Purple peas and those who love to shell them. Photo: Bill Dailey
Don't bother entering the World Cup Purple Hull Pea Shelling Competition this year.
That's because organizers say Doeleta Weaver, who's outshelled her competitors three years running, is planning to defend her crown at the Emerson, Ark., event this Saturday. Weaver is essentially unbeatable, having displaced the informal brigade of older women who for years took turns finishing first.
"She is absolutely phenomenal," says Bill Dailey, spokesperson for the Purple Hull Pea Festival. "She's got a natural knack for it."
More than a dozen ambitious shellers are expected to challenge Weaver this year, but Dailey predicted few of the younger aspirants would have much of a shot: "Adults always, almost inevitably, do the best," he says.
Itching for pictures from the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen? What's Mario wearing? Did Ilan Hall rock the Pee-Wee Herman tux again? We'll be posting red carpet and candid images throughout the festival, so bookmark, refresh and repeat as needed.
Long lines at the Great American Food and Music Fest. (c) Pamela Palma
With everyone yakking about sustainability, organics and local ingredients nowadays, especially in the San Francisco area, the sight of Bay Area residents (who notoriously champion these ideals) noshing on bagels flown in from New York City and BBQ trucked from Texas was an odd one.
At the Great American Food and Music Fest on Saturday more than 10,000 people turned out to a massive ampitheater overlooking the Santa Cruz mountains to tuck into food and music. Though the stage at the Shoreline will host Coldplay, No Doubt and Phish later this summer, on Saturday the fans that turned out in droves were mostly the hungry kind (hungrier than they expected, due to a technological meltdown involving electronic wristbands, very long lines and occasionally soldout food -- for which co-curator Ed Levine has profusely apologized).
But the day had its bright spots, among them glimpses of celebrity chefs and TV stars like Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri and Aida Mollenkamp demonstrating recipes for modern American cuisine. For price tags ranging from $35 to more than $500, festival-goers were able to see their heroes live and -- when the crowds didn't prove too daunting -- eat some serious food.
Nearly 80,000 people descended on a farm in Manchester, Tenn., last weekend for Bonnaroo, a four-day music festival headlined by 1990s jam band Phish and rock star Bruce Springsteen. Because most of the attendees camped on the 700-acre site -- and individual tickets started at a whopping $225 -- most festival goers opted to forgo food from pricey vendors and rough it.
By noon each day campsites were filled with empty PBR cans, half-empty industrial-sized jars of generic peanut butter and remnants of canned beans warmed over propane ranges. A few industrious music lovers, however, weren't going to let a lack of gas or electricity keep them from eating well.
More photos, bison chili, pork chops and Rotel after the jump.
If you happen to be anywhere near Georgia this Saturday and have a hankering for grits -- consider a drive to Warwick. The town -- approximately 82 miles south of Macon -- holds its 12th annual National Grits Festival on April 11, complete with a cookoff, a Miss Grits pageant and the Grits Pit -- a creamy tub designed to get grits lovers, well, gritty (see photo above).
"That's a big attraction at 2 o'clock in the afternoon now," festival coordinator Bob Holland told Slashfood.
Warwick hosts this ode to the Southern larder despite the fact that it doesn't produce grits, though it does have a lot of corn growing amid the cotton and peanuts on nearby farmland, Holland said.
"You can do anything with grits," Holland said. "It depends on your taste and your imagination."
More gritty talk and the late great Bill Neal's recipe for shrimp and grits that turned me into a grits fan after the jump.
Last week, we discussed the possible financial benefits of homebrewing. After last night's Extreme Beer Homebrew Challenge at Jose Pistolas for Philly Beer Week, I was reminded of one of the other major advantages of homebrewing: The ability to experiment.
The event brought out some of Beer Week's finest: Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head was anointed the "Uber Joe Pro" and happily dropped by to help serve up his Palo Santo Marron and Red & White. Though not offering up brews of their own, Lost Abbey's Tomme Arthur and Avery Brewing's Adam Avery were also a few of the notable names who showed their support.
But clearly, the night belonged to the dozen plus homebrewers who proved that though they might not be "rock stars of craft brewing" like their previously mentioned contemporaries, they are certainly on the frontlines when it comes to making small batch experimental brews that only a homebrewer would have the balls to try. And though these guys might be lawyers and IT professionals during the day, many of them have superhero-like secret identities as certified beer judges and casual creative consultants to their big-name counterparts.
"I have a quote for you," said Green Flash Brewing Co.'s Brewmaster, Chuck Silva. And when the man who hand-crafted one of your favorite beers in the world tells you he has a quote, you listen. "The harder you work, the luckier you are," said Chuck in response to my query of how Green Flash has managed to have such great success in such a short amount of time. "It's not that we've been lucky, it's just that we work hard and we've had good fortune."
