The market for frozen foods is heating up
Susan Spencer visits a grocery store where every item is frozen:
Enter this unusual little market in New York City, and you just might get cold feet.
It's a frozen food grocery store, where every single item is frozen. One GIANT freezer section.
"We have breakfast items, we have soups, we have main courses, we have side dishes," said Babeth's Feast founder Elisabeth DeKergorlay.
And did we mention lobster? They have Lobster mac and cheese, Lobster pot pies, Lobster flat bread.
DeKergorlay came up with this cool idea while living in France. In Paris she delighted in serving elaborate meals -- 99 percent of which was frozen food -- just to fool people. But the idea behind the store, she told Spencer, is not to fool people; it's to allow "time to do other things."
Perhaps this is what taxidermist Clarence Birdseye was dreaming of when he froze that first box of peas in the '30s. Today every American eats roughly 71 frozen meals a year.
Still, frozen coq au vin? Beef bourguignon? Duck hot dogs?
"There is a stigma to frozen food," said Spencer. "I mean, people think of it as cardboard pizza and freezer burn."
"Right, and it can't be further from the truth," said DeKergorlay. "When you flash-freeze something, it's as if you're pressing the pause button. Everything is locked in -- the nutrients, the flavor. And when you defrost it and reheat it, it will come back to life as it was just before it was frozen."
Tasting is believing. The store happily offers samples.
So next time you're stressing out over dinner, DON'T! Just chill.
For more info:
- Babeth's Feast, New York City
- Follow @babethsfeast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest