On the Table

The morning after esteemed food writer/activist Michael Pollan discussed the sad state of modern groceries and the future of eating with an adoring crowd at Humboldt State, he had a simple breakfast at Café Brio. “I didn’t have anything complicated, but I thought it was good,” he said. He didn’t really know about the aesthetic […]

Since last Saturday was the final Farmers’ Market of the season, a visit to the Arcata Plaza seemed mandatory. (Plus we needed spuds for the potatoes au gratin my wife was making to take to dinner at a friends’ that night.) While making the rounds I got to talking with Grady Walker of Green Fire […]

First, a confession: I have many times pretended to enjoy acorn soup. The first time may have been at the table of Bessie Tripp, the legendary Karuk woman who lived to be over 100. She was only in her 90s then. I said the soup was perfect, then I asked for seconds of the fried […]

Around this time of year, the temptation to be positive and uplifting is palpable. But let’s be frank. For a significant number of us, the holidays really, really suck. Of course, there is nothing wrong with family togetherness, exchanging gifts and elaborate celebratory meals. But for those that, for whatever reason, can’t easily enjoy those […]

At the Slow Food International convention in Turin, Italy last weekend, I joined food lovers from around the world as they perused a vast indoor market stocked with some of the tastiest morsels to be coaxed from the land anywhere. Samples were flowing in the great hall, dubbed Salone del Gusto (Salon of Taste). Rows […]

My parents don’t really feel squash. They don’t despise it; it just doesn’t provoke any vehement response. I don’t understand their reaction; if my father can spend days finding the right ratio of duck fat to butter for frying potatoes, and my mother giggles like a school girl at the sight of sweet potato French […]

Recipe for a special day: Choose a Saturday morning in Fall. Make it sunny and set it at a pleasant temperature. Go to the Arcata Farmers’ Market. Walk around the Plaza until you reach the corner of 9th and H streets. Taste six different variations on the theme of salsa. Vote for your favorite salsa. […]

Images of my mother taking care of me when I was toddler are fleeting but certain. We didn’t have each other for very long, but I remember Brooklyn and shopping with her and my aunt, her kid sister, on 86th Street in Bensonhurst, one of them pushing me in a stroller on sunny mornings as […]

Ahh, the sweet indolent unguence of summer fruits. It is not, per se, summer-like around Mad River Road (I am freezing, the cows are blowing steamy clouds and it’s technically fall), but up in Orleans, around Willow Creek and down in Shively the sun shines on unhindered by shivery fog, and crates of drippy fly-tempting […]

A very special season is upon Jews as it is upon Humboldt County. Just when the cycle that completes the Jewish calendar marks the onset of the High Holy Days, we are dab smack in the middle of our glorious Northern California harvest. The Farmers’ Markets burst with colorful fruits and vegetables, grains and herbs, […]

“There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round: grown half way around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it’s kind of a notional tomato, I mean, it’s the idea of a tomato.” I heard this passage […]

Step One… I am an addict. I wake up in the morning thinking about where I can get my next tasty fix. Powerless against my cravings, I’ve lost my ability to care about anything but my delicious addiction. My personal life is suffering. My sinuses are destroyed. I’ve abandoned my personal hygiene. My days are […]