Local Gourmands

My grandpa Gilbert, a man who could identify trees by their bark, grain, and leaves, and knew their names in Latin as well as the vernacular, was a great believer in celebrating the Solstice. He was also a terrific pickle and preserve maker, which made our dinners in honor of the Winter Solstice that much sweeter. I remember a visit to his and my grandma’s farm in Wisconsin one December when we stood dried corn stalks in the snow and lit them on fire, acknowledging the shortest day of the year. Back inside we whipped out the Scrabble board and dished up dessert: strawberries that had been frozen and set aside from the summer harvest. The surprise and pleasure of eating the fruit (ice-cube like but still sweet, and redolent of summer days) so far out of its normal season was as thrilling as scoring a seven letter word.

The berries have been so particularly juicy this June that I haven’t let any go to waste, or my freezer for that matter. This week there are several lessons on canning to take note of, but when I have my friends over tonight to revel in the light on the longest day of the year we’ll be living in the moment, eating strawberries that came fresh from the field.

Happy Summer Solstice,
Jeanne

Monday, June 21 – Sunday, June 27
NYC Premiere Week:
What’s Organic About Organic
HERE, Dorothy B. Williams Theater
145 Avenue of the Americas
Shelly Rogers’ brilliant new documentary, “What’s Organic About Organic?,” kicks off its national tour of “screen and green” events on the Summer Solstice. A panel discussion follows each night’s screening, featuring our local sustainable agriculture luminaries from New York City. Everyone from Bob Lewis to Fred Kirschenmann to Anne Saxelby and Joan Gussow will be showing up to chime in on the topic of “organic” and what it means in the midst of the sustainable agriculture movement right now. Click here for a full list of the week’s events.

Monday, June 21, 6-7pm
Put ‘em Up
Jimmy’s No. 43
43 E. 7th St.
Tickets, $15-$30
Author Sherri Brooks Vinton gets her jam on at Jimmy’s No. 43 in this demonstration in putting up seasonal food so that you can enjoy it canned, fermented, frozen, or dried throughout the year. “Join eater and author, Sherri Brooks Vinton, as she demonstrates a variety of these techniques with recipes from her new book, Put ‘em Up! Eaters will walk away with all the knowledge they need to safely and confidently put up their own tomatoes, pickles, jams, jellies, salsas, chutneys and more. Books will be available for sale at the event. Proceeds from this event will benefit The Food Systems Network NYC.”

Tuesday, June 22, 6-8pm
Vegetable Container Gardening with George Pisegna
Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street, 13th Fl, btwn Broadway & 7th Ave
HSNY Members $50; non-members $65
The Horticultural Society’s own George Pisegna leads a class on how to make the most of your windowsill, patio, balcony, or doorstep with a productive container garden.George will give you the low down on what types of soil mixes, fertilizer, plants, and containers will yield the best results. A brief lecture will be followed by a demonstration of how to plant a container garden.

Wednesday, June 23, 6:30pm
Jamtastic
The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs
100 Frost St.
Jam on with Kelly Geary of Sweet Deliverance at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs. She will cover canning safety and technique, as well a few tips for dealing with all of those apples. Students will go home with a jar of preserves that they helped can, and the knowledge to can all of summer’s approaching bounty.

Wednesday, June 23, 7pm
The Great New York City Shuck ‘n Suck!
4th Annual NYC Food Film Fest
Water Taxi Beach
Tickets
This is the kick-off event for a week of excellent shorts, features, and eats that make up the smorgasbord that is the NYC Food Film Fest. The Shuck ‘n Suck boasts all the oysters you can eat, an open bar, and four films all about bivalves. A full list of the week’s events including a food truck drive-in, a Southeast Asian street market, and an evening of edible adventures can be found here.

Wednesday, June 23, 6pm
The Visionary Reloaded: New Scales of Operation in the Age of Information
Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street, 13th Fl, btwn Broadway & 7th Ave
Tickets, free for HSNY members, public $10, students $5
Join the Hort in celebration of the launch of two books, WORKac’s Above the Pavement—the Farm!: Architecture and Agriculture at PF1, and the expanded second edition of Fritz Haeg’s Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn. A discussion will follow focusing on how a new generation of visionaries use media, design and activism to promote radical “green” change. Jeff Gordinier, author of X Saves the World moderates the following panel of guests:

Amale Andraos & Dan Wood, WORK Architecture Co.
Majora Carter, Sustainable South Bronx
Fritz Haeg, Artist, Edible Estates
Adam Michaels, Project Projects & Inventory Books
James Wines, SITE

