A Moment with John T Edge

On my list of lifetime goals, an invitation to the prestigious Worlds of Flavor Conference figured prominently…and at long last, I was on my way.

Weeks before the conference, I studied the speaker lineup. The list read like a proverbial who’s who of chefs, writers, and anthropologists. Among the culinary luminaries, I was particularly interested in one person: John T Edge.

John T ranks high among my favorite writers and I’ve been collecting his work for years. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Saveur, Southern Living, The Oxford American and he currently writes a monthly column for the New York Times called “United Tastes.” In 2009, he was inducted in the James Beard Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.

John T is also director of the Southern Foodway Alliance where the demand for their annual Southern Foodways Symposium is so high, spots have been awarded by lottery. (I have it on good authority that begging for admission will get you nowhere….)

My admiration for John T goes beyond anything I can properly express. His writing is like a well-seasoned cast iron pan, richly layered in both past and present, reverent with a sense of place.

At the Worlds of Flavor Conference, I worked up the nerve to say hello…and stifled a hint of Beatle mania-style giddiness whenever he walked by. While there were several near misses, eventually I gave up…and succumbed to a rare bout of shyness.

On the final day, I was standing in the back of the room, listening to a particularly moving speech by Jessica Harris. As her speech concluded, I wiped sentimental tears from my eyes. John T suddenly appeared next to me and said, “Did I miss it?”

A moment later…he was gone.
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John T Edge at Watershed Best [Photo credit: Yvonne Boyd]

For this fourth installment of Books that Paved the Way, I reached out to John T by e-mail, holding my breath while I hit “send.” His gracious response left no doubt that my respect and admiration was well-founded.

John T's Most Influential Books:

White Trash Cooking by Ernest Matthew Mickler --

At first glance it's a campy sendup of working class white folk cookery. But look closer and you'll see the influence of Agee and Evans and their masterwork Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

Smokestack Lightning by Lolis Eric Elie --

A history of barbecue in America, masquerading as a road trip. Smart and well-observed, this catalog of essays and photographs shines a bright light on unheralded pitmasters across the South and beyond.

Gumbo Tales by Sara Roahen --

We all love the city of New Orleans. We all want to be situational New Orleanians, with easy access to fat oysters and fatter po-boys. Roahen is the outlander with whom you can identify, the nose beneath the gumbo curtain.

Southern Food: At Home, On the Road, and in History by John Egerton --

The reigning tome in the category. Elegantly written, generous and inclusive, and cognizant of how race and class define what we eat and with whom we eat, Egerton's book remains relevant as it closes in on the quarter-century mark.

American Fried by Calvin Trillin --

He started out exploring race and various American dilemmas. Trillin has continued that tack, while writing some of the best prose on any damn subject. Along the way, he's made brief detours into the world of food. American Fried, from the 1970s, was his first collection of food writing. It's a brilliant hymn to local eats and local people, with prose that still leaps off the page today. (In his most recent piece for the New Yorker, Trillin wrote of poutine, and managed to craft a paragraph that referenced both cheese curds and teenage circumcision.) In other words, the man is a gimlet-eyed genius.

In the Words of "Mr. Spain," Gerry Dawes

This post is part of a series called: Books That Paved the Way, highlighting culinary luminaries and the books that influenced their careers.


In the days leading up to The Worlds of Flavor Conference, I received a note from Gerry Dawes. A hearty welcome followed a congenial, “Stop and say hello!” Little did I know, that generous nod was from the foremost authority on Spanish food & wine. Gerry has a long list of accolades--including the first to introduce American readers to maestro of molecular gastronomy Ferran Adrià--but industry folks call him simply, “Mr. Spain.”

At the conference, Gerry led a compelling discussion on Spanish street food. Through images and stories, he artfully crafted a culinary sense of place, taking us on an insider’s nosh through Barcelona’s largest indoor market, Boquería. Gerry drove home the importance of both terroir and the people, leaving little to wonder why Spanish cuisine is one of the hottest culinary trends.

When I approached Gerry about his most influential books, his response revealed a wealth of information…and more than a few surprises. Generously peppered with autobiographical insight, Gerry’s words read like an arm wrapped around your shoulder, guiding you to the good stuff.

Influential Cookbooks for a “Self-taught” Cook

by Gerry Dawes©2009

First off, I rarely use cookbooks, I fly without instruments most of the time. Between the Korean produce market five miles away in Ramsey, NJ, which also has fish and shellfish, and the local supermarkets around Suffern, NY, where I live, I cook from the lay of the land, picking out what vegetables, etc. look best, then I put them together in ever-changing combinations, even when I am alone and not cooking for Kay, my SE (Spousal Equivalent).

