FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Competitor enters Spam market

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

• Tulip Luncheon Hash (regular and low-sodium) is a canned luncheon meat from Denmark that has just entered the market to go head to head with that other rectangular-shaped stuff (rhymes with ham). Tulip even put a musubi on the front of the can for the Hawai'i market. It's in all the major chains (Foodland, times, Daiei, Longs, Star) and most of the smaller ones, except for Safeway.
• ampbell's sent a keepsake trophy of an old-fashioned can of chicken noodle soup to food writers around the country as a way of touting the fact that, as of late last month, all their condensed soups will have pop-top lids, similar to those on cans of soda.
• Joining the dinner-from-a-box products are Betty Crocker's desserts-from-a-box: Complete Desserts include a can of Comstock fruit and a topping that's mixed with water and sprinkled over the top before baking. Flavors are peach or cherry cobbler or apple crisp. They promise 4 minutes box to oven. Suggested retail: $3.79. I found the apple crisp not right in either flavor or texture, and the promised six servings were pretty small.
• Idahoan Foods is distributing two new dehydrated mashed potato mixes — Buttery Homestyle and Southwest (with jalapenos and "Southwest seasoning"). The just-add-water mixes contain 4 servings for a suggested retail of 99 cents and are supposed to take just 4 minutes. The buttery stuff tasted OK; better than the Potato Buds (shudder!) of my youth.
• Hershey's has announced a new "mildly sweet" Special Dark Chips product for cookie-making and other uses. Suggested retail: $2.29. Recipes at www.hersheykitchens.com.
• Also in time for holiday baking — yes, I used the dreaded word "holiday" — are Andes brand Creme de Menthe Baking Chips, chocolate chips that taste just like the classic Andes Thins candies. The 10-ounce green bags have a suggested retail price of $2.49.
• Tupperware's new Stuffables are storage containers with peaked, ridged tops that allow you to mound the bowl full and accommodate odd-shaped foods. One caveat: The bowl is microwave-safe but the domed lid is not. Check www.tupperware.com.
• Kuhn Rikon, the respected Swiss maker, has a couple of cool new tools. The first to arrive on my desk was a spaceship-looking professional-style hand-held potato ricer that is just a handle with a flat, perforated disc at the bottom for smashing potatoes; it's easy to use. The Palm Spring Whisk, in the shape of a palm tree, is said to be The Thing for blending oil and acid salad dressings. Suggested retail for each, $14. www.kuhnrikon.com.