Slow Food Sacramento is engaged in another international program, the Ark of Taste project of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.

To make this work possible, Slow Food USA has regionalized its Ark of Taste Committees. Slow Food California’s new Ark of Taste committee is headed up by Linda Elbert of the Orange County Chapter. Our own Suzanne Ashworth of Del Rio Botanical has agreed to serve on the jury that selects foods to be boarded. And David Baker of GRAS has submitted Slow Food Sacramento’s application to board the Clarksburg Chenin Blanc — a grape variety we are losing to Chardonnay. Chenin Blanc grows best in three places in the world: Clarksburg, the Loire Valley of France, and South Africa.

If you attended our mixer and tasting at Revolution Wine, you know we want to keep the grape in production here! We owe a big debt to Revolution Wine’s Gina Genshlea, David Baker, Darrell Corti, and all the vintners that have helped David and SFS with this project. Want a good Chenin Blanc? Stop by Revolution Wine. Want to help with the work of the Ark of Taste Committee? Contact charity@slowfoodsacramento.com.

Read more about the program to protect threatened food varieties of all kinds here: http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/pagine/eng/arca/cerca.lasso?-id_pg=36

Slow Food Sacramento would like to extend the kindest words of gratitude to our greater community of partners, supporters, and amazing members who last year helped support the soft launch of the School Garden Coalition through their participation in Urban Ag Fest IV.

Last year’s beneficiary of funds raised at Urban Ag Fest IV was Rosemont High School Green Academy. And they have put the funding to good use! In addition to adding much needed fencing, Green Academy students completed the ADA beds; graded and plumbed; planted fava beans, asparagus, cilantro, and potatoes; and reserved the clay extracted during excavation to build wood burning ovens!

Culinary Arts teacher Chef Scott Singer, Masonry Program educator Brett Hutchison, and Principal Leise Martinez are excited to demonstrate the practical life and job skills, linked learning, and critical thinking applications possible in a school garden environment. And in the 3rd week of April, almost 70 Rosemont HS Green Academy students walked to neighboring Sequoia Elementary to do a full day of work in that garden alongside their younger friends.

See some photos here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/chefbrendaruiz/RosemontHSGreenAcademySpring2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMDcy_6Qs5OwsgE&feat=directlink
or on twitter at @RHSCulinary.

Please join us for Day on the Farm, May 19, at Soil Born Farms American River Ranch at the School Garden Expo. At this event, you can get connected to a few of the region’s school gardens and edible education programs. Thanks to Assemblyman Roger Dickinson for in-kind support helping to make the expo possible. Help needed on May 18 and 19th! To volunteer, learn more about the Coalition and the exciting work ahead, or to donate resources contact Brenda Ruiz at chefbrendaruiz@gmail.com. 

Photo courtesy of Craig Haarmeyer.

Chenin Blanc from the Clarksburg AVA is described as a light, dry white wine with notes of light honey, nectarine, and peach.

The grapes are native to the Loire Valley in northern France. In addition to the Loire Valley, the world’s finest and most distinctive Chenin Blancs originate from South Africa and right here in our backyard, in Clarksburg in the Sacramento River Delta.

Chenin Blanc thrives in the Sacramento Delta because of the welcoming natural conditions: the Delta soil, which is composed of various alluvial layers including sandy loam and dense clay, paired with the hot summer days and maritime-influenced cool nights.  Gerald Asher of Gourmet magazine once wrote “It’s the right grape in the right place.” And local gastronome Darrell Corti proclaimed “Chenin Blanc loves rich Delta soil.”

Chenin Blanc was once a popular and prolific grape grown throughout California. In the late 1970s, Charles Krug produced 125,000 cases of dry Chenin Blanc. Yet, today, its production is threatened by wine industry trends. Acreage is at an all time low, falling almost 80% since the 1980s, and most is grown in the Central Valley as an anonymous blending grape. While many vineyards have chosen to replace Chenin Blanc with better selling varietals, several wineries have continued to carry on the tradition of Chenin Blanc, creating unique and award-winning wines, and preserving this distinctive expression of our local region. Producers of Chenin Blanc in our region include Wilson Ranch, Bogle Vineyards, Heringer Vineyards, Baranek Vineyards, Six Hands, and Dancing Coyote.

Originally settled just after the 1849 Gold Rush, Clarksburg has been a productive agricultural area for over a century (producing pears, alfalfa, tomatoes, and cattle). The transformation to vineyards began in the early 1960s. Chenin Blanc was first introduced to the area and quickly became a star, putting Clarksburg Chenin Blanc on the national stage through the 1970s. Almost all of the growers have been farming here for five or six generations, since prior to 1900.

Because of Chenin Blanc’s uniqueness and rich history, Slow Food Sacramento and the Green Restaurant Alliance of Sacramento are working on a nomination of Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg AVA for Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, which preserves unique flavors from particular regions. We are proposing it be certified as a heritage product, outstanding in terms of taste—as defined in the context of local traditions and uses, at risk biologically or as culinary traditions, and produced in limited quantities.

To learn more, join us for an upcoming Chenin Blanc tasting and Slow Food mixer on April 23. Details and tickets available here.