Breakfast might include scrambled eggs with chopped scallions or leeks, red peppers, little cubes of eggplant, jalapeño and/or habanero peppers and the finished dish will be topped with grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper. I often accompany this with Mexican salsa, Spanish chorizo and cherry tomatoes quick-sautéed with jalapeños, garlic and cilantro or Italian polenta on the side. When I make my own salsa (like gazpacho, in season only), I use Rick Bayless’s basic salsa recipe (I add cooked corn, fresh-cut from the cob) from his excellent Mexican Kitchen cookbook, but that salsa is for margarita time–my World’s Best Margaritas require a signed disclaimer and the recipe [self-developed from Taxco, Mexico; from a Mexican doctor friend from Morella and from Maria’s Mexican Kitchen in Santa Fe and using Torres Licor de Naranja from Spain]. The recipe is so secret that I would have to kill you if I told you all of it. For the civilian version of my margarita recipe, see the book Peace, Love and Barbecue--written by Mike Mills and his daughter, Amy Mills Tunnicliffe–with some authentic down-home barbecue recipes for dishes to keep your drinks company.

Dinner might be Spanish rosemary-and-thyme-and-olive oil basted, grilled rib lamb chops with all-i-oil or roasted chicken breasts with sherry, leeks, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and Spanish extra virgin olive oil, served with a melange of quick-sautéed vegetables (last night it was cherry tomatoes, red peppers, scallions, eggplant and parsley) and Yukon gold fingerling potatoes boiled Canary Islands style with lots of salt in the water so they come out like papas arrugadas. But, since I couldn’t want to make the classic Canarias mojo (I was out of fresh cilantro), I used yogurt mixed with Dijon mustard, black pepper and drained Spanish capers as a sauce for the papas. That and a glass of Casal Novo Mencía, a delicious red wine from Galicia with moderate alcohol and no oak, was dinner. Lunch is often leftovers or a can of Progresso soup doctored up with sherry, grated cheese and sometimes Oriental chili sauce.

Several cookbooks influenced me and helped me develop my shoot-from-the-hip style. One in particular was Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking, which I first encountered in the early 1970s when I was living in Southern Spain and just learning how to cook on a counter top, Butano gas-fired, two-burner affair at our fairy-tale apartment ($56 a month) in Sevilla’s jasmine-, orange blossom- and dama de noche-scented, sound-of-Sevillanas-permeated, Barrio de Santa Cruz (The Old Jewish Quarter), where I spent parts of almost six years and in Mijas, an artist’s village overlooking the Costa del Sol, where I lived for nearly three years more.

When I first opened Elizabeth David’s book, I wondered, “Who is this crazy English woman?” She was often imprecise in her measurements--which I was to discover is only of deadly importance in pastry cooking--so she left one guessing just how big a glass of wine, etc. to add to a dish. But, by cooking a few of her recipes–her beurre blanc is still my benchmark–I realized that I was getting a feel for what the dish should be like and that the rules were not that rigid. It was indeed cooking a bit intuitively with Ms. David as your guide (when you try to teach children how to ride a bicycle, you don’t hold on to the seat of the bike, you hold onto the child’s shoulders, so they soon learn to keep the bike balanced–cooking is much that way, learning balance that does not come from rigidity.) I made a number of recipes from French Provincial Cooking, but it was the lessons the book taught that stayed with me longer than the Daube Provençal.

Also, when I was living in Southern Spain in the early 1970s, my former wife, Diana and I, acquired Julia Child’s The French Chef Cookbook with that awful television photo on the front. I was very skeptical at first until I began cooking whole fancy meals from that book and found out that Julia was indeed the real deal. (I had several memorable casual enconters with Julia years later at food events, but one of the best was having drinks with her at Ducasse in Manhattan and having her autograph that now tattered, dog-eared, well-used copy of The French Chef Cookbook and telling her how she had helped teach us to cook.)

Still in the French vein, Waverly Root’s marvelous The Food of France, was an excellent overview of French regional food, fine writing and a very good read. Although in the intervening years, I have come to believe that Spanish modernized regional cuisine is on a par with that of France, writing about Spanish food in English has seldom reached the level of Elizabeth David or Waverly Root.

The American cookbooks that influenced me most and contributed to my modest cooking style, once I moved to New York, were The James Beard Cookbook and James Beard’s Fish Cookery, both of which have great recipes and teach the user good fundamentals. And The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet cookbook, spun out of columns written by Bryan Miller with recipes developed by Pierre Franey, not only had great appeal because of their time frame for cooking a complete meal, the recipes were often exceptional.

