crazysalad

Salone del Gusto 2006

I came to Italy this year to participate both in Slow Food’s Terra Made and Salone del Gusto.  Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Salone del Gusto is a international fair held in Torino every 2 years to celebrate the diversity and quality of food, an eco-gastronomic response to the standardization and globalization of our food system.

Well, ok, I have to confess.  Mostly I came to eat. And speak Italian.  And to travel around Italy for a week with friends afterwards.  But it was because of the Salone del Gusto that I came here.  I've been wanting to come for years, ever since I first heard about this amazing global food fair.

Salone del Gusto runs for 4 days and attracts tens of thousands of people, including large groups of schoolkids. The event is held in the Lingotto, the former Fiat factory turned convention center.  It’s a food lover’s dream come true.  Imagine an entire convention center filled with table after table displaying the food of farmers and producers from all over Italy and the rest of the world.

Olive Oil by the Bay

Last week I attended the 2nd annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival Grand Event. I had mixed feelings about attending, which I will describe in more detail below, but finally decided to go because of the scope of the event and large number of participants.  I support anything that brings  national attention to San Diego cuisine and shows we are worthy of serious consideration as a food destination.  Also, I missed last year’s (inaugural) festival and I was curious to see what it was all about.

The weather was beautiful and the location, the Embarcadero Marina Park South overlooking San Diego Bay, couldn’t be beat.  Check out the view of the Coronado Bridge behind the chefs:

There were quite a number of exhibitors lining the long circular sidewalk leading around the event.  Restaurants, food companies, art and gift vendors, and…BMW?  According to the event organizers, over 100 wineries participated and were showcased in the main tent located in the center of the lawn. 

Here are some samples of the food:

I wish I could tell you what all this was, but with a camera in one hand and food in the other, it was impossible to take notes.  Besides, the list of ingredients was so long I had already forgotten by the time the chef finished reciting it.  Micro greens, fried vegetable slivers, seafood, wasabi roe...  Very pretty, but mainly I wondered how they managed to wash all those spoons before the next round of tasters came by.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time and by the end there were quite a few people who looked as though they had drunk their money’s worth.  For another report on the festival, check out Scott’s blog, Firefly Fifty Five.

One question I never had answered:  what was the deal with the VIP tent?  Located at the far end of the festival, the tent contained a local wine shop and a vodka distributor, with guards posted at the entranced to keep unimportant people (like me) out.

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.