The tasting will feature these great wineries:

• Revolution
• Bogle
• Rendez Vous
• Heringer
• Clarksburg Wine Company
• Dancing Coyote
• Blue Plate
• Twisted River
• Dry Creek Vineyards

On February 12, 2013, the documentary film Couscous Island – produced by Slow Food in the framework of the 4Cities4Dev project and co-funded by the European Union – was presented at the Berlin Film Festival.

This is the last documentary in the Living Food Communities series, which includes three other half-hour movies directed by Francesco Amato (director of Ma che ci faccio qui! and Cosimo e Nicole) and Stefano Scarafia (director of Il corridore andGente di Terra Madre). Each movie tells the story of a Slow Food community, presents a product and describes how it is an important element of the cultural and social identity of the whole community. In addition, it shows how, if properly promoted, these productions can offer a viable opportunity to improve the community’s economic conditions.

Watch the films at this link: http://www.4cities4dev.eu/ita/7/video

The movies were shot in Africa, between Kenya, Senegal and Ethiopia:

Pokot Ash Yoghurt – Kenya, 23’20”
The Tarsoi village community has always produced a very peculiar yoghurt with cow’s or goat’s milk mixed with the ash from an indigenous tree. Ash yoghurt had a very important role in the diet of the Pokot people. Today, communities have overwhelmingly lost pride in their food culture and the yoghurt is only produced by a few families for their own consumption. Occasionally the extra production is sold at local markets.

Harenna Forest Wild Coffee – Ethiopia, 23’59”
Ethiopia is the country where coffee originates from and the only in the world where wild coffee plants grow. For thousands of years, families have been roasting their own berries, crushing them in a mortar and offering coffee to guests according to a solemn ritual, a strong symbol of hospitality and respect.

Fadiouth Island Salted Millet Couscous – Senegal, 27′ e 34′ (two versions)
The village of Fadiouth is located on an island made entirely of shells, which can be reached by a long wooden bridge. The Serer – the indigenous people that lives there – have always been the greatest producers of sunnà millet and live off farming and fishing in the sea and lagoon.

These films were produced as part of the 4Cities4Dev project, co-funded by the European Union. Their production stems from the cooperation between Slow Food and four European cities – Turin, Tours, Bilbao and Riga. The project combines the role of cities, as active protagonists of local policies and decentralized cooperation, and the Slow Food approach, based on the involvement of food communities, citizens and consumers.

New in 2013 – Slow Food Sacramento initiates Slow Food U

What do lemons, bacon and pickles have in common? All will be featured in upcoming Slow Food U cooking classes. As Slow Food U Coordinator Karen Auwaerter explains, “While talking with several food producers during a recent Snail of Approval mixer, we realized the need, actually the opportunity, to learn how to prepare good, clean, fair food that is literally falling from the trees around us.”

Slow Food U is a new program to provide hands-on learning toward using the food bounty of our region. The seminars, to be taught by local culinary experts, will be limited to 6 to 20 participants depending upon available training space.

The first-ever Slow Food U event, Lemons in February, is coming soon! Details below.

Lemon Seminar – Saturday, February 23, 6-9pm

Kathleen Albiani, Culinary Instructor at the Art Institute, will conduct a hands-on seminar focused on using the Meyer lemons that are so plentiful this year. Items to be prepared include: lemon curd, preserved Moroccan lemons and a chicken and green olive tagine using the preserved lemons, lemon marmalade, and limoncello. The seminar will be held in Elk Grove and a list of items that participants should bring, such as small canning jars and appetizers for supper, will be provided upon signup. $16 plus ticket fee – Click HERE to sign up.

On April 17, Slow Food Sacramento announced the latest honorees of the “Snail of Approval” program. The Snail of Approval program recognizes local businesses that contribute to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of food in the community.

This year, Slow Food Sacramento introduced two new award categories: Producers and Supporters. Past awards were conferred on restaurants offering menu items that meet the Slow Food mission of good (authentic flavor), clean (grown so it does not harm the environment) and fair (food producers receive fair compensation). In response to the growing interest by auxiliary food businesses and organizations, the new Producer category recognizes businesses producing locally unique and sustainable foods. The new Supporter category acknowledges organizations that encourage sustainable business practices in the food community.  

The restaurants receiving the Snail of Approval are:

• Spataro Restaurant and Bar
• Paragary’s Bar and Oven
• Esquire Grill
• Centro Cocina Mexicana
• Juno’s Kitchen and Delicatessen

 Awardees in the Producer category are:

• Soil Born Farms
• Devine Gelateria
• Del Rio Botanicals
• Revolution Wines

 Awardees in the Supporter category are:

• Edible Pedal
• Green Restaurant Alliance of Sacramento
• Produce Express

 ”Sacramento is at the forefront of a national movement of consumers and businesses embracing locally grown, sustainable foods. This is our way of recognizing and honoring the businesses in our region that focus on good, clean, and fair food,” says Karen Auwaerter, president of Slow Food Sacramento.

For more information on Slow Food Sacramento and the Snail of Approval selection criteria, click here.