Over the weekend I flew to Huron, Ohio to attend the Chef's Summit and a Food & Wine Festival at one of the most inspiring places I have ever been...The Chef's Garden. A traditional farm converted years ago by Farmer Bob and his two sons Farmer Lee and Farmer John, into a farm that supplies the top restaurants around the world with niche products such as micro greens, micro herbs and specialty vegetables grown in a sustainable way. They have also created a program called Veggie-U that entails a kit supplied to schools designed to teach children what farming is all about in order to help them understand the connection between their food and the land. 160 chefs took part in the summit and festival and it was a weekend of incredible food, wine and people. Virtually every renowned chef from around the world has visited The Chef's Garden and it is a place that the culinary world draws priceless inspiration from. To learn more about this amazing place and to set up a visit, go to http://www.chefs-garden.com/.
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In more conservative times (present American presidential administration not included), it was possible to destroy a reputation through the seemingly innocent act of purchasing an avocado. It was long believed that the prickly skinned fruit with the silky green interior had the power to induce sexual prowess, and when its very name, not to mention its seductively creamy texture, is ahuacatl, or testicle, in Aztec, it’s not hard to see why,

It took an aggressive public relations campaign to dispel the racy reputation of this luscious fruit but once the avocado was accepted by a more open minded public, it found a warm, secure spot in the consumer’s heart that has never wavered. The fact that over 50 million pounds of guacamole is consumed on Super Bowl Sunday alone is proof enough that we love our avocados and are willing to overlook its slightly nefarious past.

Native to Mexico, Central and South America, there is evidence of avocado cultivation dating back 7000 years. Spanish explorers documented the presence of avocado trees from the very northern reaches of Mexico to the southern tip of Peru.

When Hernando Cortez arrived in Mexico City in the early sixteenth century, he documented that the avocado was a staple of the native diet. In 1526 Fernandez de Oviedo, historian to the Spanish conquistadors, writes eloquently about the avocado trees he saw growing throughout Columbia, "In the center of the fruit is a seed like a peeled chestnut. And between this and the rind is the part which is eaten, which is abundant, and is a paste similar to butter and of very good taste."

Spanish explorers discovered that the seed of the avocado yields an inedible milky white substance that turns a muddy red when exposed to air. They used this substance as ink and documents written in avocado milk still survive today.

The Spanish were not the only population smitten with the avocado. The English also held it in high regard. W. Hughes, physician to King Charles II of England, wrote of the avocado after he was first introduced to it on a visit to Jamaica, "It is one of the most rare and pleasant fruits of the island. It nourished and strengthened the body, corroborating the spirits and procuring lust exceedingly."
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I spent the day in the lovely village of Scarsdale, NY last Friday and on my way out of town, I made a pit stop at Balducci’s, my favorite gourmet food store in the area where I always walk away thinking I spent way too much money followed up with excitement about my splurge. This visit was no exception.

At the check out line I held in my hand a bottle of pomegranate-blueberry-acai juice that cost a whopping $4.59. I justified the extravagance by thinking of the anti-oxidant explosion I was about to experience. This was a matter of health, not a decadent bottle of ruby-amethyst tinted juice.

As I waited in line, my eyes wandered to the goodies that every grocery store piles high at the check out line. Normally I refuse to succumb to the annoyingly adorable little packets of chewing gum, brightly colored candy bars and ridiculously priced mint tins that pant at me like a window full of homeless puppy dogs that I try to ignore as I walk past the pet store.

Just as my eyes were about to shift away from the jam packed rows of glossy treats to the high maintenance mother and her whiney, over-indulged daughter in front of me, both clad from head to toe in pink and lime Ralph Lauren, I stopped short. Screaming (and I’m talking a deafening screech) was a chocolate bar I saw mentioned recently on a few of my favorite food websites and culinary magazines.

