Acerca de mí
Hi! I'm Melanie Yunk, President of Melanie's Fine Foods. We create and manufacture the award-winning Big Acres® Gourmet Sauces and Spices & Rubs. My company also distributes gourmet goodies for kitchen & grill. I've been a "foodie" my whole life, and my grandmother was a gourmet cook who made EVERYTHING from scratch. I've always been obsessed with simple, healthy, gourmet food. As an electronics engineer, I traveled worldwide and was privileged to sample many different ethnic dishes. That's how I acquired a discriminating palate for a multitude of different tastes and a passion for experimentation.
After 13 years as an electronics engineer for Honeywell and Intel, and as an independent consultant in the semiconductor industry, I decided to combine my business and entrepreneurial skills with my obsession with great food. Moving to the food business allowed me to live my dream every day. The mission of Melanie's Fine Foods is to provide mouth-watering, healthy, great tasting, crowd-pleasing gourmet sauces to consumers worldwide. Our products, Big Acres® Sauces and Spices & Rubs are all natural, preservative- and MSG-free.
I'm a California native where I live with my husband Kent in San Carlos, California.
Influencias de Cocina
Besides watching my grandmother make homemade noodles, soup, pierogies, cakes, etc., I was most influenced during my childhood by my best friend's father. Vicky and her dad are from Mexico and cooked mostly Mexican foods.
On weekends, her dad would get up early to make tortillas rolled out by hand. On the stove was a pot of beans and Vicky and I would fry them in lard and eat them with homemade salsa, eggs and tortillas. He also made menudo. Vicky's uncle was a butcher who like to slow cook meat (goat, mostly) in a pit in his backyard. He would shred the meat and Vicky and I would roll it into corn tortillas and fry the tacos for the entire neighborhood!
Out of this relationship grew my love of Mexican food and chiles! I love the color, shape, texture and taste of any type of chile and most of all, I love to use them in my cooking!
Premios, Reconocimientos, y Sociedades
Member, National Association for the Specialty Food Trade - Since 2002
Awards:
Big Acres Sauces:
• 2008 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine – Hot & Spicy Barbeque Sauce wins 3rd Place.
• 2007 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine - Mango Peach Chile Sauce wins 1st Place.
• 2007 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine - Chipotle Peanut Sauce wins 2nd Place.
• 2006 Fiery Food Challenge, Chile Pepper Magazine's - Big Acres Milagro Mole wins a 1st Place Golden Chile Award.
• 2005 America's Zesty Best Professional Food Competition - Big Acres Chipotle Peanut Sauce wins 2nd Place.
• 2005 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine - Big Acres Milagro Mole wins 2nd Place.
• 2001 Annual Superior Product Awards Competition, Food Distribution Magazine – Big Acres Sauces take honors.
• 2001 Annual Superior Product Awards Competition, Food Distribution Magazine - Big Acres Teriyaki Marinade wins two 3rd Place awards
• 1999 Annual Superior Product Awards Competition, Food Distribution Magazine – Big Acres Teriyaki Marinade wins 2nd Place
Big Acres Spices & Rubs
• 2008 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine – Big Acres Stellar Steak Spice & Rub wins 2nd Place.
Blasters, Smoker Bags & Web-Site
• 2007 Fiery Food Challenge, Chile Pepper Magazine - CitrusBlaster wins a 1st Place Golden Chile.
• 2006 Fiery Food Challenge, Chile Pepper Magazine's - SAVU® Smoker Bag wins 3rd Place!
• 2004 Scovie Awards, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine - Big Acres Sauces web-site wins 3rd Place.
Chef Estados Unidos
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18 de Marzo de 2008Hi Melanie, thanks for joining! I love the picture. I wish I had grown up near Vicky's dad too! Thanks for sharing the yummy looking recipes.