Chuck Silva has been Brewmaster with Green Flash for approximately four and a half years now. In that time, Green Flash has grown from a small San Diego brewery to one of national prominence and availability. It's hard to believe, but Mr. Silva wasn't even Green Flash's first Brewmaster (they existed for two years without him), which just shows how instrumental he has been to their success. I was lucky enough to be able to accost Chuck during a Philly Beer Week event at the P.O.P.E. (fully known as the Pub on Passyunk East, which, as a bar, is post worthy in it's own right, but I'm going to stay on task for the time being), and he was polite enough to answer a number of questions regarding his brews.
Fancy a free trip to the Big Easy? Enter now to win a "Top Chef Culinary Dream Vacation" for two to the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience at www.NewOrleansOnline.com/topchef.
Winners will receive round-trip airfare to New Orleans, home of the Top Chef Season 5 Finale, three nights in the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in the French Quarter, tickets to the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience events, a special Vintner Dinner at the Commander's Palace restaurant, and a cooking class at the New Orleans Cooking Experience. Five runners-up will receive an autographed copy of Ralph Brennan's Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook.
Being a beer writer isn't as fun and easy as it looks. Most weeks I spend more time staring down a computer than a pint. I do say "most weeks," however. This coming week will not be one of those weeks.
From Friday, March 6th through Sunday, March 15th, Philadelphia will be host to Philly Beer Week 2009 -- a 10 day extravaganza featuring over 650 events from well over 100 participants, including dozens of different breweries and brewers crashing the city limits and some points beyond.
They've tagged the event "America's Best Beer-Drinking City," and though that title can certainly be debated, the official Philly Beer Week website lays out some compelling evidence to back their claim. A quick look at the event map makes you wonder if there's anywhere in Philadelphia not involved in Beer Week and the list of events is nothing short of overwhelming.
I'll be in town tomorrow (Friday) until Wednesday, March 11th, blogging about events along the way. My first stop will be the Opening Tap if you want to come follow me around. But better yet, check out phillybeerweek.org and see what strikes your fancy. As a former Philly resident, so many of these amazing bars have a special place in my heart, I wouldn't even know how to start playing favorites. You'll probably see me everywhere, because almost anywhere you can get to is worth the stop.
You've got just over three weeks left to submit a paper for the next Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. The symposium was co-founded by Alan Davidson, whose name you may recognize from the spine of your copy of Oxford Companion to Food, which, if you are indeed a budding food historian, should certainly occupy a few inches on your bookshelf. Each year, food experts gather in, well, Oxford, England, to explore from every angle some theme in food history. The theme for 2009 is "Food and Language."
Anyone with a deep interest in food history may submit a paper (no later than March 15). If your paper is chosen, you get to attend this veritable who's who of the food world, with the added bonus of partaking in the culinary offerings of Raymond Blanc of Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in England. Oh, and you have to present your ideas and respond to questions.
Check out the website as nothing I could say in this abbreviated space would do justice to the incredible range of scholarship presented at past symposia. And no, I've never been. Nor have I yet divined a topic for this year, even though I couldn't hope for a richer and more personally arresting topic than "Food and Language." But there's still time for me, and for you!
So, I know I can be a little East Coast centric with my beer posts. That's what living on the East Coast for the past 7 years or so has done to me. But this only makes me all the more excited to be able to promote SF Beer Week which begins in the San Francisco Bay Area tomorrow.
Running from February 6th through to Sunday, February 15th, more than 100 San Francisco breweries and pubs are participating in around 150 events intended to celebrate the early roots of the modern Renaissance in artisan beers.
With the relatively recent explosion of craft beers and microbreweries across the entire country, it's easy to forget that San Francisco was one of the major forefathers of the brewing revival. Legendary beer writer Michael Jackson went so far as to state in his seminal book The World Guide to Beer, "The rediscovery of American beer began in the West...not in trend-addicted Los Angeles...but in and around San Francisco." He often spoke affectionately of the Anchor Brewery and references Fritz Maytag's involvement with the company as a major turning point in American brewing.
When Maytag became involved with Anchor in 1965, no more than a couple hundred active breweries existed in the U.S. -- maybe less. Today, the country boasts over 1,400 craft breweris, and as SF Beer Week reminds us, "Northern California alone has more breweries than most states and enjoys an unrivaled reputation for the quality and diversity of its craft beer."
Additional info and event listings can be found on the SF Beer Week website at www.sfbeerweek.org.
When I was growing up in Virginia, my babysitter often referred to my family as "the carpetbaggers." This wasn't all that surprising; my parents were from New England, and the folkways of rural Virginia were somewhat bizarre to them. Even so, they quickly adapted and even learned to embrace the culture of the area. Because of their zealous adoption of all things Virginia, many of our major holidays were celebrated with a huge, salty Virginia ham.
When I undertook the reverse migration from Virginia to New York, I worried that I would not be able to get hold of real Smithfield hams. Luckily, however, one of my local butchers carries them; it seems that they are a standard Italian dish on the feast day of Saint Nicholas. As the butcher rang up my sixteen pound chunk of pork, he and I had an interesting conversation about the art of cooking Virginia ham. Interestingly, many of his customers are actually scared of Smithfield ham.
