There’s little haze in the minds of most consumers these days when it comes to purple-colored foods. They clearly perceive the brightly colored dishes as exotic, nutritional powerhouses.
“A lot of people equate antioxidants with purple” foods, says Eric Helms, owner of Juice Generation, a four-unit juice bar concept in New York City that opened nearly 10 years ago.
Açaí and blueberries, in particular, are among the highly publicized purple produce widely marketed as having high levels of antioxidants, and Helms says many of the chain’s guests–the majority of which are far from stereotypical health-food types–began asking for foods rich in antioxidants about a year ago.
Interest in antioxidant-rich foods “just exploded for us,” he says. “People are very aware.”
Last year sales of Juice Generation’s purple Antioxidant All-Star Smoothie “went through the roof,” he says. This smoothie was originally made with blueberries, banana, pomegranate juice and cranberry juice but was a poor seller. He later replaced the cranberry with açaí and mangosteen juice. Even though interest rose, the flavor stayed almost the same as the original version. It is now priced at $5.95.
For the drink, Helms imports purple-colored frozen mangosteen juice from Thailand. The juice includes some of the fruit’s skin.
“The rind of mangosteen is dark red-purple and is supposed to be high in antioxidants,” he says. “Mangosteen juice is tart and tastes a little like pomegranate.”
Still, some say the healthful reputation of these fruits may be exaggerated. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University in Manhattan and author of “Food Politics” and “What to Eat,” says all fruits and vegetables, not just dark fruits, have antioxidants.
“Deeply colored fruits and vegetables have carotene pigments, some of which are antioxidants,” she says. “The darker the color, no matter what it is, the more pigments it has. But so what? As with vitamins, enough is good and it’s not at all clear that more is better.”
Nevertheless, açaí continues to be a draw for Juice Generation’s customers. The chain also features purple açaí muffins for $3.25 and an Açaí Energy Bowl for $7.45. In addition to açaí, the bowl includes granola, apple juice and sliced banana. It is similar to a traditional Brazilian breakfast dish, Helms says. He imports açaí from the South American country.
Chain reaction National chains have gotten in on the act too. Deerfield, Ill.-based Così, for example, sells a deeply colored pomegranate and blueberry smoothie. The drink comes in three sizes, and the largest, dubbed “gigantic,” sells for $4.79 in New York City. Though the berry-packed drink also has the healthful association, it has 1,087 calories. Così has 102 company-owned and 43 franchise restaurants in 18 states, the District of Columbia and the United Arab Emirates. The Leawood, Kan.-based Houlihan’s chain, which has approximately 90 units, uses the fruits in its triple berry cobbler, which includes a purple filling of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. The dessert can be paired with other sweets or bought by itself for $3.99 in Lawrenceville, N.J. Blueberries and blackberries were some of 18 small offerings on the Sweet 18 dessert tasting at Pod, one of the concepts of Philadelphia-based Starr Restaurants. This spring the $14 dessert features a dark-purple berry sauce for dipping such bite-size sweets as mini pineapple upside down cakes. At Buddakan in Philadelphia, another Starr concept, blackberry-lime sorbet is prepared with individually quick frozen blackberries said pastry chef Kate Honeyman. She includes it in a sorbet selection that sells for $9 and it is garnished with edible purple orchids. She describes the flavor of her huckleberry sauce as “tart like blackberries.” The sauce is paired with a $9 lychee panna cotta and is a combination of individually quick frozen huckleberries and yuzu juice. From the savory kitchen, Buddakan’s executive chef Scott Swiderski offers a fingerling potato stir-fry with a variety of tubers including purple potatoes. It accompanies a 14-ounce, 28-day-dry-aged, rib-eye special that sells for $55. Purple passion At Buddakan’s bar the $11 Geisha beverage blends passion fruit nectar with pomegranate juice, cranberry juice and orange-flavored vodka. Purple orchids garnish the purple-hued cocktail, which catches people’s eyes, says general manager Joshua Levine. “It’s sexy and looks good on the table,” he adds. “I love the color purple. I think it is a mysterious color.” Rick Tramonto, founder of the Wheeling, Ill., based Cenitare Restaurants and chef and co-owner of Tru in Chicago, also prefers purple to other colors. “I grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and lilac is the city flower,” he says. “I always had a fondness for purple, and I am wearing purple clogs right now.” So the color shows up often on Tramonto’s plates. This spring, for example, at Tramonto’s Steak & Seafood he features a special of wood-roasted vegetables with purple cauliflower, purple potatoes, fiddlehead ferns and broccoli raab for $5.95. He blanches the ingredients first, then roasts them. The cauliflower and potatoes keep their purple color, he says. At Osteria di Tramonto, also in Wheeling, Ill., a dish of coriander- and fennel-crusted seared ahi tuna, $8.95, comes with purple pomegranate vinaigrette, pomegranate seeds and sprinkle of black salt. This salt turns purplish when it starts to dissolve, Tramonto says. Another small plate of baby beets, $7.95, at the same restaurant features traditional, yellow and candy-striped beets tossed with parsley-mint vinaigrette that includes citrus juice. Incorporating ethnic traditions Chef Jean Paul Desmaison, a native of Peru, takes advantage of the color purple by added sliced plums to the top of a prosciutto and spinach salad with hazelnut vinaigrette that sells for $12 at his La Cofradia restaurant in Coral Gables, Fla. Desmaison also adds color to coconut tapioca and coconut gelato, $12, with edible violet garnishes. He also incorporates a flavor of his heritage with purple rice made with Peruvian purple corn water. This water is sweetened for a traditional Peruvian beverage, but Desmaison boils long-grain rice in the corn liquid without sweeteners. The purple rice accompanies a $35 lamb shank special. Also playing off her ethnic background, chef-owner Zov Karamardian of Zov’s Bistro in Tustin, Calif., adds an Armenian and Mediterranean accent to her roasted rack of lamb with pomegranate sauce–a mixture of pomegranate molasses, garlic, shallots and beef broth. The lamb is priced at $31.95. Her appetizer of grilled eggplant features a double dose of purple with baked kalamata olives topping the dish, which sells for $8.50.