Yesterday I was demoing my line of gourmet sauces at Piazza's Fine Foods in San Mateo. The focal point of my display is my 18" X 24" Holiday Poster, proudly propped up alongside sample dishes of delectable sauces. I had a key position in the store, especially given that it is days before Christmas, adjacent to the Meat Counter. Things couldn't be better! The store is hustling with people. Imagine my 4 foot table, covered in a holiday red tablecloth; six cute red and white dishes lined up along the length of the table, each filled with a glistening sauce; copper painted pinecones add to the holiday/wintery feel; colorful, whimsical recipe cards with food photos that make your mouth water; and finally, my huge holiday poster which cannot be missed by anyone within a 100 foot view! I'm ready for the masses to approach me, driven by my beautiful display, and I wait in anticipation!
And I wait.....
The lineup at the meat counter is constant and crazed! 6 butchers work taking customers' orders and handing over large parcels of carefully wrapped meats (in pink butcher paper I might add)! As each customer turns from the meat counter past my display I want to yell at them! Hey Come Here. Didn't you notice my poster? Don't you want your Holiday Table to Look Like My Poster?
What the heck is going on here? Why is no one stopping? Deciding to take a look at my display from the perspective of the customer, I step out from behind my display and walk 10 feet in front of the table. Everything is in order. The display is neat and it's colorful. The poster is eye-catching: A golden roast turkey beckons you to a Martha Stewart designed table.
Wait. I catch myself... A Golden Turkey...How many turkeys have you heard ordered from the butchers? How many turkey-shaped parcels have you seen in the hands of the hustling customers? NONE. NOT ONE SINGLE TURKEY. and then I realize my mistake....
I'm not in Canada anymore. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls in October and we've digested the turkey by Christmas so we do it again! Perhaps in the USA where Thanksgiving falls in November, something more red and rich needs to be served at Christmas.
My poster was wrong. No one was thinking Turkey. No one was driven to my display of the golden turkey despite the Martha-Stewart table.
And that's how I got Christmas Dinner Wrong!
PS: Culinary Twist sauces go great with Rich, Red meats. Particularly the Baja and the Bora Bora. You can pick some up at Piazzas or Mollie Stones and various other specialty food stores in the SF Bay Area. Next year I'll have a new poster.
