Slow Food Nation 2008

Yesterday, Forrest and I headed over to Fort Mason to attend the Slow Food Nation Tasting Pavilion. Many thanks to Molly for giving us her set of tickets. The Tasting Pavilion was super fun....basically it was like a tradeshow of eating!! They had beer, bread, fish, pickles & chutney, charcuterie, wine, cheese, jams & honey, chocolate, spirits, coffee and ice cream.

The above was from the yummy yummy fish stand. You will see a sardine with pesto, a white bean puree with pita chips, marinated octopus with zuchini salad and a salmon crostini. The sardine....oh the sardine!
Over in the spirits section we had this Square One vodka cocktail...I think they called it a "tomato mojito" which basically was cucumber vodka, cherry tomatoes and basil all shaken together and served with a sliced cherry tomato and basil garnish. Very delicious and refreshing - I think our next party will definitely be serving this. We also tried some organic gin that I was not too hot on....it was too fragrant in a floral way, not an herbal way if that makes any sense. Definitely not a martinit gin....maybe a cocktail gin.
Pizza making at the bread stand. Oh they had this super tangy blue cheese and salami pizza...it was pungent - woo hoo!

Forrest posing in front of the bread snail over in the "history of bread" display.

The most interesting thing at this event for me was the information booth for urban farming. There is an organization called "City Slicker Farms" and they operate out of Oakland and primarily service the Oakland area but their philosophy is interesting. They go and install vegetable gardens in peoples backyards, either in their single family homes, multi unit homes and in local schools. I think it is important for young people to know where things come from, not in a hippie sort of way but in a way that helps kids learn how things are interconnected and the science behind how things work. Additionally, there is pride in cultivating something then being able to harvest the fruits of your labor and heck...they get to eat healthier too - double bonus. I was hoping they had operations in San Francisco but they are primarily an Oakland based organization....regardless, I am interested in learning more about them...and looking forward to getting involved.