Saturday, June 26, 7:30pm
Cheesemonger Invitational
Larkin
47-55 27th street, Long Island City
Tickets, $30-$35
On June 26th some of the most important people in the specialty cheese business will congregate at a discreet warehouse in Long Island City to witness the first annual Cheesemonger Invitational. Nine of the top cheesemongers representing the finest cheese shops from around our country are set to compete in a no-holds barred cornucopia of coddled curd. Watch mongers from Zingerman’s, Murrays, Rubiners, DiBruno Brothers, Bi Rite, Liberty Heights Fresh, St.James Cheese Company, Bedford Cheese Shop, and Formaggio Kitchen go head to head in this event that will celebrate all things cheese.

Saturday, June 26, 2-4pm
Picnic Block at Williamsburg Walks
Bedford Ave., btwn N 4th & N 9th, Willamsburg
$10 to enter
Picnic with the Southside CSA during this weekend’s “Williamsburg Walks” event. Bedford Ave. will be closed off to cars! Hang out with your friends and neighbors and show your stuff at the Williamsburg Picnic Challenge, wherein each group is charged with the task of preparing a soup, a salad, a sandwich and a dessert that reflects the culinary culture of one of the twelve ethnicities who call Williamsburg home. See more details here.

Sunday, June 27, noon-5pm
UnFancy Food Show
The Bell House
149 7th St., Gowanus
Entry, $5
If you’ve never been before, the UnFancy Food Show is the chance to experience Brooklyn’s food scene at its finest– sample Salvatore ricotta, Anarchy in a Jar jam, Nunu’s chocolates, Liddabit’s salty caramels, Mama O’s kimchi, and on and on down the line. I always manage to wind up with an ice cream cone in one hand, a beer in the other, and somehow balance a taste of local charcuterie on artisanal bread in between. Brooklyn Brewery tall boys will be $3, lending a drunken haze to the whole thing.

Sunday, June 27, 11am-4pm
New Amsterdam Market
South Street
After a long winter the New Amsterdam Market has made its much-anticipated return to South Street, bringing Manhattan some of the finest regionally-sourced and artisanally crafted jam, ice cream, cheese, meat, bread, wine, and noshes around.

Sunday, June 27, noon
It’s Grits!
Tobacco Warehouse, DUMBO
Tickets, $35
Matt Timms, founder of the the cook-off competition revolution, doesn’t quit– you wanna bet he gets his fuel from grits. As part of this year’s awesome line-up for the NYC Food Film Festival, he’s incorporated a whole takedown devoted to this Southern staple. Contestants are supplied with 10lbs. of grits and dairy products from Timms, then go at it with your most creative concoction to win cash prizes and a motherload of goods from Wusthof, Analon, Organic Valley, Whole Foods, and more.

Sunday, June 27, 2pm
Stinkfest 2010
Stinky Brooklyn
261 Smith St., Carroll Gardens
Stinky Brooklyn’s fourth annual Cheese Eating Contest– how much cheese can you eat, and how fast– takes place this Sunday, the highlight of Smith Street’s Fun Day.
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Of note a few weeks down the road…

Tuesday, June 29, 6:30pm
Jamtastic
The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs
100 Frost St.
Jam on with Kelly Geary of Sweet Deliverance at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs. She will cover canning safety and technique, as well a few tips for dealing with all of those apples. Students will go home with a jar of preserves that they helped can, and the knowledge to can all of summer’s approaching bounty.

Wednesday, June 30, 6:30pm
Foodie Book Club
The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs
100 Frost St.
The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs’ foodie book club returns this month to discuss American Pie: Slices Of Life (And Pie) From America’s Back Roads.“Pie just may be the madonna-whore of the dessert world,” Le Draoulec writes. “It’s pie’s dual nature; the fact that pie is both sensuous and maternal. Sweet yet sensible.” Bring a dish to share to share at the pie-themed potluck.

Sunday, July 11, 11:30am-4:30pm
Meatopia
Governor’s Island
Tickets, $25-$150
Given that Mayor Bloomberg has declared July Good Beer Month, Jimmy Carbone and Josh Ozersky have collaborated to bring together 30 of the city’s best chefs in a day devoted to one of beer’s best pairings: barbecue. Chefs have paired up with regional farmers to source sustainably raised meat that will then be grilled and enjoyed by the masses at this showdown on Governor’s Island. Proceeds will benefit Just Food.