Winter 2008
Happy Forever Community Gardener Gets Educated
Story and Photos by Simona Carini Hello, I am Simona, founder and CEO of Slugs ’n’ Snails Xpress, Inc. Our company relocates personae non gratae (a.k.a. pests) from vegetable gardens to outworld destinations: hop on board this comfortable bag, sit down, relax, and enjoy your flight. That’s me, talking to a slug while getting rid…
Read MoreAn East Bay Winter Whiskey Ramble
By Serena Bartlett Several months ago, while checking out a new nightclub in Oakland with a fellow writer, I ordered a Maker’s Manhattan, a caramel-color mix of bourbon whiskey and sweet vermouth. The fiery-red maraschino cherry lighting up the bourbon in my glass seemed to ignite our converation about how whiskey had evolved in the…
Read MoreRoasted Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Grapes
From our story The Last Walnut Grove By Devany Vickery-Davidson I created this recipe for a dinner with my friend and editor of Edible East Bay, Cheryl Koehler. Serves 4 1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts, cut in half ½ pound large red globe grapes 2/3 cup of walnut halves ¼ cup of maple sugar Drizzle…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season? Fennel
By Barbara Kobsar You can’t miss it. Fennel grows wild all over the East Bay, showing off its feathery plumes along roads and trails. The wild, or common green fennel, which perfumes the air with its sweet licorice-like scent, is a perennial herb of the carrot family. Like its cousins, parsley, dill, chervil and anise,…
Read MoreSeeds From Southeast Asia Sprout in Sunol’s Fertile Soil
Story and Photos by Matthew Green East Oakland resident Koy Saephan never went to school, but put her in a field of fertile ground and she’ll make food rise from the earth like a virtuoso. It’s a Saturday in October at the Mien Farming Collaborative, a large plot of arable land off Interstate 680 near…
Read MoreThe Last Walnut Grove
By Devany Vickery-Davidson In the early 20th century, when walnut groves stretched from Ignacio Valley to San Ramon Valley, it was said in autumn that anyone without black hands must be a tourist. Whole families worked walnut farms of 10 to 30 acres. Conditions in these fertile valleys were ideal here for dry farming of…
Read MoreMenu for a Wild Winter Day
By Kevin Feinstein Breakfast Acorn Pancakes with Quince Jam Yerba Buena/Rosehip Tea Lunch Wild Green Salad with Soaked Walnut and Feral Citrus Dressing Manzanita Cider Afternoon Snack Energy Bar Made with Dried Figs, Dried Persimmons, Powdered Nettles, and Powdered Bay Nuts Dinner Miso/Ginkgo Nut Soup with Fresh Nettles, Pickled Purslane Wild Sourdough Acorn Bread Unfiltered…
Read MoreChiles en Nogada
From our story The Last Walnut Grove Recipe and photo by Devany Vickery-Davidson I first learned how to make this signature Christmas holiday dish of Mexico’s Morelos region while attending a cooking school in Cuernavaca, Mexico. It serves a crowd and takes many hours to prepare, but it is well worth the effort. Several…
Read MoreScouring for Socarrat
Don Bigote’s epic quest for East Bay paella By Mark Middlebrook As we recounted in the Edible East Bay Fall 2006 issue, Don Bigote returned from his tapas and taco truck sallies both wiser and fuller. Alas, it cannot be said that his painstaking exploration into the possibilities of a true tapeo in the East…
Read MoreContents Winter 2008
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL By Cheryl Koehler EDIBLE EVENTS By Serena Bartlett NOTABLE EDIBLES By Elinor Hutton and Cheryl Koehler SEEDS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA SPROUT IN SUNOL’S FERTILE SOIL By Matthew Green MENU FOR A WILD WINTER DAY By Kevin Feinstein Recipe: Wild Green Saag WHAT’S IN SEASON: FENNEL By Barbara Kobsar with recipes from Bay…
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