Since I am supposed to be a Spanish food freak, I should get on to the Spanish cookbooks and food books that have had the greatest influence on me. First off, kudos to Penelope Casas, whose The Foods and Wines of Spain; Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain, etc. were for years the benchmarks in English in the United States for anyone seeking to learn about Spanish Cuisine. And, if you can find a copy, The Cooking of Spain and Portugal (Time-Life Series), which Peter S. Feibleman did an excellent job editing and putting together, was (and still is) superb for authentic, quintessential recipes for such Spanish classic dishes as gazpacho, paella, cocido madrileño, etc.

One monumental influence, the impossible-to-find, self-published classic, Adventures in Taste: The Wines and Folk Food of Spain will always be near the top of my list. In 1972, Donn Pohren, a Minneapolis-born American who lived in Spain for decades and was the world's greatest foreign expert on flamenco, published this idiosyncratic underground classic, which outlined wine-and-food trips all over Spain and included specific restaurants and tapas bars, mentioning specific dishes, for which he often included the recipe obtained from that establishment.

I was living in southern Spain when I first encountered Pohren's book (privately printed in Spain) soon after it was published and it had a profound effect on me. At first, I merely wanted to have some of the wine and food experiences that Pohren had described, but I soon found myself cooking from his authentic regional recipes, including pollo or conejo al ajillo (garlic chicken or rabbit), pochas con perdiz or codorniz (white cranberry bean-like bean stew with partridge or quail) and the inforgettable, undoubtedly Moorish-influenced, Málaga mountain-village dish, caldereta de chivo (a kid [goat] dish with kid’s liver, garlic and the juice of two lemons). In the early years, I never traveled without Adventures in Taste. Soon, I was having new experiences of my own, using Pohren’s book and James A. Michener’s Iberia as my compass, which led me to a multitude of adventures that provided me with the platform from which I eventually became a widely published writer on Spanish wine and food and a recognized authority in the field.

And, when I was living in Mijas, I came to know Janet Mendel, who wrote a food column for Lookout magazine and subsequently published a number of books using recipes obtained from the regional cooks she encountered, most of them in Andalucía. Her Cooking in Spain; Traditional Spanish Cooking; Great Dishes From Spain; and My Kitchen in Spain are an important body of work on the traditional cuisines of Spain. In the early years, her books were not available in the United States, but now they are and I highly recommend them for anyone who seeks to understand the basics behind good Spanish regional cooking.

Anya Von Bremzen’s The New Spanish Table also should be on anyone’s bookshelf. And, if you can find remaindered or used copies of Könemann’s Culinaria Spain, buy every copy you can lay your hands on and give them as gifts. The articles (by several authors) and photographs are exceptional. Just the chapter on the little-known cuisine, cheese and wines of the Canary Islands is worth the cost of the book alone.

The last two books on my “short” list come from my dear friend, Teresa Barrenechea, who for nearly a decade cooked at her Marichu restaurants in New York, the Spanish restaurants that I frequent most in this country. Barrenechea’s The Basque Table, her first book (which also contains classic Spanish recipes common to other regions of Spain), and her The Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking are musts for anyone serious about Spanish cooking.

Though some of my cooking style came from cookbooks in the early years, most of what I picked up comes from cooks like the great chef, Raúl Aleixandre, of Valencia’s Ca Sento, who taught me how to cook shellfish; Doña María (my Spanish “mother”), whose gazpacho recipe is still tops; and people like Manolo Pérez Pascuas of Viña Pedrosa in Ribera del Duero and Basilio Izquierdo in La Rioja, who taught me that the only real way to have baby lamb rib chops is grilled over grapevine cuttings.

And there are a multitude of restaurants and tapas bars around Spain, working with impeccable, locally available products that are so good that it is futile to try to duplicate them by using their recipes at home. Nothing done out of a cookbook can duplicate the terroir of rodaballo (turbot) grilled whole over coals on an outdoor grill at Elkano or Kaia in Getaria (Basque country); arros con conejo y caracoles (thin-layer rice cooked in a paella with wild rabbit and wild snails that having been put with fresh rosemary branches) at Casa Elias in a tiny Alicante pueblo; or Albert Asín’s addictive mongetes (beans) with a squirt of balsamic vinegar at Pinotxo and Quím Marqués fried artichokes at Quím de la Boquería, both in Barcelona’s sensational Boquería market. To have these dishes, it is preferable to beg, borrow or steal to get back to these places–and many more around Spain–to have the “real thing” and let those cooks who have mastered these dishes do what no cookbook can really do: Make you believe in magic!

!Buen Provecho!

