It's spread/jam/jelly/preserves time once more. My local Shop-Rite has been remodeling a lot the past year or two, and has also changed its assortments of available products. Including the deli section, which now has several new shelves and subsections. All of this explains why I espied a new spread recently, amidst the cold cuts and specialty cheeses. Specifically, an orange fig spread, and a chili fig spread, both from Divina.
As you can tell from the post's title, Divina's wares are both Greek and American in nature. Several decades ago, a man named Phil Meldrum (who from context clues I think is American, but this was not mentioned) was on vacation on an unidentified Greek island with his wife. It sounds like it was quite a life-changing experience for him, as he was overcome by the place's atmosphere, culture, history, and food. All of this caused him to start a business importing and distributing traditional Mediterranean foods. So, in 1996, in New York City in the U.S., FOODMatch, Inc. was born. This overall company has developed and nurtured a slew of brands, of which Divina is the flagship one. Others include Espirit de Sel, LaMedina, Beaufor, Olivista, Saint Louis, Peppadew, and Barnier. FOODMatch's brands are fairly specialized--they seem to focus mostly on selling olives, spreads, and antipasti, for sale to groceries, restaurants, and olive bars*. As for Divina, this brand consists of various types of olives and spreads. Alternate flavors for the latter include Calabrian chili orange spread, caramelized onion spread, sour cherry spread, date spread, fig & cocoa spread, Peruvian pepper jam, Muffuletta olive salad, Dijon mustard, and basil pesto, to name just a few. Evidently FOODMatch offers over 400 different products in total, from 15 different nations. (Again, the countries aside from Greece are unnamed, but presumably all located around the Mediterranean Sea region.) As for other details, some, but not all of their wares use non-GMO ingredients, and some but not all are Kosher. Although none currently are Halal-appropriate. There was no mention of allergens, gluten, or whether their products are okay for vegans, either, so if any of these issues are important to you, it's best to check online before you buy.
Divina chili fig spread: This was brownish in color, very shiny, with yellow seeds visible. Not much of an odor. Kind of an odd flavor--sweet and spicy. I had some plain, and some on bread. Both ways tasted pretty similar. It didn't seem that spicy at first, but did build up a little over time. Decent overall, but not awesome. Maybe a bolder spice bite would have been an improvement.
Divina orange fig spread: Looked identical to the previous. But did have a sweetish odor. Also a sweet taste, with orange flavor detectable. I had some plain off of a spoon, and then on bread. Good. Again, decent but not great. So overall I'd give both of these a mild endorsement. When it comes to fig-based spreads I preferred Braswell's take on it (see my post on April 1st, 2023 for more on that). Furthermore, I think Braswell's was a bit cheaper, too.
* The immature part of me was struck by this term, and I want to believe that there are actually taverns that serve only olives, or at least serve only olives and olive-flavored liquors and such. Sadly, I doubt this is true, and "olive bars" are probably just separate sections within a regular grocery store or restaurant, like a salad bar. Reality can be such a buzzkill sometimes.
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