In truth, this isn't really all that surprising. After all, Smithfield hams are exceedingly salty, very ugly, and take a long time to prepare. However, they are also amazingly delicious, and constitute one of the most truly American of dishes. Luckily, they are also fairly simple to cook, freeze beautifully, and pretty much all of the leftovers are delicious.
Wine lovers all over the country have reason to celebrate tomorrow: December 5, 1933, marked the end of the 13-year Prohibition on alcohol in the U.S. (Of course the resulting state-by-state laws are still confusing, cumbersome, and laden with politics, but individuals can speak up to their legislative representatives through the nonprofit organization Free the Grapes.)
During those long thirteen years of Prohibition, the California wine industry suffered. Most wineries were forced to close their doors, and those who remained open produced wines for medicinal and religious use. Farmers willing to ride out Prohibition fared a little better: each male was allowed to make 200 gallons of wine each year for personal use, so the demand for grapes around the country was fairly high, even as commercial winemaking all but disappeared.
This year, a new line of wines called Festival 34 was released to commemorate California's first harvest following the repeal of Prohibition 75 years ago. The wines include a Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all sourced from California's Central Coast and made by C & B Vintage Cellars in Napa.
I'm usually skeptical of fancy marketing ploys when it comes to wine, because there's often an inverse relationship between the quality of the wine and the cleverness of the label. Festival 34 is an exception for three reasons. One, the concept is truly clever, as it calls attention to and celebrates the end of a terrible era for wine lovers; two, the label art is gorgeous and practically collectible; and three, the wines are quite good. The Chardonnay was too oaky for my taste, but I loved the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both are a great value for around $12-15.
I absolutely believe that moderation (called "temperance" in the old days), not prohibition, should be the buzzword with alcohol, and on the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition in the United States, I raise my glass to the liberation of the vineyards.
Start a conversation about value wines and you may hear votes for Chile, Spain, and Australia. Try this one on for size: Bulgaria. As scarce as Bulgarian wines are in the U.S., distributor Steve Ondush of Grapes Unlimited, who was pouring a series of Bulgarian wines at the San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival, told me that Bulgaria is actually the second largest exporter of bottled wine in the world. So how come we don't all drink it here?
For one thing, most of the wine is exported to western European countries, where it's regarded as a value wine. For another, though Bulgaria has been producing wine practically since time began, its industry has been interrupted a few times, first by a 500-year domination by the Ottoman Empire and later by Communism. The current wine industry is less than 100 years old in this little Eastern European country tucked between Romania, Greece, and Turkey.
I tasted through all of the Grapes Unlimited selection and can make these generalizations from the wines I tried:
1. The red wines are much better than the whites, which tend to be on the sweetish side, and not in a good way. 2. Reds tend to be old-world style, less fruity and alcoholic than American or other new-world red wines.
Favorite of the tasting was the 2003 Damianitza No Man's Land Gold from the Melnik region of Bulgaria. It's a blend of 65 percent Merlot and 35 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on the five-mile strip of land that used to separate communist Bulgaria from its southern neighbors. The wine was good now but had firm enough tannins to make me think it could still age for a bit. Not bad for a "value" region.
Have you had Bulgarian wines? Will it be America's next go-to value wine?
When it comes to Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, I've generally found that the key element is quantity. I save the truffled, blue cheese-infused, roasted garlic potatoes for the rest of the year, when everybody is in the mood to try something new. On Thanksgiving, nobody really wants to be impressed: what they're really concerned with is being full.
And there's nothing more disappointing than running out of potatoes.
With that in mind, here's a basic recipe for making ten pounds of incredibly fattening mashed potatoes. The heavy amounts of cream, milk, and butter give it a smooth, rich texture, while the nutmeg gives it a nice, rounded tone. If you are concerned about having completely white mashed potatoes, use white pepper and omit the nutmeg; otherwise, feel free to use regular black pepper.
10 pounds yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pats 1/2 cup whole milk Salt to taste (I start with a tablespoon and work up from there) Pepper and nutmeg to taste (I generally use a heaping teaspoon of each)
Drop potatoes into boiling water. Return water to a simmer, but do not boil. Cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain, place in large bowl, and mash with a potato masher or two forks.
Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until butter is melted. Do not allow to boil. Add cream mixture to potatoes and, using either a spoon or a hand mixer, mix until potatoes are smooth. Add milk as needed to achieve a smooth texture. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
Last week, we discussed the possible 
"I have a quote for you," said 
Being a beer writer isn't as fun and easy as it looks. Most weeks I spend more time staring down a computer than a pint. I do say "most weeks," however. This coming week will not be one of those weeks.
You've got just over three weeks left to submit a paper for the next 
.jpg)
When I was growing up in Virginia, my babysitter often referred to my family as "the carpetbaggers." This wasn't all that surprising; my parents were from New England, and the folkways of rural Virginia were somewhat bizarre to them. Even so, they quickly adapted and even learned to embrace the culture of the area. Because of their zealous adoption of all things Virginia, many of our major holidays were celebrated with a huge, salty Virginia ham._thumbnail.jpg "Burlap Ham")
_thumbnail.jpg "Dry Ham")
.jpg)
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
