Flavor of Georgia Winners

So I'm trotting around the Whole Foods in the fancy, shmancy Buckhead section of Atlanta the other day for the first time, a store so wedged in to urbanity that it requiries underground parking (I didn't see valet parking but I'm guessing it's there somewhere). And amidst the crowd shopping for picnic goodies for Atlanta's fabulous Chastain Park amphitheatre that night (where folks bring full spreads of food, candelabras, silver serving dishes, champagne flutes, flowers, and more!), I see a man at a small table spooning out samples of Byne Blueberry Farm Blueberry Salsa.

I taste. I love. I ask, "Are you with the farm?" And I swear the man grew two feet taller. "It's my farm," he replies. Check out the charming photos from the Byne Blueberry Farm, and tell me you wouldn't feel good about buying their products.

Also, turns out this salsa is a winner of the 2007 Flavor of Georgia Contest. Run by the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology, the Flavor of Georgia contest is a way to honor and market products made with at least one Georgia ingredient. This year, its first, the winners in each category were:

BBQ & Hot Sauces – R.P. Hill Exotic Sauce Co. for their brandy mandarin orange BBQ sauce

Candy/Confections – Byrd Cookie Co. for their Georgia peach cookie

Jams/Jellies/Sauces – Byne Blueberry Farm for their blueberry salsa

Meat & Seafood Products – Bradley Creek Seafood’s low country pastry

Natural/Organic-The Savannah Bee Co.’s Tupelo honey

Other Foods – Vidalia Brands, Inc.’s onion & spinach quiche

Snack Foods – Bodacious Food Co.’s traditional cheese straws

Wines – Persimmon Creek Winery’s late harvest reisling

So, I'm going to have some fun searching these products out, and perhaps keeping a running list of my favorite considerations for each category as well.

Ut oh, I think it's about time to visit my favorite chocolate maker again!

Flavor of Georgia Winners