On the Table

Well, Humboldtians, I am just bursting at the seams with thrilling foodiness. We’ll start with our stalwart olive-maker friend, Henry Robertson, who has new additions to his usual smorgasbord of delicious unctuousness. His latest olives come from the Winnett Vineyards, a small organic winery and olivery in Willow Creek. The eventual plan is to make […]

I have a habit. I have developed it in the past two years and I am not planning to break it in any foreseeable future. Once a week or so, I prepare my working space in the kitchen, sterilize my tools, warm up milk and start a new cheese-making adventure. There are variations on the […]

What a totally summery February! I’ve been sending smug pictures of myself on the beach to all my shivering amigos in New York. Ha, ha, suckers! However we all know this weather is not built to last, as is evidenced by the plethora of winter vegetables still plaguing the larder like the last drunken guest. […]

Toward the end of the 19th century, Richard Cadbury, under the pseudonym of “Historicus,” wrote a book titled Cocoa: All About It. Richard was the second son of John Cadbury, founder of the English  cocoa and chocolate company Cadbury. At the very beginning of the book, there is an illustration that shows a crowned character […]

As you may have gathered, I like to cook. That goes hand in hand with my love for eating. This week I’d like to share some ideas for cooking some of my favorite things to eat. We’ll start with — liver. This is possibly a risky way to introduce a column of favorite foods, but […]

The plane lands and finally we are in Milan. It is early afternoon, so, after we settle in the hotel room, I have time for my first grocery shopping (we have a kitchenette) — and my first cappuccino. I enter a bar (more on this word later) and ask for un cappuccino. Two words, and […]

Food purists often fuss about the inadequacies of USDA’s organic food standards, how pitifully watered down they are from the lofty principles that built the organic movement. They have a point. After all, the USDA’s National Organic Program was created to deal with big agribusinesses determined to exploit the lucrative organic market. But for all […]

The slurry of local eggs that have come slithering down the supermarket aisle pleases me. Isn’t it awesome? We used to have to truck through the hills in search of a hand-lettered “EgGz” sign, to get a fresh dozen for $2. Now they’re available alongside kohlrabi and Jujyfruits at many a hometown mart, shells charmingly […]

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 […]