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Biography

Gerry Dawes is a New York-based writer/photographer specializing in Spain. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. In 2003, he was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award). Dawes was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. (http://gerrydawesspain.blogspot.com/)

The Worlds of Flavor Conference

Several years ago, I made a long list of dreams—no holds barred. Hopes, dreams, and “do I dare?” secret fantasies were compiled…but not forgotten. Cast among a stack of papers, I recently discovered The List. My initial reaction was somewhere between the angst of a high school reunion and an out of body experience (is this really me?)

I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t bake, but there it is: #23 Bake a cake, followed by #24 Take a cooking class. Not only did I take cooking classes, I became a guest chef booker for a cooking school and this year, I taught my first class!

We’ve come a long way, baby…..

Scanning The List, wedged between #42 Start a blog and #44 Travel abroad is #43 Attend the Worlds of Flavor Conference. This one definitely falls under the category “Do I dare?” Picture three decadent days in Napa Valley, surrounded by 900 of the world’s culinary luminaries. It’s a proverbial Who’s Who feast, open to the trade only.

In a crazy twist of fate…I scored a pass to this year’s conference! The theme is World Street Food and World Comfort Food. With a speaker's list that includes Rick Bayless, John T. Edge, Andrea Nguyen, Norman Van Aken, Paula Wolfert, and Naomi Duguid....I’m positively giddy!

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Curious about what we'll be covering at the Worlds of Flavor Conference? Read on....

Presenter Bios


Agenda:

Thursday, November 12

4:00 PM Registration
Atrium

4:45 PM Welcome and Introduction
Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development
Speakers: Mark Erickson, Charles Henning, Greg Drescher

Introduction of Lead Sponsors
Region of Apulia; Foods from Spain/Wines from Spain; Greek Mediterranean Gastronomy, Wonderful Olive Oil; Sodexo; United Soybean Board

5:05 PM General Session I
World Street Food, World Comfort Food: What We Want to Eat Now
Moderator/Presenter: Rick Bayless
Presenters: Roberto Santibañez, Bobby Chinn, Roy Choi

5:45 PM General Session II
Singapore’s Hawker Food: Into the Night, With Chopsticks!
Introduction: Andrea Nguyen
Moderator/Presenter: K.F. Seetoh
Presenters: Zulkifli Bin Packeer Bawa, Mohan Ismail

6:15 PM General Session III
Slow Flavors of the Mediterranean: Of Pasta Kitchens, Claypots, and Live Fire
Introduction: Ruth Reichl
Moderator: Paul Bartolotta

The Bakers of Apulia: Fresh Scents from the Wood-fired Ovens of Altamura
A live video feed from the outdoor bread oven to do a quick check-in with our bakers Vincenzo D’Ambrosio and Mark Furstenberg

Kitchens of Apulia: Southern Italy’s Grandmothers as Inspiration
Presenters: Domenico Maggi, Sabina Ficco, Luzian Palmieri

Deep, Melting Flavors of Turkey
Video Feed from the Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen
Presenters: Anissa Helou, Musa Dagdeviren, Necdet Kaygin, Burak Epir

Spice Routes of North Africa: By Way of Marrakech, San Francisco, and the
Island of Djerba
Presenters: Mourad Lahlou, Haouari Abderrazak, Paula Wolfert

7:00 PM Tasting and Dinner
World Marketplace
Historic Barrel Room
A festive walk-around event featuring wines and guest chefs preparing world street foods and comfort foods, with a chance to meet our conference faculty—chefs, authors, and other experts—as well as our Worlds of Flavor sponsors.
Sponsored by Region of Apulia; Foods from Spain/Wines from Spain; Greek Mediterranean Gastronomy, Wonderful Olive Oil; Sodexo; United Soybean Board

Guest Chef and Presenter Book Signings

8:30 PM Program Concludes for the Evening

Friday, November 13

7:45 AM A Light Napa Valley Breakfast
Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development

8:30 AM General Session IV
Peru and Brazil: Translating Flavors, From the Streets and Markets to Restaurants
Moderators: Jessica Harris, Maricel Presilla
Presenters: Edinho “Edson” Engel, Ana Celia Batista Santos, Jorge Luis “Coque” Ossio, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, Marilu Madueño

9:20 AM General Session V
Regional Mexico: Antojitos, From Tortas and Tacos to Tamales
Moderator: Rick Bayless
Presenters: Roberto Santibañez, Beatriz Ramírez Woolrich, Jorge Alvarez, Richard Sandoval

10:00 AM Coffee and Conversation Break
Sponsored by Unilever Foodsolutions

10:30 AM General Session VI
What’s Next in Spain: Fast, Slow, and Casual Flavors
Introduction: Jim Poris
Moderator: Gerry Dawes
Presenters: Paco Roncero, Albert Asin, Daniel Olivella, Seamus Mullen

