Photo: Marian Acquistapace Sour foods really appealed to Alex Hozven as she battled brutal pregnancy-induced nausea with her first son. Nothing unusual there, right? Millions of women crave pickles to combat morning (or all-day) sickness. But Hozven’s obsession with fermented foods didn’t end once her baby was born. Instead, she set out to master making […]
Berkeley farmers market
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Market Report: Bleinheim apricots
By Romney Steele Near come and gone by now, I have to give a shout-out to my favorite apricot, the Blenheim (sometimes referred to as Royal Blenheim, or simply Royal), before it’s too late. This petite but sublime variety with its speckled, blush appearance has a short season, usually peaking by end of June but, […]
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Berkeley Bites: Samin Nosrat, ex-Eccolo and co-creator of the Pop-Up General Store
Samin Nosrat is a veritable poster girl for the current trend (some would say necessity) of workplace reinvention. Since the shuttering last summer of Eccolo, an acclaimed Italian eatery on 4th Street, that restaurant’s one-time sous chef now juggles an impressive number of part-time jobs in the culinary world. Nosrat is the co-creator (along with […]
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Berkeley Bites: Ben Feldman, Farmers’ Market man
This weekend, Berkeley’s Saturday farmers’ market reaches its 20th anniversary milestone. Ben Feldman is program manager for the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, a project of the Ecology Center. Previously, Feldman worked as a market manager for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association. The 30-year-old lives in Albany with his wife and two young children. The Tuesday farmers’ market […]
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Essence of Berkeley: Food shopping as worship
Berkeley's Farmers' Markets: outdoor tent revivalists? In case you missed it, a post on this site last week elicited an entertaining rumination by Berkeleysider EBGuy on Berkeley’s food stores and their role as our new cathedrals — or temples, or synagogues. More Berkeleysiders weighed in with their analogies. Here’s the full list (so far): Farmers’ Markets: […]
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Berkeley’s food meccas: The new religion
Shopping at Berkeley Bowl: non-denominational? We couldn’t resist hoisting from the comments this reflection by EBGuy on food shopping as religion (prompted by today’s opening of Berkeley’s Trader Joe’s) : I have a theory about Berkeley.* With organized religion on the decline, we look to food to provide a shared communal experience. Grocery stores are our cathedrals. […]
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Berkeley Bites: Jessica Prentice
Jessica Prentice’s claim to fame comes from coining the term locavore, chosen as the 2007 Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. The New York City-trained natural chef lives and breathes the locavore lifestyle. She is a co-founder of Three Stone Hearth, a community supported kitchen cooperative on University Avenue, which sells […]
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Berkeley Bites: Tanya Henderson
Tanya Henderson is a cooking instructor for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). During the day she cooks with teens at Willard Middle School. Once a week she whips up dishes with kids in the after-school program at Malcolm X Elementary. She also teaches evening nutrition classes to parents at several BUSD locations. A former […]
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Market Report: Making seasonal adjustments
Usually by this time of year my kitchen counter is laden with sweet raspberries for making jam, strawberries for sprinkling on cereal, snap-peas and fresh beans for eating and cooking — all from the farmers’ market. By June I’m devouring breathy salads (not warming soups) made with first-growth greens, and planning summer canning sessions using local […]
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Berkeley Bites: Marc Rumminger
Engineer Marc Rumminger grew up in Michigan on a then-typical Midwestern diet: casseroles, canned soup and jello. When he moved to Berkeley for graduate school his culinary world expanded and he became an avid home cook. Rumminger experimented with Asian flavors, particularly Indian cuisine, and he immersed himself in pressing food issues, including the concept […]
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Berkeley Bites: Anchalee Natasiri
Each Friday in this space food writer Sarah Henry asks a well-known, up-and-coming, or under-the-radar food aficionado about their favorite tastes in town, preferred food purveyors and other local culinary gems worth sharing. Anchalee Natasiri co-owns Anchalee Thai Cuisine restaurant with her chef-husband Chuck Natasiri. Since late 2007, the couple has served up classic Thai […]
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Market Report: Rhubarb
Rhubarb, often referred to as a pie plant — and really a vegetable — is just beginning to appear around town and in the farmers’ market. Long cultivated as a medicinal plant in Asia (thought to cure fevers and other ailments), the garden or culinary variety is probably best known for its use as a […]
