Food and Wine
19 results
Citrus in Season
According to Alan Davidson’s The Oxford Companion to Food, citrus was native to a region of Eastern Asia and Australia (when the island continent was still attached to Asia) some 20 million years ago. Historical evidence points to China as the site for the earliest cultivation of citrus—primarily sweet, sour, and mandarin oranges, citron, kumquats, and the trifoliate orange.
Water Buffaloes... in Tomales?
On a grassy hilltop in Tomales, California, Craig Ramini has taken his vision of handcrafting mozzarella cheese and made it a reality. But this is no ordinary cheese, nor ordinary man for that matter—Ramini Mozzarella is being produced in the traditional method using domesticated water buffalo milk from the herd that Ramini has raised.
The Knead to Bake
The life of a baker isn’t glamorous, but it has its perks. Waking up at 3:30 in the morning is not one of them. The crazy hours can wear on these craftspeople who tolerate sleep deprivation in order to participate in a process that is both scientific and magical, depending on your perspective.
The Edible Landscape: Winter Solstice 2011
In the weak winter sunlight, I head out to the garden and come back two minutes later, shivering and feeling chilled through. I notice the last cherry tomato plant still struggles to grow despite the cold. It’s dark by 5:00 and I just want to curl up on the couch.
Dungenessence
One of the joys of winter in Sonoma County is the crab season. They say this may be another exceptional year. “It’s going to be good,” said the busy redheaded woman behind the counter at Bodega Bay’s Spud Point Crab Company.
Local Authors/Local Cookbooks
I love to read cookbooks—not only for the technique and menu ideas, which are their fundamental element, but also for the histories and anecdotes that provide the spice. Here are a few of the outstanding locally-written cookbooks and compilations.
Cooking from the Market
At farmers markets, you will meet the farmers and artisans who grow and create food, hear their stories, and best of all, sample some delicious things. In addition to the freshest fruits and vegetables (often picked the same day) you’ll find many locally produced items to enhance your meals, including a variety of meats, fish, cheeses, breads and pastries, oils and vinegars, a great selection of condiments—even a European-style organic butter from McClellend’s Dairy in Petaluma.
What's at Steak
It seemed comforting this past winter, despite all the bad news about global disasters, to see two new steakhouses opening up in Healdsburg. Also noteworthy was how little they had in common except for beef on their menus.