Posts Tagged ‘food’
I try to orient all our meals around things that are seasonally available, and I think I mentioned this earlier, but I neglected to mention the rockstar center of the meal planning universe that is the Local Foods Wheel. It shows which foods are naturally available year-round in the Bay Area (like sardines and cauliflower) and which time of the year everything else is available. A quick dial to February, for example, (arguably the most desperate for us as our hearts are already longing for avocados and berries in the season that lies ahead), shows escarole, grapefruit and artichokes. Inspiration renewed. We will rock the escarole until the berries appear.
The Food Wheel was conceptualized by Bay Area chef Jessica Prentice, who also operates something my family relies on: the community kitchen, Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley. A former Director of Education Programs at the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, and author of Full Moon Feast, she has done all sorts of smarty things for food and the Locavore movement (and remains, apparently, ego-free and undernoted.. this woman should be getting attention right and left in my opinion). Oh, and that term, “Locavore” that all the hip 30-somethings like to throw around casually like yesterday’s “slow food” and last year’s “organic”? It’s her word.
Anyhoo, I’ve become super dependent on the Food Wheel for all my meal planning and it occurred to me today that I would crumble into a thousand pieces without it. What if I had to actually wait until I got to the farmer’s market to see what’s available? To conceptualize an entire week’s worth of meals while standing at the farmer’s stand would take a much greater woman than me. And beyond that, what on earth would I do if I left the Bay Area and landed in New York, for instance?
Ta Daaa! The New York version is now available, thank heavens. There is a god. And she’s waiting for me with her food wheel in Brooklyn.
Popping into The Country Cheese Coffee Market in Berkeley recently, Iselected a round of exotic chocolate bars as birthday gifts. They are all sublime, as are most things in this underappreciated Berkeley gem, but one is a standout: Black Pearl Exotic Candy Bar.
55% cacao wouldn’t normally do it for me. But with the added notes of ginger, wasabi and the crunchy oiliness of black sesame seeds, this chocolate is imprinted in my memory for eternity. Mellow and developing like a rockstar Cabernet, surprising, knee-wobbling, it’s all there. This little number is made by Vosges, which makes many other fascinating fine chocolate products I hope someone buys me for my next birthday. Hint, hint.
The Bay Area has a long history with chocolate and currently boasts a long list of world renowned chocolate artisans (Sharffen Berger is just the tip of the iceberg). My favorites for gifts are Michael Mischer in Oakland and XOX in Oakland/SF. For cookies, you cannot improve upon the four generations of widsom that go into Guittard’s semisweet chocolate chips.
Lastly, a visit to LuLu Rae confections in Rockridge is the ideal destination for the ultimate “Haut” Chocolate experience. It’s like a dainty French tea party with hot chocolate, whipped lovingly and enjoyed at bistro tables on the sidewalk while passers-by ogle the homemade gelato and turkish delight. C’est Magnifique!
*update* LuLu Rae is now closed. Boo. Hiss.