Dairy Lovers' Farm Tour ~ Sept 17

A tour like no udder! Travel with CUESA to the rolling hills of Petaluma. We’ll visit two dairies: Achadinha Cheese Company, where Donna Pacheco makes award-winning cheeses by hand with milk from her own goats, and Saint Benoit Yogurt, located at the Diamond M Dairy, where Benoit de Korsak crafts small batches of organic French-style yogurt from Jersey milk. Tour attendees will see the goats and cows in their pastures, learn about how they are raised and milked, and get a close look at the cheese making and yogurt making processes from start to finish. The tour includes lunch made with farmers market ingredients. Buy tickets.

Peach Sale ~ August 14

On your marks, get set, can! Stop by the Bella Viva Orchards stand in the market on August 14th and you'll get a lot of yellow peaches for your dollars (twice as many, in fact). Be there or be... sad in January when you don't have home-canned local peaches to eat for breakfast!

Tuesday Market Change

Starting the first week of September, Critical Edge Knife Sharpening will no longer be attending our Tuesday markets. Thankfully, Bob will still be here on Saturdays, but if you're a Tuesday market regular you only have three more weeks to bring your knives in! (His last day is August 31).

Kombucha Class with Urban Kitchen SF ~ August 23

Jonesin' for your regular kombucha fix? Look no further!  Instructor and herbalist Joshua Muscat of the San Francisco Botanical Medicine Clinic will teach you how to safely brew a supply at home while explaining the history and health benefits of this fermented tea. Best of all, each participant gets to bring home their very own S.C.O.B.Y. baby, the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast that transforms plain old green tea into kombucha liquid gold. Learn more.

Kitchen Table Talks: Heirloom Fruit ~ August 31

Whether you are a home gardener preserving tradition, an ecologist maintaining biodiversity, an activist protesting industrial ag, or a foodie in search of distinctive flavor, there are plenty of reasons to save, support, and savor "heirloom" varietals. Speakers include Terry Harrison, founder of the Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery (now Trees of Antiquity), Bryce Austin of Austin Heritage Ranch, and Casey Havre of Lagier Ranches. The event takes place downstairs at Viracocha on Valencia at 21st St. RSVP required.

SalmonAID Fundraiser ~ September 1

Throughout September, the SalmonAID Foundation — a coalition of chefs and conservation, fishing, tribal, and food safety organizations — presents Salmon Month at Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39.  The organization will host its kick-off fundraiser, the Go Wild Gala, on September 1, featuring Alaska wild salmon prepared by chefs from Murray Circle, Fish, Flea Street Cafe, Nettie's Crab Shack, and the Fatted Calf Charcuterie, among others. Guests will dine after hours in the Aquarium and learn about the state of our salmon and rivers from a panel of experts.  Learn more.

Growing Greener School Grounds Conference ~ Sept 24 - 25

This conference, hosted by San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance, will bring together over 300 K-12 teachers and community members from the Bay Area and beyond to learn more about creating and sustaining vibrant outdoor learning environments. Workshop topics will include: designing, building and maintaining school gardens; organic vegetable gardening; successful fundraising and advocacy for your school garden; and planting, harvesting and cooking with garden produce. Learn more

Saturday, August 14 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Elizabeth Binder, Bar Bambino

Tuesday, August 17 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:30 - 'til whenever the food runs out - Market chef Sarah Henkin will give out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be on hand to offer advice for all your seasonal meal planning.

Saturday, August 21 ~ Preservation Festival

10 am -1 pm - Special preservation booth in the South Driveway with preserving how-to and information hosted by Sherri Vinton, author of Put 'Em Up and Real Food Revolution.

11 am - 12 pm - Preservation demonstration and tastings

All programs take place in CUESA's Dacor teaching kitchen, in front of the Ferry Building on the north side.

“Pickles remind people of their grandmas,” says Todd Champagne of Happy Girl Kitchen. “A lot of good memories start with how things taste and smell and I think pickling really conjures up a different time for people.” 

Happy Girl Kitchen has been selling traditional, fermented half-sour pickles at the Ferry Plaza this summer. And, Todd says, “People have fun eating them in the market place like a popsicle.” Half-sours are a seasonal item that, unlike a completely sour pickle, still has some of the crunch and flavor of a raw cucumber. (If you’ve ever been to a Jewish deli, half-sours are what get placed on the table for munching on before the sandwich arrives.) Of course, if left to ferment for longer half-sours turn translucent and become whole sours.

What's Old is New Again

Todd also teaches regular pickling classes, where he instructs students to make both fermented pickles and “quick pickles” with vinegar. The two techniques, he says, ultimately achieve the same aim, which is the protection of the vegetables with a strong acid solution. That can be achieved by directly adding vinegar, he says, or you can create the acid through a fermentation process. The nutritional make up, however, is different.  “I always say that the probiotic qualities of fermented pickles make them a nourishing meal, whereas vinegar pickles are an enticing condiment.”

Fermented pickles also need to be refrigerated, which explains why the vinegar version appeared in the first place. “Vinegar pickles reached their apex in the post-war years, when everyone was growing victory gardens and raising their own food,” says Todd. “And there was war time mentality; canned pickles are shelf-stable and can be put in bomb shelters.”

Pickle Tips

Fermenting pickles, like sauerkraut, can take some getting used to, mainly when it comes to what Todd calls “the scum” that forms on the surface of the brine. “People get scared off when they see mold floating on the top of their crock,” he says. "But that’s just a surface phenomenon. The vegetables themselves are protected by the salty brine.”
Because the fermentation can be arrested at many points, pickle makers also have a say in the flavor they’d like to achieve. Todd likes to inspire people to experiment and think beyond a pre-determined “best by” date. “People ask how I know when these are ready; I always say 'taste them!'”

Todd is extra cautious when discussing canned pickles, mainly because – unlike jams and other fruit-based canned items – most vegetables tend to be low in acid, meaning they require a strong enough acid solution to be safely canned without the danger of botulism.

“To safely can your vegetables in a hot water bath, be sure the recipe you’re following is intended for canning and has a strong enough vinegar – water solution.” Once you’ve mastered the basics, Todd says, it’s time to experiment. “We tried pickling potatoes once and it was disgusting; everything else is basically fair game.”

On top of teaching pickling and other preservation techniques, Happy Girl has organized a buying club called The Food Preservationists that offers bulk quantities of local produce for canners at a discount.

Market Update

Seasonality Synopsis for August