Food Lovers Valentines Ticket Sale
Valentine’s doesn’t have to come just once a year on a special day. Why not celebrate your love for food by participating… Read More
Fresh ingredients
Slow Food Sacramento: Thank You McDonalds
Thank You McDonalds (by Lisa Frank) Picture angry Italians protesting with bowls of penne at the base of the iconic and beautiful Spanish Steps in Rome shouting “We don’t want fast food… we want slow food! It’s not a scene from a Fellini movie, but how Carlo Petrini started Slow Food. He and his pasta-wielding compatriots were outraged that a McDonalds was going to open there (and it did.) His protest against the commercialization of a beloved landmark with the “Golden Arches” turned into an international organization founded in 1989 that today has over 150,000 members in more than 150 countries. Slow Food’s mantra is good, clean, fair food for all. They want you to eat what is seasonal and local; respect the farmer and the produce/product; nurture the earth. Sound familiar? They believe that food should taste like, well, food and eating should take some time. Slow Food calls it the “pleasures of the table.” And it is not possible when a clown is looking over your shoulder. Or a creepy looking king. Or in your car. Or at your keyboard. Slow Food opposes the homogenization of modern fast food and life. Life is diverse. Culture is diverse. Food is diverse. It should not all look or taste alike. Preservation of traditional or heritage foods, methods of preparation, and the culture associated with them is a worth while effort. That is the entire focus of the Center for Biodiversity. The premise is that if unique and tradition food products that are endangered can have an economic impact they can be saved from extinction. Enter the Presidia – local projects that devise a pathway for bringing a food or method of preparation back from the brink of being lost. The Ark of Taste is a catalog of foods worldwide being preserved through the efforts of Presidia. And these projects are not somewhere else. They are here: Blenheim Apricot, Charbono wine or Sebastopol Gravenstein Apple sound familiar? Clarksburg’s Chenin Blanc grape is close to be being listed. Petrini wanted to make the connection between the plate, the palate and the planet. He calles it an “eco-gastronomic” movement that connected environmental sustainability (eco) to the study of culture and food (gastronomy). He took this idea even further by creating the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy (full disclosure, I’m an alumni) to create a new type of food professional, one who understands the entire food-production spectrum, from agricultural origins through industrial transformation and distribution, with particular attention to environmental and sustainability issues. These leaders, or Gastronomes as he calls them (us?), understand how to connect food processes to economic as well as communication systems, and the relationships within food-and-wine tourism, marketing of high-quality products, and promoting of the rich value of regional food traditions. On the local front, California is now it’s own Slow Food Region. Our local chapter, Slow Food Sacramento bestows their annual “Snail of Approval” award upon local businesses that best represent the Slow Food Principles of good, clean, fair food for all. And to toot our own horn, Local Roots Food Tours has received the Slow Food Sacramento Snail of Approval because of our commitment to support business using fresh, local, organic, seasonal and sustainable, or as we say FLOSS! We congratulate our partners have also received a Snail of Approval for their use of seasonal, local and organically grown foods, including Centro, Café Bernardos, Hot Italian and Kupros. Click to continue!
Special Culinary Events in Sacramento
Local Roots Food Tours Partners with Local Venues for Exclusive Culinary Events We are thrilled to announce our first quarterly series of special culinary venues… Read More
Top 10 Autumn & Winter Food Trends
Trending Foods To Keep an Eye On This Autumn/Winter 2013 2013 started out with a bang in food revolution and consumers thinking outside of the box in the way they normally eat. A few of the biggest trends to hit the restaurant scene in the beginning of the year were tasting menus, fermenting, food trucks, sustainable seafood, restaurant gardens, molecular gastronomy and charcuterie everything just to name a few. With only a few months remaining in the year Local Roots Food Tours has been asked what else is there to look forward to in the upcoming months in the food arena? We have picked out the top trends we are seeing right now or are on the forefront of trending in the beginning of 2014. What's Ahead......Top 10 Trends: 1. Move over Kale....the new green on menus is Collard Greens. Collard greens are loaded with vitamins A and K, cancer-fighting antioxidants, and fiber. This is a staple in the south with most any meat dish but the trend is moving nationwide and soon to hit menus in restaurants jumping on board the collard green movement. 2. Prep for a crudite’ awakening as raw vegetables get posh. In their most natural state is where the greatest flavors and health benefits come in to play - watch farmers getting creative with varietal colors in carrots, cauliflowers and potatoes but keeping it raw when they find themselves on the plated salads and sides. 3. Customers want in on exclusive ticketed dining events (hence the reason Sacramento’s Farm to Fork Tower Bridge Dinner sold out within 48 hours once tickets were available!) so get ready for more local chefs continuing to collaborate with local farmers in some creative barn dinners, food and wine pairing symposiums and delicious themed dinners....but be ready to pay a hefty price. The more exclusive the event, the higher the price tag......which results in bragging rights with your friends on which exclusive dinners you attended this fall. 4. Smacarons - with cheese! Forget the sweet, saccharine macarons you thought you knew, this savory sensation is on our list for snacking and will be replacing all desserts and cheeseboards this autumn so keep your eyes peeled at local bakeries such as Estelle’s Patisserie and Ettore's Bakery and get ready for a tasting of Smacarons! 5. Can I get a Drum(roll) with that Rum! Rum is back — and it's not just for pirates anymore. People are even distilling it in New England, as they did almost two centuries ago. Supposedly, rum is enjoying a "big resurgence" across this land of ours. The best part? This means it is finally cool to order daiquiris. "It’s such a simple drink and it’s delicious and there are just three ingredients: white rum, lime juice and simple syrup," a San Francisco bartender told Food and Wine. And who are we to argue? 6. Ramen Burger Revenge! Move over Cronuts.......there is a new food craze starting to sweep the nation whether it be thru a food truck window or a casual restaurant who “gets it” that ramen noodles are not just for poor college students anymore! The Ramen Burger is an all-beef patty, sandwiched between two ramen noodle “buns.” It’s garnished with a secret Shoyu sauce, arugula and green onions. The flavor is a salty-sweet combination, but the texture of the buns is what makes this burger so enticing. Who will be the first on the food scene to announce their Ramen Burger Creation? Click to Continue on with more Trends!
