Green Walnuts

  Green Walnuts: an elegantly bitter harvest Story, recipes, and photos by Kristen Rasmussen Most of us are familiar with the taste of dried walnuts. We crack them open by hand for a snack, toast them to toss into a salad, or delight in finding them baked into our brownies. Fresh green walnuts, on the…

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Pickled Green Walnuts

From Green Walnuts     My favorite way to enjoy these pickles is on crostini with a sharp cheese, such as cheddar. Garnish with fresh herb, such as chervil, for a bit of brightness. Yields about 2 quarts. 30 green walnuts ¼ cup kosher salt 1 quart water 1 quart apple cider vinegar ½ cup…

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Indulge

OCHO A couple of fathers were tired of the crummy Halloween candy their kids brought home. One of those dads was Denis Ring, who started the 365 brand for Whole Foods and was closely involved with the O Organics line at Safeway. Ring teamed up with Scott Kucirek and a handful of food science graduates…

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GrabishFarm on the Plate

Recipes from Chef Craig DiFonzo of Lungomare PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN JOLIN Meats from Grabishfarm inspire many dishes on the Northern-Italian-style menus at Lungomare and Chop Bar. Craig DiFonzo, partner and executive chef at Lungomare, offers the Grabishfarm guinea fowl, when it’s available, Mulefoot pork, most of the time, and a variety of charcuterie items made…

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THE THREE-TIER ROADBLOCK TO BARROOM CREATIVITY

  White Negroni 2 ounces St. George Spirits Terroir Gin 1.75 ounces Lillet Blanc .75 ounce Suze Stir, strain over ice, and garnish with a lemon twist. BY SHANNA FARRELL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MORTIMER Craft distilling is booming across the nation, but Lance Winters, owner and master distiller of St. George Spirits in Alameda,…

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Taste:

Pumpkin Cuisine Pumpkin may not be the first thing you think of with Nepalese or Indian cuisine, but it’s on the menu in abundance at Himalayan Tandoori and Curry House, a bright, pleasant spot at 1645 Solano Avenue in Berkeley. The organic pumpkins, cauliflower, squash, and other vegetables in many of the dishes come from…

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Read and Savor!

Bay Area Book Festival, June 6 & 7 Food lovers and food writers, take note: the first ever Bay Area Book Festival promises a weekend to savor. The downtown Berkeley fest features 150 exhibitors such as indie bookstores, writing programs, publishers, and authors from the Bay Area and far beyond. In the food-themed area you’ll…

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Taste

Ruby’s Roast Have you noticed Ruby’s Roast coffee on sale around town in bags or fresh-brewed at a growing number of East Bay restaurants? Pert, wide-eyed Ruby (drawn by Karen Adelman, co-owner of Saul’s Deli)looks out from the drawing on the label, but in fact, Debbie Segal and Sherry Bloom are the effervescent gals behind…

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Editor's Mixing Bowl

March 20: Famine was looming for the residents of Vanuatu when the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) sent out a message to the people and farmers of that South Pacific island nation. Three days prior, a category 5 cyclone called Pam had obliterated everything on the islands, including the food supply, and the FSAC…

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Nurturing Young Lives at Tender Greens

  BY RACHEL TRACHTEN | PHOTOGRAPY BY SHANNON MCINTYRE Caridad Johnson (known as Cari) admits that she’s terrified of bugs and had a lot of trouble when a caterpillar turned up in some kale she was cleaning. But at 18, she’s soaking up culinary skills, along with an appreciation for new foods and experiences, which sometimes…

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Caamaño Bros. Take Soda Back to its Roots

BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT PETERSON Pity the poor bottle of pop in Berkeley. Much maligned for its fake flavors and high-fructose corn syrup, it now drags around an ignoble tax of shame. But that’s another story. We’re here to report on a local triumph in bringing dignity back to the humble soda.…

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What Do You Pair with a Reuben?

 BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER  |   ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARGO RIVERA-WEISS   Long before the Caamaño Bros. started making and marketing their sodas, Peter Levitt, owner of Saul’s Deli in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, was looking for a non-imitation-flavor wild black cherry soda. “It goes really well with our Reuben,” he says, referring to that quintessential New…

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The Spice Whisperer Make House Calls

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANNA MINDESS Vinita Jacinto arrives in a sparkly blue blouse, fuchsia skirt, and intricately embroidered shawl. Jingling pink and green bracelets trim her wrists and a red bindi adorns her forehead. Like a colorfully attired Indian Mary Poppins, she efficiently gets down to business, removes a multitude of items from her bag,…

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Source Guide Summer 2015

Arts & Education INSTITUTE OF URBAN HOMESTEADING  Offering the best in Bay Area sustainability education since 2008. iuhoakland.com LAURL BOOK STORE  Downtown Oakland’s new indie bookseller. 1423 Broadway. 510.452.9232. laurelbookstore.com THE LOCAL FOODS WHEEL   Learn more about your foodshed. localfoodswheel.com MRS DALLOWAY’S   A full-service, independent neighborhood bookstore, featuring a wide variety of garden…

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Berkeley Ecology Center’s Big Win

$3.7 million USDA grant expands Market Match to the benefit of farmers and low-income shoppers By Rachel Trachten California farmers’ markets just got more affordable for people on public benefits. In a stunning example of public policy done well, the USDA awarded $3.7 million to Berkeley’s Ecology Center for its Market Match program. Through Market…

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The Seed-Saving Controversy

   BY JILLIAN LAUREL STEINBERGER  PHOTOS AND ONLINE VIDEO BY SCOTT PETERSON “In the last 30 years, seed has become a commodity that’s bought, sold, and traded like any other commodity—like oil, like minerals—when really, seed is a resource that’s best shared, stewarded, and governed within a community.” —Matthew Dillon, Seed Matters Rebecca Newburn was…

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Seven Stars of Summer

      BY JESSICA PRENTICE Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s seasonal favorites illustrated by Sarah Klein (sarahklein.com) with coloring by Maggie Gosselin. You can learn…

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Peace in the Kingdom

 at Grabbish Farm BY ERIK FERRY | PHOTOS BY KYLE SHIBUYA “Meet Gidget,” invites Amy Grabish, an affable, elfin woman whose rapid-fire dialect betrays an urban East Coast upbringing. Gidget, a coal-black brood sow about the size of Pennsylvania, sighs heavily and shifts in her earthen bed under the canopy of eucalyptus trees. The earth…

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On the Menu: Backyard Bounty

  Residents barter garden surplus with top chefs and food producers Continuing our year-long series about relationships between local farms and restaurants BY SARAH HENRY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN JOLIN For Christine Hwang and Tim Drew, it started with an abundance of honey. Then they moved on to herbs and root vegetables, which they bike…

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What’s in Season?

BY BARBARA KOBSAR Choosing produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. Want to try picking your own summer produce? East of Mt. Diablo in Brentwood, lots of farms offer the season’s choice fruits and vegetables for picking and much more pre-picked at farm stands. Many of the 50 or…

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Grow

Kitazawa Herbs Oakland-based Kitazawa Seed Company has been operating for nearly 100 years, selling seeds for over 400 varieties of non-GMO Asian herbs and vegetables. Commercial growers and home gardeners alike reach for the familiar manila packets with their classic green ink designs when they want to grow plants that can help cooks achieve authentic…

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Contents Summer 2015

EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Berkeley Ecology Center’s big win for farmers and shoppers Nurturing young lives at Tender Greens The Spice Whisperer makes house calls Caamaño Bros. take soda back to its roots What do you pair with a Reuben? SEVEN STARS OF SUMMER THE SEED-SAVING CONTROVERSY GREEN WALNUTS: An elegantly bitter harvest Recipes…

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About our Cover Photographer, Robin Jolin

The photographs on the cover and Contents page, as well as in two of our feature stories, are by Robin Jolin. For the past 10 years, Robin has been in Oakland, shooting clothing, restaurants, and happy people enjoying amazing food. Robin fell in love with photography as a child while living on a mountain in…

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