Sunday, January 21, 2007

Tasty Terroir. It's time for the "A Taste of Terroir" round up. I had so much fun reading through the posts from around the world -- so many unique things, some I'd heard of but with a twist, and others completely new. is a one-time event, but hey!, it's so much fun, maybe I'll try it annually.


The first entry to come in is from Anna of Morsel & Musings in Sydney, Australia who writes about Sydney Rock Oysters with Greek Salad Smoothies. These use amazingly hardy local oysters outlast any I've ever heard about!


Next in comes from Ulrike of Küchenlatein in Kronshagen, Germany. Not only are we told of a local Fisherman's Lunch, but we are treated to a slide show of typical local dishes.


Hailing from Canada, Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas sends an entry for Venison and Morel Stew with Dumplings, looks like you could eat it off the page!


Sarina Nicole of TriniGourmet, in Trinidad offers up Barfi, a fudgey white dessert with some cross-cultural history.


From central Pennsylvania, Lydia of Kitchen Exhibitionist describes Grilled Stickies so well that I feel like I could eat one off the page!



Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms gives us Twice the Terroir with The Oregon White Truffle AND The Gravenstein Apple. Elle is here in Northern California, near the home of the Gravenstein Apple Festival, which I've visited and enjoyed several years running.


From Tampa, Florida, Rachael tells us about Tampa's Cuban Food: Red Snapper "Alicante", on her blog, Rachael's Bite. She also describes Ybor City so vividly I'm plotting my trip to visit its uniqueness!



Haalo from Melbourne, Victoria Australia who is the blogger behind Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, brings us Tuna Sashimi with Pickled Daikon, Cucumber and Baby Coriander, which is stunning and the description of the freshness makes my taste buds tingle. She also included the recipe for Pickled Daikon for the round up.


Mia at Nosh takes us all the way to Sicily to swoon over the purest white ricotta cheese. And then she teaches us not only how to make it, but several ways to use it!


Cookiecrumb hailing from Santa Venetia, California - another neighbor of mine, has a great blog combining protest with good food in I'm Mad and I Eat. Cookie was trying to really be contentious about the localness of her entry, and had some disappointing surprises. However, she created the most fabulous golden beet based salad with the local offering -- a dressing which pairs nothing but the local tastes of Marin, and a surprise twist!



Next, Bee in New York City of One More Bite tells us why we can't get 'real' bagels anywhere but there. I have to agree. She also illustrates the literary aspect of living in NYC by including a poem no less on topic!

Lastly, I posted a several pieces for the event -- for Marin, a Blue Cheese and Restaurant, and for Sonoma a yogurt. Thanks to everyone who participated - this was fun, and it's been a great way to savor local uniqueness from our chairs (and kitchens!)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to travel around and see all the great dishes. Thanks for the idea!

cookiecrumb said...

Good work, Anna. You got a really great turnout.

Elle said...

Anna this is a wonderful collection. An annual event would be fun.
At the blog party over at Dispensing Happiness, Mel of Heticium blog made some tiny turnovers using a cheese that is new to me and sounds like a true terroir item. It's called Blackstick Blue and is described as a soft, blue veined farmhouse cheese with a subtle amber hue. The Blacksticks website is at http://www.blacksticks.co.uk/. It seems that it is only available at present in the UK, but we can hope it might come to CA and the rest of the U.S. eventually.

Pink Granite said...

Brava Anna! Thanks for all the work pulling this together. I can't wait to go exploring!
- Lee

Kalyn Denny said...

Very interesting. I'm happy you had such a good turnout. I'm afraid I was completely stumped about what to make from SLC in the dead of winter when my garden is covered with snow.

Helibear said...

they look yummy. :-)

Rachel Rubin said...

Thanks for coordinating this event! Hopefully you do it every year. I just finished going through all the entries and it was so interesting! I got some yummy ideas too.

Lydia said...

Great event, Anna! Definitely worth doing again next year. Perhaps by then I will have tried the one local specialty that I am simultaneously drawn to and repulsed by: hog maw. Thanks!

Diane Dehler said...

Can you suggest some good vegetarian restaurants in the area? Thanks in advance.

Anna Haight said...

Thanks everyone, I think this is a repeatable annual event!

Princess Haiku: On vegetarian restaurants in Marin, my favorite, Roxanne's Raw is gone :-(. I also like Lydia's Loving Foods (http://mtkilimonjaro.blogspot.com/2006/12/lydias-lovin-foods.html)
in Fairfax and Paradise (http://mtkilimonjaro.blogspot.com/2004/05/passed-final-at-ground-school-still.html) in San Rafael.

Then there are a couple that come to mind that are very vegetarian friendly - R'Noh Thai (http://mtkilimonjaro.blogspot.com/2007/01/thai-in-larkspur.html) in Larspur where the assumption on most every dish is veggie, and you pay to add meat options. And Sartaj India Cafe (http://mtkilimonjaro.blogspot.com/2006/12/refreshing-breakfast.html) in Sausalito has a whole vegetarian menu - I eat there vegetarian curry (#2) at least once a week.

I've not been to Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, but I understand it is opening a branch in San Rafael soon.

You might check my vegetarian neigbhor's blog and ask her, Catherine at Albion Cooks (http://www.albioncooks.blogspot.com/).