I had yet to see the too good to be true bar in person though and promised myself that when I did, I would snatch it up, no matter what the cost. This was my in the flesh moment and I was not going to let $7.59 for a single bar of standard sized chocolate get in my way. I had to have it. I reached for it and held it close to my heart. I was smitten even before my first bite. How could I not be? After all, this gorgeous temptress had it all. Not only was she a glistening bar of perfectly tempered chocolate, she was studded throughout with smoked sea salt and nubbins of apple wood smoked bacon.
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Chef Grant Achatz, photo credit: The New Yorker
The 18th Annual James Beard Awards, the culinary industry's equivalent to the Oscars, were held over the weekend at New York City's Lincoln Center. The recipient of the Outstanding Chef Award this year was Grant Achatz, executive chef of Chicago's Alinea. A disciple of molecular gastronomy, Achatz was diagnosed with life threatening tongue cancer in 2007. The aggressive chemotherapy he underwent destroyed his sense of taste and while there is no award that could counter the devastation a chef experiences when he loses his most precious gift in the kitchen, it affirms the high praise Alinea's press and customers have showered upon it for years. The 34 year old Achatz, frequently called the best chef cooking in America today, honed his skills at The French Laundry under the tutelage of his mentor Thomas Keller.

The evening's other winners include:

Outstanding Restaurateur:

Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali, Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, New York

Outstanding Restaurant:

Gramercy Tavern, New York

Outstanding New Restaurant:

Central Michel Richard, Washington

Rising Star Chef:

Gavin Kaysen, Cafe Boulud, New York

Outstanding Pastry Chef:

Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, Tartine Bakery, San Francisco

Outstanding Wine Service:

Eleven Madison Park, New York

Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional:

Terry Theise, Terry Theise Estate Selections, Silver Spring, Md.

Outstanding Service:

Terra, St. Helena, Calif.

CHEFS (REGIONAL)

Best Chef: Great Lakes

Carrie Nahabedian, Naha, Chicago

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic

Eric Ziebold, CityZen, Washington

Best Chef: Midwest

Adam Siegel, Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro, Milwaukee

Best Chef: New York

David Chang, Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York

Best Chef: Northeast

Patrick Connolly, Radius, Boston

Best Chef: Northwest

Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita, Kirkland, Wash.

Best Chef: Southwest

Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colo.

Best Chef: South

Michelle Bernstein, Michy's, Miami

Best Chef: Southeast

Robert Stehling, Hominy Grill, Charleston, S.C.

Best Chef: Pacific

Craig Stoll, Delfina, San Francisco

BOOKS

Cookbook of the Year

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, "The River Cottage Meat Book"

Cookbook Hall of Fame

Paula Wolfert, "Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco"

Asian Cooking

Niloufer Ichaporia King, "My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking"

Baking and Dessert

Peter Reinhart, "Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor"

Cooking from a Professional Point of View

The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate, "The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine"

Entertaining

Trish Magwood, "Dish Entertains"

Americana

Jean Anderson, "A Love Affair with Southern Cooking"

General

James Peterson, "Cooking"

Healthy Focus

Jean Harvey-Berino with Joyce Hendley and the editors of EatingWell magazine, "The EatingWell Diet"

International

Anne Willan, "The Country Cooking of France"

Reference

Rowan Jacobsen, "A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America"

Single Subject

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, "The River Cottage Meat Book"

Wine and Spirits

David Wondrich, "Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to 'Professor' Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar"

Writing on Food

Barbara Kingsolver, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life"

Photography Photographer

France Ruffenach, "The Country Cooking of France" by Anne Willan

OTHER

Humanitarian of the year

Francis Moore Lappe

Lifetime achievement

Fritz Maytag

In college I lived on a street that shared space with a humbly named establishment called Joe's Market. One might assume in passing that Joe's was just a standard corner market with the requisite supplies necessary to keep a street housing hundreds of hungry, frequently inebriated college students and the occasional young (let's hope sober) family happy. With its well stocked aisles of standard grocery supplies, along with a station serving freshly brewed coffee, a bakery, an attached laundromat and indoor and outdoor seating for its endless stream of customers, Joe's was a one stop shop for nearly everything.

Sitting at an outdoor table on a Sunday morning beneath one of the generously sized green and white striped umbrellas tending to a hangover with the New York Times, a cup of coffee and a cherry walnut scone baked fresh on-site was the perfect way to begin the day. Mornings often stretched into afternoons and even if the only thing we bought all day was said scone and cup of coffee, the owner, not surprisingly named Joe, never asked us to leave to make way for his many other customers anxiously eying the space for a free table from which to tend their own Sunday hangovers.