Sacramento & Beyond: Cooking Classes Grow in Popularity
Good news, foodies! You don’t need to be in a culinary program to partake in some excellent culinary classes offered in and around Sacramento. Come on - take your spatula by the handle and get ready to learn, create and taste your newest creations in some fun, local culinary hands-on cooking classes. Don't let the word "culinary" intimidate you. Let your passion for food drive you to some interactive food training. Crepes, Gnocchi, Truffles......The Learning Exchange The Learning Exchange is offering up some excellent cooking courses this spring in and around Sacramento. Who wouldn’t like to know how to make perfected crepes or have some fun with a class all about creating Gnocchi or focusing in on French Cooking? These courses have a great variety for any type of cook and are located throughout the city and its suburbs. To learn more about their courses and sign up check out: www.learningexchange.com Croissant & Empanada Workshops at Co-op Cooking School Co-op Learning Center and cooking school offers something for everyone: from their extensive cooking class program to health and well-being seminars to a variety of lectures and panel discussions. They love to educate our community about important food, family, health and environmental issues. The Co-op is committed to supporting organic local family farms and small producers of high quality food. They highlight these growers and producers in our specialty food tastings as well as featuring their organically grown ingredients in their cooking classes. How cool is that? www.sacfoodcoop.com Click for more classes!
Walking Food Tours Summer Sizzle Sale
SUMMER TIME IN SACRAMENTO and BEYOND! Celebrate summer’s arrival by getting out and exploring Sacramento’s hidden gems. Local Roots Food… Read More
10 Reasons to Eat Locally Grown and Stay Healthy
Farmers Markets are popping all over the country this time of year. Keeping it local and exploring your palate each and every… Read More
Local Farmers Markets Prepping for Spring/Summer Sales
It’s that time of the year again….local farmers and artisan specialty vendors getting ramped up for the launch of their produce and… Read More
Market-to-Plate Executive Chefs Tour Launches in Sacramento!
Come join Local Roots Food Tours as we get up close and personal with local farmers, vintners, and executive chefs in our new Market-To-Plate Executive Chef’s Tour! This tour takes you through a popular downtown Sacramento farmer’s market, Cesar Plaza Farmer’s Market or East End Capitol Park Farmer’s Market and then into a four course, four star dining experience prepared by two local executive chefs! This tour is a culinary and educational adventure. Participants are guided through an open-air market, where you can chat with the farmers and producers as the aroma of herbs and flowers waft around you. You’ll learn about what’s in season and how to choose and prepare foods from their seasonal harvest. We will meet local olive oil producers, lavender and flower producers, meat producers, and other artisans – in short, people who love to work with and talk about food! A shopping experience like no other! Our tour continues with a 3 course exclusive lunch prepared by Executive Chef Michel at Morgan’s Restaurant (a four star, hidden gem restaurant serving farm-to-table ingredients). Lunch will be prepared using fresh local seasonal ingredients. Chef Michel will educate participants on how to use the produce they purchased at the morning market and share his culinary wisdom and passion for fresh, local ingredients. Definitely an up close dining experience! Lunch will be paired with a selected local wine. Click to learn more!
Bull’s Blood Making It On To Sacramento Menus!
Microgreens . . . take them or leaf them! It is only natural that California would pioneer the latest microgreen trend in the food world. These flavorful Lilliputian members of the greens community have been appearing with increasing frequency on today's restaurant menus. They are appearing in upscale markets and restaurants and locally command a luxury item price of up to $3 to $5 per ounce. Many chefs in the Sacramento restaurant scene are now incorporating microgreens into a variety of dishes. One common microgreen that is being found on local menus in California restaurants is Bulls Blood. Read that twice when you see it on a menu and wonder to yourself; “really?”. Do you take it literally or have you already been exposed to one of the newest local farm trends to hit many restaurants menus? Bulls Blood is a popular microgreen that stems from the 1840’s bulls blood beet. Bull’s blood leaves have been used in folk medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. This Microgreen's beet-like flavor and vivid red color enhances mixed green salads but also finding its way on top of raw meats, seafood and pork belly sandwiches! Click to learn more!