"A palm fruit from the dense rain forests of Brazil, açai (a Portuguese word that is pronounced ?ah-sigh-ee?), with its dark purple pigment, is loaded with antioxidants, amino acids and essential omega fatty acids."

"?If you have never tasted açai before, it?s like biting into a blueberry­ filled with soft, dark chocolate,? says Tom Heffernan, president of Caffe Classico Foods, the East Bay firm that has latched onto the unique Amazon rainforest fruit as the main ingredient in its new line of sorbets."

"Heffernan?s firm is one of several marketing new products with açai, just one of the many companies promoting hundreds of new foodstuffs at the annual Fancy Food Show last week in San Francisco?s Moscone Center."

"This promising fruit actually looks a lot like a blackish purple grape. But the similarity ends there. It has a big seed and very little pulp. The fruit is found in the largest palm trees on earth, often reaching  over 100 feet. Unlike cherries, which grow individually in trees, the açai berry grows in bunches, more like bananas."

"Its biggest selling point, says Heffernan, ?is that it contains a remarkable concentration of anthocyanins, the antioxidants in red wine believed to lower the chances of heart disease ? although swig for swig, açai contains between 10 and 30 times more. What doesn?t it have? Just the bad things ? zero cholesterol and 4 percent fat.?"

"He pointed out that açai is a hot item as well in Rio de Janeiro at present, as the juice bars are doing a rip-roaring trade."

"?It?s an antioxidant powerhouse that blows even blueberries and pomegranates out of the water,? he added. ?Fitness-conscious people love açai for its energy-sustaining properties. The first time I tried it was the açai smoothie at Jamba Juice. I think I was awake for four straight days.?"

"For a time, açai was added to smoothies and drinks. Now you can purchase the juice, and Heffernan?s firm uses it as a base for sorbet."

"Belizza Açai sorbet comes in four flavors ? plain, açai mango, açai banana and pomegranate açai. It retails from $4.39 to $4.99 a pint. Trader Joe?s no longer carries the brand, so those interested in picking up a pint or two will have to travel to the closest Whole Foods store or drop in at Berkeley Bowl next time you?re in the East Bay."

"Sambazon, a southern California firm, is taking the açai fruit one step further. It not only markets açai juice and smoothies in 10.5 ounce containers, it offers frozen scoopable açai, smoothie packs and 100 percent açai powder. Some Safeway stores carry the juice and smoothies, while Golden Carrot and Optimum Foods in Napa are both Sambazon retailers."

"An even newer firm, O.N.E., has just launched with a pair of products, Amazon Açai juice and Natural Coconut Water, retailing for around $3 and $2 respectively. At present, they are available only at Andronico?s and some small health food stores and specialty markets."

"When we think of tasty cholesterol-free macadamia nuts, images of the Hawaiian islands come to mind. Yet Australia has now surpassed Hawaii in the harvest and sale of macadamia nuts."

"Pamela and Martin Brook, proprietors of Brookfarm in the subtropical region of northern New South Wales, were at the recent food show acquainting retailers and macadamia nut lovers with their newest products ? three types of Swiss-style muesli, including gluten-free toasted muesli, toasted macadamia muesli and natural macadamia muesli. Just hitting the market are single serving tubs ($2.50-$3), adding to the larger inventory of one pound bags ($8.99). Their muesli contains 17 different ingredients (grains, brans, fruits and nuts) and is absolutely delicious when softened with apple juice, a dollop of yogurt and a couple of spoonfuls of honey."

"In addition to selling their oven-roasted macadamias (flavored with just sea salt, or bush pepper spice or Kashmiri chile), the Brooks also market flavorful macadamia nut oil ? which has a very high smoke point of 410 degrees, making it ideal for stir frying. Offered in 8.5 ounce bottles, the oil comes in the plain macadamia nut flavor or infused with lemon myrtle or lime and chiles. It retails for around $11."

"The brainchild of beverage industry veterans Mark Mahoney and Al Williams, Mixerz are all natural cocktail mixers handcrafted in the Napa Valley with fresh fruit juices and cane sugar. Chatting up this new cocktail mixers line at the food show, Mahoney said his goal is to make the line known as ?Napa Valley?s other beverage.?"

"An ideal cocktail starter for home bartenders, Mixerz come in seven flavors at the moment. Both mango and pomegranate offer clean, fresh flavors and are just the thing for putting together cosmopolitans that will dazzle your party guests. Also offered are bloody mary, traditional cosmopolitan, margarita, sour apple and mojito."

"Due to hit store shelves any day now, Mixerz will retail for somewhere beyween $8.99 and $10.99 around the country. To check on local placement, give Wine Country Kitchens a call at 252-9463."

"One South Africa firm, Nomu, is marketing a variety of products that are bound to make cooks and foodies a lot happier."

"Produced from hand-harvested Madagascar vanilla pods, Nomu Vanilla Bean Paste and Vanilla Bean Extract make using vanilla beans a lot simpler for the home kitchen. You can use a pump dispenser to add vanilla to your next custard or ice cream mix instead of scraping the pods yourself."

"Then there?s the Mama Africa range of kosher, all-natural, vegetarian hot sauces and chili relish, ranging from the celebrated Peri-Peri to sweet red pepper and rosemary; sweet and hot chile mint; and lime, mint and coriander."

"South Africa?s Cedarberg Mountain is the only place on earth where rooibos (a red needle plant) grows. Usually used for brewing tea, now rooibos flavors a jam ? in its natural state, or with the addition of jalapeños."

"Just being introduced to West Coast markets,
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