habanero pepper, bred by Ellen Leue. Chef Herrera made a fermented hot sauce using Primero Red, as well as our All-America Selections winner Mad Hatter pepper. The sauce was drizzled over a roasted eggplant and Napa cabbage taco. Many attendees commented on how amazing the sauce tasted and several came back for seconds.
There were several journalists in attendance, and an article about the event was recently published in The Wall Street Journal. Jane Black, author of the article, specifically mentioned the taco and called out Primero Red by name!
The Variety Showcase event is just one way that PanAmerican Seed is working to expose both customers and consumers about our ever-expanding vegetable assortment.