With a live video feed from our outdoor live fire kitchen previewing lunch with Mai Pham and Suvir Saran

11:20 AM General Session VII
Tasting Greece: Of Hand Held Pitas, Savory Braises, and the World of Meze
Moderators: Aglaia Kremezi, Diane Kochilas
Presenters: Christoforos Peskias, Jim Botsacos

NOON Lunch
Flavors of Spice Routes: Street Foods, Comfort Foods from Turkey to India and Southeast Asia
Herb Terrace and First Floor
Guest Chefs and Experts from Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam
Sponsored by McCormick for Chefs

1:30 PM General Session VIII
Made in America I: From Roadside and Curbside Eats to Vernacular Flavors
Re-imagined
Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development
Introduction: Jonathan Gold
Moderator/Presenter: John T. Edge
Presenters: Donald Link, Charles Phan

2:30 PM Coffee and Conversation Break
Sponsored by Bunge Oils

2:45 PM Concurrent Activities
Various campus locations

2:45 PM Seminar Series
(2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Also see Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series starting at 2:45 PM.

Seminar I A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Ecolab Theater
The Vietnamese and Mexican Kitchens: Strategies for Slow, Craveable Flavors
Presenters: Mai Pham, Roberto Santibañez
Sponsored by National Peanut Board

Seminar II A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Ventura Foods Center for Menu R & D
Mexican Street Food and American Restaurants: Ready for Prime Time!
Moderator/Presenter: Iliana de la Vega
Presenters: Jorge Alvarez, Rick Bayless, Beatriz Ramírez Woolrich

Seminar III A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
DeBaun Theater
World Pasta Kitchen: Global Comfort Food
Moderator/Presenter: Aaron McCargo, Jr.
Presenters: Ida Shen, Bruno Wehren
Sponsored by Barilla America

Seminar IV A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Williams Center for Flavor Discovery
The Spanish Kitchen, 2010: Casual Menus—and Compelling Flavor Dynamics— from Madrid to New York
Moderator: Gerry Dawes
Presenters: Paco Roncero, Seamus Mullen
Sponsored by Foods from Spain

Seminar V A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Viking Range Corporation Tasting Theater (first floor)
The Great Tapas Wines of Spain and Inspired Flavors That Pair with Them
Session Leader: Doug Frost
Guest Chef/Discussant: Daniel Olivella
Sponsored by Wines from Spain

Seminar VI A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Napa Valley Vintners Association Tasting Theater (second floor)
A Peruvian Flavor Immersion: Tasting the Best of Lima and Cusco
Session Leader: Arturo Rubio
Panelists: Jorge Luis “Coque” Ossio, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino,
Marilu Madueño

2:45 PM Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series
(2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Third Floor Teaching Kitchen, Outdoor Live Fire Kitchens

Kitchen Workshop #1 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Seafood, Pasta, and Tagines: Flavors from Southern Italy and North Africa
Moderator/Presenter: Paul Bartolotta
Presenters: Haouari Abderrazak, Paula Wolfert

Kitchen Workshop #2 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Hot Kitchen
World Comfort Food: Seasonal Strategies for Farm-to-Table Cooking
Workshop Leaders: Matthew Weingarten, Charles Phan
Sponsored by Sodexo

Kitchen Workshop #3 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Of Brazilian Kitchens and African Traditions: Casual Flavors for American Menus
Workshop Leader: Jessica Harris
Presenters: Ana Celia Batista Santos, Edinho “Edson” Engel

Kitchen Workshop #4 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Cold Kitchen
Japanese Street Food, Comfort Food: Savoring the Art and Craft
Workshop Leader: Hiroko Shimbo
Presenters: Masaharu Morimoto, Scott Whitman

Kitchen Workshop #5 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Cold Kitchen
Korean Tacos and Other Savories to “Tweet” About from an LA Food Truck
Workshop Leader: Roy Choi

Kitchen Workshop #6 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (front of Greystone)
Malaysia and Indonesia: Big Flavors for Live Fires
Workshop Leader/Presenter: Robert Danhi
Presenters: Alexander Ong, William Wongso
Sponsored by California Raisin Marketing Board

Kitchen Workshop #7 A (2:45 PM—3:45 PM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (back of Greystone)
World Live Fire: Street Food and Small Plates from Thailand to Greece and Turkey
Moderator: Joyce Goldstein
Presenters: Musa Dagdeviren, Aglaia Kremezi, Chai Siriyarn

3:45 PM Break

4:15 PM Concurrent Activities
Various campus locations

4:15 PM Seminar Series
(4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Also see Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series starting at 4:15 PM.

