Saturday Taste Workshop Schedule

Saturday 10:00 – 11:00am

  • Presidium Coffee Cupping

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $10

    Participants tasted freshly brewed, specialty coffees from Guatemala and Santo Domingo while hearing two growers from these areas talk about the challenges and efforts to support sustainable coffee growing. This Slow Food Presidium is helping to protect and find markets for these specialty coffees and how different roasting techniques enhance aromas and flavors.

  • Throw a “Slowtail” Party for 6 Friends for Under $60

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $10

    Whole Foods Market Chef Instructor Josh Hanoka taught participants how to throw a legendary but seriously affordable party of delicious artisan tastes and sips, including champagne fruit cocktails and four locally-inspired appetizers. A slow cocktail party with cash leftover for dinner? You really can have it all.

Saturday 12:00 – 1:00pm

  • The Apple in the Pig’s Mouth

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $20

    A pairing of artisanal hard ciders with La Quercia prosciutto.

    Participants paired great artisanal ciders from around the country with three different varieties of prosciutto from Iowa’s La Quercia. Dry, sweet, savory and salty are not nearly descriptive enough to communicate the layers of flavors discernible in these traditional favorites. Panelists included noted author and apple expert Ben Watson and La Quercia owner and prosciutto maker Herb Eckhouse. Moderated by chef and food writer Kurt Michael Friese.

  • Rare Flavors of the South

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $20

    Andrea Reusing, chef and owner of Lantern Restaurant in Chapel Hill and Phoebe Lawless, chef and owner of Scratch Artisan Baking in Durham, North Carolina, presented a tasting menu of flavors steeped in Southern history. A pickle plate featuring shrimp with green tomatoes and ramps, souse and corned ha; a rare taste of Gullah-style Reezy Peezy with Anson Mills Sea Island Peas and Carolina Gold Rice; a tasting of old southern apples saved from extinction by Lee Creighton Calhoun, Jr., author of Old Southern Apples; and cornbread with homemade buttermilk and sorghum were all paired with a 20-year old bourbon from Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve.

Saturday 2:00 – 3:00pm

  • Tasting California Olive Oil

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $10

    Olive trees were one of the many gifts that Missionaries brought when settling California, and today about 500,000 gallons of mostly extra virgin olive oil are produced in California. Nancy Ash, California Olive Oil Council Taste Panel Leader and owner of Strictly Olive Oil guided a tasting of extra virgin olive oils, provided an overview of industry issues and described what exactly “extra virgin olive oil” means.

  • American Artisan Cheeses and Microbrews

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $20

    For the past 20 years, hand-crafted wheels of cheese and vats of microbrews have been feeding America’s food revolution. A steady climb of American artisan cheesemakers and master brewers—a skilled and tireless group—offers proof of consumer interest and respect for traditional European style cheesemaking, right here at home. In this session, presented by Matt Jennings of Farmstead, Inc., participants’ taste buds were tickled and surprised at the quality and depth of flavor produced by local American artisan cheesemakers and master brewers.

Saturday 4:00 – 5:00pm

  • Bounty from the Midwest

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $20

    Grace Singleton of Ann Arbor’s famous Zingerman’s introduced Midwestern regional foods produced in Michigan, the second-largest agricultural producing state in the U.S. The essence of the region’s diversity was discovered in delicacies from Tracklement’s smoked fish, Zingerman Creamery and Bakehouse items, Ark-of-Taste Paw Paws (including a presentation by Neal Peterson, champion of the pawpaw and Betsy Lydon award winner, on their recovery of this American fruit), and a selection of hearty local brews. Grace was joined in the discussion by a panel of people dedicated to preserving and cultivating Midwestern cuisine: Kim Bayer of Slow Food and Edible WOW, chef Nick Seccia and Susan Schmidt of the Henry Ford Museum, and Gauri Thergaonkar, also of Zingerman’s.

  • Heritage Pork and Sparkling Mead

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $20

    The Ossabaw Island Hog descended from Iberian hogs left by the Spaniards off the coast of Georgia in the 1500’s. The hog was on the verge of extinction until Eliza MacLean began a conservation and breeding program, and now a herd of about 250 Ossabaw Island Hogs, Ossabaw Crosses, and Farmer’s Hybrid Hogs enjoy free range on Cane Creek Farm’s pasture land, free of antibiotics and animal byproducts. This worksop paired Ossabaw pork with Gordon Hull‘s Heidrun Meadery Sparkling Mead, made in Arcata California. Sparkling Mead, or honey wine, is the product of fermented honey rather than grapes, a technique that predates the Middle Ages by a millennia or more. Hosted by Chef Joe Bonaparte of the International Culinary Schools, Eliza MacLean, and Gordon Hull.

Saturday 6:00 – 7:00pm

  • Case Study: Napa Valley Wine Growing for the Next Thousand Years

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $20

    Winegrowing may be the most ancient form of agriculture. In Europe, some vineyards have been under continuous cultivation for more than one thousand years. What will it take to do the same in the Napa Valley? At this workshop, a group of vintners and leaders discussed some of the important initiatives they have taken to preserve the true sustainability of winegrowing in the Napa Valley, including: the Napa Valley Ag Preserve, the Napa Valley Land Trust, Napa County Resource Conservation District, the Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group, Napa Green Vineyard-Fish Friendly Farming, Napa Green Winery, as well as Organic and Biodynamic winegrowing. Christopher Howell of Cain Vineyard & Winery led the discussion while participants sipped stupendous wines, nibbled on some delicious Fiscalini Cheese and an enticing selection of sustainably-produced Napa valley foods and gained insights on how associations of people, wine, and food create the most satisfying combinations.

  • Howell Mountain History and La Jota Vineyards

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $20

    Winemaker Chris Carpenter told the history of viticulture and led a discussion of the unique climate and challenges faced by vintners on Howell Mountain in the Napa Valley. Participants explored this history through a vertical tasting spanning three decades from Cabernet Franc vines planted 30 years ago.

Saturday 8:00 – 9:00pm

  • Coro Mendocino Wines & Organic Cheeses

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 362 | Tickets: $20

    This workshop was a special opportunity to taste a Mendocino winemakers’ endeavor to create a class of distinctive wines that belong to the rich heritage, terroir and unique characteristics of varietals with a long history in Mendocino County. 2005 Coro Mendocino Wines were be paired with Elk Creamery organic cheeses, highlighting the aromas and flavors gleaned from this region. Elk Creamery is California’s first USDA Certified Organic goat dairy, and is also Demeter Certified Biodynamic.

  • Celebrating American Raw Milk Cheese

    Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 370 | Tickets: $20

    Among the great artisan cheeses made in America, the raw milk ones are particularly blessed. Beyond wonderful cheddar, there are dozens of aged cow, goat, and sheep cheese to whet the appetite. With a focus on the American Raw Milk Cheese Association, one of Slow Food USA’s first Presidia initiatives, this workshop explored the differences between raw and pasteurized milk cheeses, some of the controversy surrounding these products and the growing array of unique tastes. The six-cheese tasting was paired with American craft beers.