crazysalad

Chew-Wow!

If you have been afraid to make your own chocolates because you thought it was too hard, a chocolate class might be the perfect thing for you. Here in San Diego we are fortunate to have our very own artisan chocolate maker, Chuao (pronounced “chew-wow”) Chocolatier.  During regular hours at the Chuao main location in the Encinitas Lumberyard, customers shopping in the store can see the chocolates being made in the production area just behind the glass display counters.  But if you really want an in-depth look into how their chocolates are made, sign up for one of their beginner’s courses, held on Wednesday evenings just after the store closes.

Last night I attended a Level I class, which introduces the cacao bean, details the origins and manufacturing of chocolate, and offers a hands-on lesson in rolling and dipping truffles.

The class began with a short 10-minute documentary explaining the history of chocolate and Venezuelan chocolate, in particular. The video was produced by Chocolates El Rey, a Venezuelan maker of premium chocolate and one of the first companies to follow cacao production all the way from beans to finished chocolate.   

A lifelong chocolate lover, I thought I knew everything there was to know about chocolate.  But I learned a few new facts.  Did you know that cacao beans were once so valuable that they were used a means of currency to pay taxes and buy slaves?  Ten beans could buy you the favors of a woman.  (Even back then, some women would do anything for chocolate.)

Hoes Down Festival Report

I had a great time at the Hoes Down Festival this past weekend.

Located in the beautiful Capay Valley in Yolo County, California, Full Belly Farm is one of northern California’s most beautiful and successful organic farms.  Nestled among rolling hills with a creek running through it, the 100-acre farm was founded 20 years ago by four partners, who still own and operate the farm today. 

As if running a farm weren’t enough work, every fall the farmers open their doors to the general public for the Hoes Down Festival. Imagine holding an open house and having thousands of people show up at your door, walk around your yard and trample through your vegetable garden and flowerbeds. 

Now in its 18th year, the festival features farm tours, agricultural workshops, live music, a farmers’ market, great food, and a large area devoted to children’s activities. Since Full Belly Farm delivers food all over the Bay Area through its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, there are plenty of visitors who make the 90 mile drive up from the San Francisco (and even from San Diego!).  Thus, the farm offers overnight camping.  As you enter the farm you drive into the first orchard on the right, park and set up your tent right next to your car.  From what I could see there were over a hundred cars parked around ours. 

Hoes Down this Weekend

Today I'm heading up to Northern California today to visit my sister and her family.  She has been trying to convince me for years to come up for the annual Hoes Down Festival at Full Belly Farm in Yolo County.  This year I am finally going! 

This is the 18th year of the festival, which features farm tours, hands-on agricultural workshops, entertainment, and of course, food!  There's also a kids area with petting zoo, pumpkin carving, hay rides, ice cream making, and a water roller coaster.  We'll be there all day Saturday and Sunday, camping out in the orchard overnight.  I'll post a full report on Monday.

Tasting the Moon

This past weekend’s Mid-Autumn Festival proved to be the perfect opportunity to reacquaint myself with a food I hadn’t eaten in years: moon cakes.  But where to find them?  After some help from the ‘hounds, I embarked on my moon cake mission.  First stop: 99 Ranch Market on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.  I entered and was confronted by an aisle of moon cakes stacked waist-high. 

A search of the bakery department found no single moon cakes for sale.  It looked like I would have to buy a whole box of them.  But how could I pick one out of the dozens of brands?  I wasn't familiar with any of them.  After spending nearly an hour studying each box, reading ingredients (when they weren’t in Chinese), opening lids and peeking at contents (don't worry, all the moon cakes were covered in plastic and I wasn't the only one doing this), I settled on four different boxes. 

Next stop: Huy Ky Bakery at 4550 University Ave. (thanks, Kirk!)

Although the selection of flavors was the same as at 99 Ranch, I was able to purchase individual moon cakes here for about $3 each.

Then I headed home and began eating.  I tasted all the moon cakes together side by side.  My kids enthusiastically agreed to help, but only on the condition that they didn’t have to eat the yolks.

Moon Cakes

I’m hardly an expert on moon cakes.  I’m not Chinese, nor even Asian.  I hadn’t even tasted a moon cake in years.  But recently I spotted an article about the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival in a local newspaper, Asia, and it got me thinking about the last time I had eaten moon cakes. 

Many years ago, right after I was graduated from college, I spent a year teaching English in China.  While many of my ex-classmates were working on Wall Street or preparing to become lawyers and doctors, I lived in a concrete block apartment in southern China with no hot running water and a squat toilet.  My kitchen was overrun with tiny ants and infested with cockroaches the length of my middle finger.  Mosquitoes bred in the toilet, making any trip to the bathroom a quick one.  It was the best year of my life.

Celebrate the Craft

Mark your calendars--on Sunday, October 9, The Lodge at Torrey Pines will host their 3rd Annual Celebrate the Craft festival.

I attended the event last year and had a great time tasting my way around.  The event showcases some of the best farms, chefs and wineries in San Diego.  Most of the participants are local--Aniata Cheese Co., Bread & Cie, Chuao Chocolatier, Crows Pass Farm, La Milpa Organica, Stone Brewing Co.--but there are some, like Fairview Gardens and Niman Ranch, from a little further north.

Lunch ("Picnic on the Arroyo Terrace") takes place from 11:30-3:30 behind the hotel on what is normally the croquet field.  It's hardly a picnic, more like an upscale farmer's market with white tablecloth seating.

I found the setting (the croquet lawn with the golf course in the background) a bit incongruous with the idea of sustainable agriculture.  But otherwise it's a food lover's dream.  Over a dozen chefs from the best restaurants in San Diego participate, including Trey Foshee from George's at the Cove, Amiko Gubbins of Parallel 33, Jeff Jackson from The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Carl Shroeder from Arterra, and Michael Stebner and Allyson Colwell from Region. 

The food stations are arranged in the center and along the perimeter of the lawn.  As you walk around from table to table, you pick up small plates of food and sample tastes of wine.