Seminar I B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Ecolab Theater
Apulia: Flavor Discovery and Comfort Food at the Heart of Southern Italy
Introduction: Mark Furstenberg
Moderator/Presenter: Domenico Maggi
Presenters: Antonio De Rosa, Riccardo Olanda , Vincenzo D'Ambrosio
Sponsored by Region of Apulia

Seminar II B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Ventura Foods Center for Menu R & D
Multi-Cultural Flavor Strategies for Contemporary American Menus
Moderator/Presenter: Norman Van Aken
Presenters: Jorge Luis “Coque” Ossio, Edinho “Edson” Engel
Sponsored by United Soybean Board

Seminar III B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
DeBaun Theater
Remarkable Flavors: Fast, Casual Mexican and the Wines of Rioja
Moderator/Presenter: Adrian Murcia
Presenter: Rick Bayless
Sponsored by Vibrant Rioja

Seminar IV B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Williams Center for Flavor Discovery
Hot, Sweet, Sour, Salty: Balancing Flavor in the South Asian Kitchen
Presenters: Alexander Ong, Neela Paniz
Sponsored by California Raisin Marketing Board

Seminar V B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Viking Range Corporation Tasting Theater (first floor)
Of Asian Spice Routes & Street Food: Discovering a World of Flavor
Introduction: Kevan Vetter
Session Leader: Christine Manfield
Guest Chefs/Discussants: Naomi Duguid, Burak Epir
Sponsored by McCormick for Chefs

Seminar VI B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Napa Valley Vintners Association Tasting Theater (second floor)
Catalonia: Great Wines with Small Bites to Match
Session Leaders: Karen MacNeil, Jesús Bernad
Guest Chef/Discussant: Albert Asin
Sponsored by Catalonia, the Gateway to the Mediterranean by Prodeca

4:15 PM Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series
(4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Third Floor Teaching Kitchen, Outdoor Live Fire Kitchens

Kitchen Workshop #1 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Peru: Cross Currents of Flavors from Spain to Asia
Workshop Leader: Pedro Miguel Schiaffino

Kitchen Workshop #2 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Feasts of Singapore: Of Screaming Hot Woks and the Scent of the Tropics
Workshop Leader: K.F. Seetoh
Presenters: Zulkifli Bin Packeer Bawa, Andi Ng

Kitchen Workshop #3 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Turkey: Regional Flavors, Casual Concepts and the Kitchens of Istanbul
Moderator: Anissa Helou
Presenters: Musa Dagdeviren, Necdet Kaygin

Kitchen Workshop #4 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Cold Kitchen
Thai Sweets: Dessert Strategies from Bangkok, Chiang Mai and San Francisco
Moderator/Presenter: Emily Luchetti
Presenters: Chai Siriyarn, Kannika Siriyarn, Kobkaew Najpinij, Niphatchanok “Ning” Najpinij

Kitchen Workshop #5 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Cold Kitchen
World Chickpea, Lentil, and Spices Smackdown: Irresistible Flavors from India to North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean
Moderator/Presenter: Joyce Goldstein
Presenters: Suvir Saran, Haouari Abderrrazak, Paula Wolfert, Stephania Cambanis

Kitchen Workshop #6 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (front of Greystone)
Street Food, Comfort Food, and the Pig: From Vietnam to Cuba and New Orleans
Moderator: Jim Poris
Presenters: Bobby Chinn, Maricel Presilla, Donald Link

Kitchen Workshop #7 B (4:15 PM—5:15 PM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (back of Greystone)
From a Greek Village Kitchen: Live Fires and Ancient Flavors
Moderator: Diane Kochilas
Presenters: Christoforos Peskias, Jim Botsacos
Sponsored by Greek Mediterranean Gastronomy, Wonderful Olive Oil

5:15 PM Break

5:30 PM General Session IX
World Flavors and Value Strategies: The American Food Revolution Rolls On Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development
Presenter: Dr. Tim Ryan

5:45 PM General Session X
Vietnam and Japan: Big Bites on the Run, From Street Corners to Train Stations
Moderator/Presenter: Mai Pham
Presenters: Ngoc Tinh, Bobby Chinn, Masaharu Morimoto, Hiroko Shimbo

6:40 PM General Session XI
Indonesia and India: Of Street Snacks, Sambals, and Savory Curries
Moderator: K.F. Seetoh
Moderator/Presenter: Suvir Saran
Presenters: William Wongso, Hemant Mathur, Neela Paniz

7:30 PM Tasting and Dinner
World Marketplace
Historic Barrel Room
A memorable immersion into the sights, smells, sounds, and flavors of more than a dozen food cultures around the world, featuring guest chefs, colorful market stalls, music and dance performances, comparative tastings, book signings, and more.

