The Cradle of Culture

It is said that a person from Karabakh swears on 3 things

his mother’s milk

the Koran

and bread…

International  culinary consultant  and food historian Amy Riolo explores the history of Azeri cuisine through her freshly pressed cookbook:  The Cuisine of Karabakh; Recipes, Memories, and Dining Traditions from Azerbaijan’s Cradle of Culture. It is a cook book meant to trace the roots of those dealing with the diaspora of Karabakh, Azerbaijan. At the Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. monthly meeting on May 6th, Riolo gave its members just a taste of Karabakh’s historically influenced cuisine.

Trucko de Mayo

Saturday, 5/5, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Local food trucks all come together for Trucko de Mayo, a free daylong festival to benefit ECO City Farms and Common Good City Farm. Dozens of trucks will sell their food, so you can mix and match bites, listen to live music or hang out with beer, all in the name of a good cause. RFK Stadium, Lot 3, 22nd St. NE (at E. Capitol St.); curbsidecookoffdc.com

Guest Post by Sara Hundt: Forks & Knives

Minty-lemon lentils with spinach.

Rice stuffed tomatoes, coupled with butter lettuce wraps.

Rice stuffed tomatoes again..because they just look so damn delicious.

There is not that much that can force me into a kitchen. Sure, the idea of whipping up a tasty meal for friends or family sounds nice but at the end of the day, I am not the most dexterous with cooking spices and what-not.

After reading Forks and Knives, written by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr, MD,  I found myself surprisingly taking any opportunity I could to test out some of the many tantalizing recipes in the book. Whether it was the ease of the recipes, the fact that Campbell hails from my alma mater, Cornell University, or the simple plea by the authors to revert back to a simpler, healthier, more FLAVORFUL way of cooking, for at least a summer I was hooked on Forks and Knives.

Enter the Fair

Chef Cathal Armstrong’s wine bar and market, Society Fair, is my fantasy food trip down the rabbit hole of “epicurean delights.”

“Love thy Butcher.” From fish to fowl, the butchery at Society Fair has nearly every meat  product one can imagine- even those that can make most of us a little queasy: whole chickens, eggs,  organic turkey, squab and quail, antelope and boar, suckling pig and goat, cooking fats such as duck, lard, clarified butte, head cheese, blood sausage,  and of course, innards and offal ( liver, tripe, kidneys, brain)

“Curds and whey, toe of Gummy Frog – you never know what magic you might find at the Society Fair Market.”  The market features homemade cheeses, pickles, curds, yoghurt and puff pastries, as well as sandwiches made to order like the Andouille sausage with etouffee on potato roll or Lamb shoulder with lemon yoghurt and spinach on flatbread.

“Fairy cakes and donuts…”  Baguettes, ciabatta, challah, foccacia, nicoise sour olive, Old Town sour, potato rosemary, fresh hot chocolate, almond and cheese croissants, naan, bagels….more and more and more still. Fluffy cakes and sweet treats come from the Majestic and Restaurant Eve. Below is a recipe for buttermilk tarts, created by Society Fair’s own, Nathan Hatfield.

“Baguette in hand, stroll over to our wine bar…” and meet the “Big Bad”..cheese, a board composed of meat, cheese and other SF favorite nibbles. “The Cheese Touch” for those in a cheesier state of mind unites a selection of  cow, goat, sheep, blue and…stinky? And zee wine. The Bodegas Pujanza Rioja from Laguardia, Spain off the wine menu immediately caught my eye:  sweet-n-sour cherry,cranberry,mushrooms,roasted chestnuts,modern, and claret-esque. And with 120 win selections, there is certainly room for other winners.

Think Pink

Blossom Bake&Brew

The Blossom Bake & Brew will combine live music and art installations with cherry-inspired  pie and, of course, locally crafted beer.  The festival benefits the H Street Main Street business district; and partners include Chocolate City Beer, Dangerously Delicious Pies and Listen Local First. Purchase tickets here from Scoutmob.

The Art of Tea

“When tea is more than a drink and the tea ceremony is understood and practiced to foster harmony in humanity, promote harmony with nature, discipline the mind, quiet the heart, and attain the purity of enlightenment, the art of tea becomes teaism.”

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo