My favorite part of the last tasting lab was not the Wine, but the home brewed beer made by Erik. The beer I sampled was the Pale Ale. It was light, refreshing, and a perfect color. The hops were just right for me as well. The beer actually complemented my array of post luck food perfectly. The quality was excellent and knowing the time put in to crafting this beer made me drink it slowly savoring every sip.
Also I had one the other night!! Thanks Erik!
The tea made by Shani this week was very interesting and pleasing. It included all foraged ingredients and came with warning, ha. Some of the ingredients included: Pine needles, rosemary, and I think bark of some sort. I had a very strong taste of rosemary and it was excellent.
We also enjoyed some couscous with a veggie concoction that I cant quite remember, but found delicious. SO delicious I went back for seconds and alas there was none. Darn! Thank you again for the lovely meal.
I was very fortunate this week to attend the tea tasting. Although I am not a tea drinker and only really consume it when I’m feeling sick; the tea we tasted was good (still not a tea drinker) but the experience the teas gave me was the real highlight.
The tea which gave me the most vivd flashbacks was the tea with roasted rice. Maybe it was the rice, or the rice/tea combo but the flavor transported me back to Bali.
I could smell the musky heat, I could see the mountains, I could hear the jungle noises. The memory was almost unbearable, for I long to be there again. Tea can be transformative and maybe the taste of the tea isn’t the most important quality.
In a world where all food or drink is about the taste, is it possibly for tea to be a transport for our consciousness to a memory or elevated state of being?
As I bit into my first mushroom grown by the ever awesome care of Frankie, I knew this was the best mushroom I had ever eaten.
I had the privilege of speaking to Frankie before gathering my food for the meal, and the ultimate appreciation and gratitude goes out to her for providing such a savory dish from her own hard work. The amount of time, supplies, and overall stress that went into fostering the growth of those mushrooms came across in the quality of taste each one of them possessed.
There is a concept I keep coming back to, which is intention of community. It is something I have struggled to maintain these last couple of years, in my move from Kentucky. I left behind literally my entire family. So genuine community has been hard to come by recently.
This may be why I am incredibly thankful for Frankie’s tender care in creating not only a unique perspective on mushrooms, but helping to foster community though service growing/cooking. This week gave me high hopes and a warm heart for community growth.
As a main contributor to week 4’s tasting lab, I’m pleased at how every component came together to create a wonderful experience for all members of Tuesdays gathering.
I was honored to be able to serve all of you and very appreciative of the gratitude in return.
I did not get to stay for all of the tea tasting, although it seemed incredibly informative and awakening. My favorite component of the day had to be the bagels! Thank you Natasha for showing us fakers what a true bagel is!! It was delicious.
In class I did not state my full intention in making a veggie soup. As a vegetarian myself I find it very healing to create dishes for other people, that to me at least, is morally just and ethical sourced. Plus a warm bowl of veggie broth can go a long way in making you smile on the inside ;).
Thank you all again for your gratitude and compliments!
This week we focused on the wonderful world of spices. We were asked to create our own spice kit, and to cook Lox together.
Although I did not help with the creation of Lox, I did design my very own spice rub to use at my house. After growing up in a house that only used salt and pepper to achieve taste, this adventure into the world of spices is quite intriguing.
We were also asked to think about the hearth, both its historical position at the center of the home, and its role in todays society.
Todays hearth all to often has become the room with the biggest TV. Much like the fire of the past, it provides entertainment, education, and togetherness. Although I would argue that the interaction is between technology and individuals, not individual to individual. This shift away from individual interaction could be directly linked to shift of the hearth to the back of the home.
Like my adventure into the spice world, I will also take an adventure back to the hearth, to gather and connect with what I have lost.
For this weeks lunch we shared a warm meal with an abundance of flavors, but my mouth seems to remember the yellow curry squash. The squash was sweet, having that stringy texture that only a squash can pull off. The curry seemed to balance out the sweetness perfectly, it transformed the squash.
We were challenged to eat the skin, I accepted willingly, in all honesty the skin has always been my favorite part; from potatoes to apples. There is just something really satisfying in consuming the whole vegetable, or fruit. In my opinion it is the skin that really gives and holds the flavor, and not to mention most nutrients are found in skins. I will take this as validation to keep doing me and eating those vegetable skins!
Eggs, Eggs, and Salmon Roe. As an avid egg lover, this tasting lab had me excited. The three different chicken eggs were Golden Egg (scrambled in shell), White Egg (regular), Pink Egg (pickled), Marbled Egg (boiled in black tea), and Salmon Roe.
My initial thoughts: The golden egg was a nice mix of egg white and egg yolk taste and the texture was somewhat fluffy.
The White egg was bland and unsurprising after tasting the other three.
The Pink Egg had a nice beet earth taste to it. Just enough pickling to not be overpowering.
The marbled egg was my favorite by far. It had this vibrant Umami taste, almost like soy sauce but sweeter.
I did not eat the Salmon Roe, my knowledge of Salmon restoration gives me strong feelings of reverence to the Salmon Life cycle and every egg carries specific genetic DNA that could further the species.
After reading the passages about each egg, the taste didn’t change but my perception did. I was not at all surprised that the white egg had come from a farm that did not treat its chickens well, its in the taste. You can taste the pain, and the imprisonment of the Hens. I am and was very grateful for all the hard work put into making the varieties of eggs, and for the introduction of new ways to enjoy eggs.