Guest Chef and Presenter Book Signings

9:30 PM Program Concludes for the Evening

Saturday, November 14

8:00 AM A Light Napa Valley Breakfast
Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development

8:45 AM Concurrent Activities
Various campus locations

8:45 AM Seminar Series
(8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Also see Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series starting at 8:45 AM.

Seminar I (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Ecolab Theater
Spanish Casual, from Traditional to Modern: Tapas, Bocadillos, Cocas, and More
Moderator/Presenter: Gerry Dawes
Presenters: Paco Roncero, Seamus Mullen, Albert Asin
Sponsored by Foods from Spain

Seminar II (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Ventura Foods Center for Menu R & D
East Asian Street Food: Fueling Concepts for American Menus
Moderator/Presenter: Andrew Hunter
Presenter: Roy Choi
Sponsored by Kikkoman Sales USA

Seminar III (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
DeBaun Theater
World Comfort Food: Seasonal Strategies for Farm-to-Table Cooking
Moderator: Jim Poris
Presenters: Neela Paniz, Matthew Weingarten
Sponsored by Sodexo

Seminar IV (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Williams Center for Flavor Discovery
Mediterranean Fresh: An Odyssey of Flavor Dynamics and Small Dishes
Moderator/Presenter: Joyce Goldstein
Presenters: John Csukor, Diane Kochilas, Stephania Cambanis
Sponsored by Almond Board of California

Seminar V (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Viking Range Corporation Tasting Theater (first floor)
Albariño Wines of Rias Biaxas: Pairing with Asian Bites
Session Leader: Karen MacNeil
Guest Chefs/Discussants: Robert Lam, Scott Whitman
Sponsored by Rias Baixas, Exceptional Albariño from Spain

Seminar VI (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Napa Valley Vintners Association Tasting Theater (second floor)
Apulia: Flavor Strategies, Techniques, the Foods of Southern Italy…and the Wines that Pair with Them
Session Leader: Domenico Maggi
Panelists: Sabina Ficco, Luzian Palmieri
Sponsored by Region of Apulia

8:45 AM Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series
(8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Third Floor Teaching Kitchen, Outdoor Live Fire Kitchens

Kitchen Workshop #1 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Hot Kitchen
Signature Flavors: Asian and Latin Street Food as Inspiration
Workshop Leader: Norman Van Aken
Presenters: Christine Manfield, Jorge Alvarez
Sponsored by United Soybean Board

Kitchen Workshop #2 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Hot Kitchen
The Corn Kitchen: The Heart of Mexican Comfort Food
Moderator: Richard Sandoval
Presenters: Iliana de la Vega, Beatriz Ramírez Woolrich

Kitchen Workshop #3 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Hot Kitchen
Vietnam and Indonesia: A Heritage of Long, Slow, and Complex Flavors
Moderator/Presenter: Mai Pham
Presenters: Ngoc Tinh, Bobby Chinn, William Wongso

Kitchen Workshop #4 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Cold Kitchen
Mediterranean Bread-based Snacks and Street Foods
Moderator/Presenter: Anissa Helou
Presenters: Mark Furstenberg, Vincenzo D’Ambrosio, Riccardo Olanda,
Aglaia Kremezi, Daniel Olivella

Kitchen Workshop #5 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (front of Greystone)
Turkey, from Istanbul and the Aegean to Gazientep: Of Street Foods and
Live Fires
Moderator: Burak Epir
Presenters: Musa Dagdeviren, Necdet Kaygin

Kitchen Workshop #6 (8:45 AM—9:45 AM)
Outdoor Live Fire Kitchen (back of Greystone)
Mastering the Indian Tandoor: Techniques for Memorable Flavors
Moderator: Suvir Saran
Presenter: Hemant Mathur

9:45 AM Coffee and Conversation Break
Sponsored by United States Potato Board

10:00 AM General Session XII
Italian Comfort Food: Inspiration from the Sea, and from Apulia in the South
Moderator/Presenter: Paul Bartolotta
Presenters: Corrado De Virgilio, Antonio De Rosa, Riccardo Olanda

With a live feed from the outdoor, wood-fired bread oven with Mark Furstenberg and Vincenzo D’Ambrosio

10:40 AM General Session XIII
Chasing Flavors, Dodging Traffic: On the Streets of Thailand and Malaysia
Moderator: Robert Danhi
Presenters: Chai Siriyarn, Kobkaew Najpinij, Niphatchanok “Ning” Najpinij, Alexander Ong

11:20 AM General Session XIV
Flavors in Migration I: Asian Street Foods without Borders
Moderator: Suvir Saran
Presenters: Christine Manfield, Naomi Duguid

NOON Lunch
World Marketplace
Historic Barrel Room
A memorable immersion into the sights, smells, sounds, and flavors of more than a dozen food cultures around the world, featuring guest chefs, colorful market stalls, music and dance performances, comparative tastings, book signings, and more.