What was more likely to happen was that Joe, a middle aged Lebanese man with a generous gut and even more generous laugh, would join us at the table for a minute or two to find out how the semester was going, hear the details we could remember about the parties we attended the night before and more frequently than not, chat about world events.

He could never stay for more than a minute though because when he wasn't tending to the endless line of customers at the check out line, assisting with a broken washing machine, dealing with a vendor, replenishing the coffee station, petting one of the dogs leashed to the bike rack outside or running back and forth through the store with a tray of freshly baked white chocolate chunk cookies, still warm from the oven, he was cooking for his Lebanese Deli that occupied a large portion of the market.
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June officially ushers in the arrival of summer and as temperatures rise and the sun burns brighter, why not invigorate the long hot days ahead with one of the many culinary events taking place in the city this month.

Be sure to check out the 2008 Upcoming Events section of eddybles for a monthly listing of dozens of festivals and happenings in New York City that celebrate food and drink! The date, location and a link to the event is provided for every listing.

Here's To A Festive Summer!

New York Foodie Club Event: Wine Tasting at Kana: June 1st 
Taste of Times Square: June 2nd
Artisanal Cheese: Deluxe Sakes & Artisanal Cheeses: June 2nd
Murray's Cheese: The Raw Truth: June 2nd
Asia Society: From Soy to Satay, Asian Sauces Going Mainstream: June 2nd
New York Wine & Culinary Center: The Art of Grilling: June 2nd
Bottlerocket: Explore Wine: 4 Week Series: June 2nd
James Beard House: Top Chef James Dieterle of Perilla: June 3rd
Museum Mile Festival: June 3rd
Grand Central Oyster Bar: Herring Festival: June 3rd
Brandy Library: Spirit School: Intro To Scotch: June 3rd
The New School: What's For Dinner: The Rise of Food Literacy: June 3rd
Institute of Culinary Education: Cupcake Workshop: June 3rd
Bowery Culinary Center: Book Club: The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: June 4th
92nd Street Y: Wines For Summer: June 4th
Degustibus: Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar: June 4th
Broadway Panhandler: Storewide Sale: June 4th-8th
Coney Island Freak Fest Island Craft Lagers Launch Party: June 4th
Degustibus: John Besh of August, New Orleans: June 5th
Murray's Cheese: The Terroir of Wine & Cheese: June 5th
Louis Latour Wine Dinner at Nick & Steph's Wine Dinner: June 5th
Culinary Historians of New York: George Washington Carver: June 5th
AIWF at The Fales Library: Water: A Global Discussion of a Critical Topic: June 5th
Institute of Culinary Education: Couples Like It Hot: June 6th
Midnight Wine Tasting at Pasita's: June 6th
Yoga and Raw Foods Expo: June 6th-8th
James Beard Foundation Awards: June 6th-8th
Astor Center: CIA Presents: Cooking With Your Teen: June 7th
Big Apple Barbecue Block Party: June 7th-8th
National Arts Club: The Triumphs of French Cuisine With Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson: June 9th
AIWF: Professional Series Panel: June 10th
Institute of Culinary Education: Kaiseki: The High Art of Japanese Cuisine: June 10th
Murray's Cheese: Border Battles: VT vs. NH Beer & Cheese: June 10th
Bowery Culinary Center: Knit. Purl. Eat: June 10th
Degustibus: Wylie Dufresne of WD-50: June 11th
22nd Annual Blues & Barbecue To Benefit The Urban Justice Center: June 11th
Brandy Library: Seminar: Precious & Rare Scotches: June 11th
Tastebuds NYC Dinner Meet Up: June 11th
Beard On Books: Martha Hall Foose: Screen Doors & Sweet Teas: June 11th
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Insurance For Food Industry Professionals: June 11th
Food & Culinary Professionals: Book Club: Mindless Eating: June 11th
Murray's Cheese: Mystery of The Caves: June 12th
Institute of Culinary Education: Into The Vietnamese Kitchen: June 12th
The New School: Julia Child, Culinary Revolutionary: June 12th
Beard On Film: Harry Hawk & George Motz: NYC Film Festival: June 13th
Astor Center: Hands On Workshop: Pizza & Wine Pairing: June 14th
Real Men Cook: June 15th
City Meals On Wheels Benefit: America's Star Chefs Salute The Legends of French Cuisine: June 16th
James Beard House: Best Hotel Chefs: Ryan Littman: June 17th
Institute of Culinary Education: Wild Inspiration With Bill Telepan: June 17th
Artisanal Cheese: Chambers Street Wines At Artisanal: June 17th
New York Wine & Culinary Center: Garlic, Garlic, Garlic: June 17th
Vino-Versity: Sangria: June 17th
Broadway Panhandler: Cherry Tart Class: June 18th
92nd Street Y: Francine Segan: Honey: History & Gourmet Tasting: June 18th
Chelsea Wine Vault: Ole! Viva Rioja! June 18th
Murray's Cheese: When In Rome...: June 18th
Bowery Culinary Center: Homebrewed Kombucha: June 18th
James Beard House: Sophisticated Seafood: Toby Joseph: June 20th
Murray's Cheese: Hot Days, Cold Beer: June 20th
Astor Center: Elements of Mixologist: June 21st
James Beard House: 20th Anniversary of Aquavit With Johan Svensonn: June 21st
Broadway Panhandler: Onion Ring Class: June 22nd
New York Bar Show: June 22nd-23rd
The Art of Wine Tasting Aboard Yacht Manhattan: June 23rd
Liquid Octagon Experience: June 22nd-23rd
James Beard House: New England Springtime Feast: James Sewall: June 25th
Artisanal Cheese: All About Fondue: June 25th
Institute of Culinary Education: Food Blogging With Andrea Strong: June 25th
Murray's Cheese: Sake & Cheese: June 25th
Artisanal Cheese: Cheese 101: June 26th
Artisanal Cheese: Cheese & Wine 101: June 26th
Bowery Culinary Center: Rogue Ales & Rogue Creamery Cheeses: June 26th
Astor Center: Russ & Daughters: A Taste of Appetizing: June 26th
Slowfood NYC: Monthly Meeting: June 26th
Murray's Cheese: Passport To Portugal: June 27th
James Beard House: Workshop: Pasta: June 28th
Institute of Culinary Education: How To Blow A Sugar Ball: June 29th
WCR: Women Chefs Celebrate Summer: June 29th
Absinthe Weekend: June 29th
Murray's Cheese: Meet The Maker: Mrs. Quicke: June 30th
Fancy Food Show: June 29th-July 1st

Rarely do I serve a cheese so beautiful I cringe when my guest picks up the knife to cut it. Such was the case with the stunning golden disc of Candela delle Langhe. Hailing from the northwestern Piedmont region of Italy, Candella delle Langhe is a goat's milk cheese coated in a thin layer of beeswax that is pressed with a bouquet of brightly colored flowers and herbs. Aesthetically it's a masterpiece, but as is so often the case in life, the most beautiful packages disappoint when they do things like open their mouths and speak (yes, I am referring to beautiful humans, I've never had a conversation with a round of cheese). Would Candela delle Langhe taste as appealing as its packaging?

As my guest stared at me as a result of my gasp, knife hovering in the air, I finally nodded an affirmative and the knife sliced first through the herbal bouquet and then through the beeswax that crumbled slightly as it gave way to the silky ivory hued cheese within.  

Candela delle Langhe has the appearance of a soft cheese and I was surprised to find it was much firmer than expected. Its flavor was pronounced but not as acidic as a fresh goat cheese. Instead, it offered a tangy yeastiness with hints of herbs and a clean honeyed finish. Its herbaceous aroma carried notes of honey too and I was happy to discover that what Candela delle Langhe offers on the inside corresponds to its lovely cloak of color on the outside.

Each round of Candela delle Langhe is about seven ounces. I picked mine up at Fairway where it sells for $6.99 per round. I have yet to see it anywhere else but I'm sure that it will be popping up all over the place once word spreads that this gem is a treasure inside and out.