Summer 2007
For the Sake of Saké
By Serena Bartlett It is a brisk night on a rural farm in 8th-century Japan. Haggard rice farmers dressed in rustic robes are gathered around a wooden basin, chewing on nuts and grains. They are masticating in order to jumpstart the fermentation of what would become the great-great-grandfather of saké, or more specifically nihonshu. Cut…
Read MoreThe Brewpub: A Beerly Legal Concept
By Brian Mencher with Michelle Mckniff Beer. It’s one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the United States, and perhaps the world. As early as the 1500s, Virginia colonists were harvesting corn to brew beer, and by the 17th century, the English were exporting their homemade beers to America. Well before the days of…
Read MoreTapping the Tap and Dropping the Bottle
By Matthew Green If eating local foods is the path you have chosen, then put down that bottle of water and embrace your tap! A small but increasing number of the Bay Area’s sustainable-minded restaurants, including Berkeley’s iconic Chez Panisse, are beginning to do just that: They are filtering their own tap water and scratching…
Read MoreSeasonal Recipes
by Barbara Llewellyn Catering and Event Planning Squash Blossom ‘Poppers’ Squash Blossom Risotto Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes Dark Chocolate Frosting Candied Zucchini Slices and Crystallized Squash Blossoms
Read MoreThe Happy Forever Community Garden Bears Fruit
This is the second article narrating the story of a tiny community garden: the first was published in the spring 2007 issue. By Simona Carini Before becoming involved in maintaining the community garden in my Berkeley neighborhood, I had no experience in the field. I grew up in a small apartment in Perugia, a city…
Read MoreCURRIES, TAJEENS, AND MOLES
Exploring Culture and Conversion Through Food BY ANISA ABEYTIA Exploring other cultures always implies a culinary exchange to me. When I meet someone from an unfamiliar culture the first thing I ask is, “So, what do you eat?” I ask this because food holds our history and can reveal a story with each bite. It…
Read MoreDOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN MORE THAN AGRICULTURE?
By Derrick Schneider Sustainable. Organic. Local. Ethical. This is the idealized diet of the Bay Area foodie. We worship our pantheon, Alice Waters and Michael Pollan among them, and religiously attend our farmers’ markets, those nomadic temples of the movement that hold services every day of the week. We vote with our dollars to ensure a…
Read MoreKelp Wanted
By Sally Bryson With her long fronds of hair, weathered face, and long, green dress, Moon looks like she was born to do her job—she is a seaweed wild-crafter. As the sole proprietor of Sea Breeze Sea Vegetables, she makes her living by harvesting, cleaning, sorting, drying, bagging and selling seaweed. “I’m my own boss…
Read MoreSpiced Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
From What’s in Season: Summer Squash & Squash Blossoms Makes 20 cupcakes 12 tablespoons (1½ stick or ¾ cup) butter 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon grated orange zest 2 cups grated raw zucchini 2¾ cups all purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa 2½ teaspoons baking powder 1½ teaspoons baking…
Read MoreSquash Blossom Poppers
From What’s in Season: Summer Squash & Squash Blossoms Stuffed Squash Blossom Poppers (credit: Edible East Bay) Recipe courtesy of Barbara Llewellyn Catering & Event Planning Makes 12 poppers For the stuffed blossoms 12 unopened squash blossoms ½ cup cream cheese, room temperature ½ cup goat cheese, room temperature 2 tablespoons heavy cream…
Read MoreSquash Blossom Risotto
From What’s in Season: Summer Squash & Squash Blossoms Serves 4 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup chopped yellow onion 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 pound risotto 1 pound assorted summer squash: ½ pound grated, ½ pound diced 5 cups chicken stock ½ cup white…
Read MoreSummer 2007
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL By Cheryl KoehlerDOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN MORE THAN AGRICULTURE? By Derrick SchneiderTHREE NEW EDIBLE READS By Cheryl KoehlerICE CREAM SUBLIME By Wende Williams MiccoCURRIES, TAJEENS, AND MOLES: Exploring Culture and Conversion Through Food By Anisa Abeytia KELP WANTED By Sally Bryson A GREEN PICNIC By Serena Bartlett and Cheryl Koehler THE HAPPY FOREVER COMMUNITY…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season: Squash & Squash Blossoms
By Barbara Kobsar Summer is the time to sing praises to the great cucurbit family. These vine-y annual plants, indigenous to the Americas, all produce large white or yellow flowers, which, when left on the plant to mature, grow into an amazing array of squashes, gourds, cucumbers, and melons. Anyone with a zucchini vine in…
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