Guest Chef and Presenter Book Signings

1:15 PM General Session XV
Ventura Foods Center for Menu Research & Development
Of Hot Fires and Aromatics: Modern Takes on Ancient Flavors, from Turkey to Morocco
Moderator: Anissa Helou
Presenters: Musa Dagdeviren, Necdet Kaygin, Mourad Lahlou

2:00 PM General Session XVI
Made in America II: World Street Food Goes Upscale, Circa 2010
Presenters: Ruth Reichl, Susan Feniger

2:40PM General Session XVII
Flavors in Migration II: African, Spanish, and Latin Exchanges
Presenters: Jessica Harris, Maricel Presilla

3:20 PM Break

3:30 PM Concurrent Activities
Various campus locations

3:30 PM Seminar Series
(3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Also see Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series starting at 3:30 PM.

Seminar I (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Ecolab Theater
Fresh from Barcelona: Tapas, Cava, and the Flavors of Catalonia
Moderator: Gerry Dawes
Presenters: Albert Asin, Jesús Bernad, Daniel Olivella
Sponsored by Catalonia, the Gateway to the Mediterranean by Prodeca

Seminar II (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Ventura Center for Menu R & D
Athens to the Islands: Modern Greek Comfort Food
Introduction: Cat Cora
Moderators/Presenters: Diane Kochilas, Aglaia Kremezi
Presenters: Christoforos Peskias, Jim Botsacos
Sponsored by Greek Mediterranean Gastronomy, Wonderful Olive Oil

Seminar III (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
DeBaun Theater
Singapore: Secrets of the Hawker Kitchen
Moderator: Violet Oon
Presenter: Mohan Ismail

Seminar IV (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Williams Center
Street Food, Comfort Food Along the World Spice Routes: The Brazilian Kitchen
Introduction: Kevan Vetter
Moderator/Presenter: Almir DaFonseca
Presenters/Panelists: Edinho “Edson” Engel, Ana Celia Batista Santos
Sponsored by McCormick for Chefs

Seminar V (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Viking Range Corporation Tasting Theater (first floor)
The Albariño Wines of Rias Biaxas: Pairing with Asian Bites
Session Leader: Karen MacNeil
Guest Chefs/Discussants: Robert Lam, Scott Whitman
Sponsored by Rias Baixas, Exceptional Albariño from Spain

Seminar VI (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies
Napa Valley Vintners Association Tasting Theater (second floor)
The Great Tapas Wines of Spain and Inspired Flavors that Pair with Them
Session Leader: Doug Frost
Guest Chef/Discussant: Seamus Mullen
Sponsored by Wines from Spain

3:30 PM Kitchen Demonstration Workshop Series
(3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Third Floor Teaching Kitchen

Kitchen Workshop #1 (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Kitchens of Apulia: Slow Flavors of Southern Italy
Workshop Leader: Domenico Maggi
Presenters: Antonio De Rosa, Corrado De Virgilio, Luzian Palmieri, Sabina Ficco
Sponsored by Region of Apulia

Kitchen Workshop #2 (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Peru, from Ceviche to Anticuchos: Taking Street Food into Casual and Fine Dining
Workshop Leader: Arturo Rubio
Presenters: Jorge Luis “Coque” Ossio, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, Marilu Madueño

Kitchen Workshop #3 (3:30 PM—4:30 PM)
Hot Kitchen
Of Chili Jam and Pad Thai: Building Thai Flavors through Sauce-making
and the Wok
Moderator/Presenter: Chai Siriyarn
Presenters: Kobkaew Najpinij, Niphatchanok “Ning” Najpinij

4:30 PM Break

4:45 PM General Session XVIII: Town Hall
World Flavors…On a Stick, In a Bowl, On the Run…A Game Changer?
Moderator: Greg Drescher
Presenter: Jonathan Gold
Panelists: Rick Bayless, Roy Choi, Gerry Dawes, John T. Edge, Susan Feniger,
Mark Furstenberg, Jonathan Gold, Jessica Harris, Anissa Helou, Diane Kochilas, Maricel Presilla, Jim Poris, Ruth Reichl, K.F. Seetoh, Suvir Saran

6:00 PM Concluding Remarks
Speakers: Rick Bayless, Greg Drescher