Left: Challahback Bakeshop's Schlabs and Schtitt; Right: Jaynelle St. Jean, owner of Pietisserie,
at the Underground Market on June 4th.

The Underground Market is an amazing recurring event in San Francisco, the last one held at the SOMArts building on June 4th. The event had music, drink and food from around 40 excellent local culinary artisans. It was very popular and had a line flowing down the street.

Started by Iso Rabins, the event aims to give smaller artisans the chance to sell their goods and connect with local foodies. The food didn’t disappoint and was very inventive and delicious- from caramels made with beer to carrot marmalade to vegan currywurst to homemade sarsaparilla.

Two artisans that stood out were Jaynelle St. Jean, owner of Pietisserie and the creator of an incredibly delicious grapefruit custard pie and the Challahback Bakeshop, vegan challah bread bakers who have an interesting business plan to sell their bread by subscription, with a fresh loaf of bread delivered by bicycle to San Francisco residents each Friday.

Sign up here to be notified of the next Underground Market.

There are an estimated 90,000 container ships currently in use and crossing the oceans worldwide. Enormous, sail-less and powered entirely by low-grade fuel, each of these vessels alone produces the pollution equivalent to 50 million cars.

The US economy is highly dependent on container ships which transport billions of dollars worth of imported goods each month. Check the label of most of the clothes you wear, the furniture in your home and the objects that you use in your daily life and chances are that the vast majority will list an overseas country as its production source.

With the current oil spill tragedy weighing on our minds, the time is right to take action and opt out of products that guzzle oil by being created and shipped in from afar, and opt in to products that not only require less oil in production and in transport, but also are created with greater care and help stabilize the local economy.

Left: Produce department from a grocery store in the midwest
Right: A farmer's market equivalent in downtown Chicago

We’ve been away from our blog for a month while we focused on our impending beta launch (announcement coming soon). Tomorrow is the first day of June, and that officially heralds the start of summer farmer’s markets for much of the country.

We are happy to announce that a date has been set for the launch of our Beta site! On Monday May 17th, residents of the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to start using EkoTable.

We are looking for producers and consumers interested in becoming a part of our beta release.

Please email us at info@ekotable.com for more information. We can also be reached at www.ekotable.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Strawberries are now at the Market

The first strawberries of the season have appeared at the farmer’s market and seeing them for the first time in months was magical. Currently for sale at the market is the seascape variety, which is favored by growers because of its sweetness, hardiness and high yield.

Strawberries are a good source of Vitamin C, flavonoids and fiber. They are good for controlling cholesterol, anemia and fatigue.

The typical cultivated strawberry comes from the Americas, and is a hybrid-the result of an accidental cross between a North American and South American berry in the 18th century.

The name ’strawberry’ is thought to have arisen from the long-term practice of placing straw mulch around the growing fruit, and using straw to pack the ripe berries for travel.

Select strawberries that are firm with even full color and no white mold or brown spots. Smell can be a good indicator of freshness as ripe berries will be sweetly aromatic while berries past their prime will have a slightly off, dirty scent.

Cosmetically, they are supposedly used for whitening teeth. They can also be dried and crushed and made into an exfoliant for skin.

Left: Lee James and her two shelties Kaya and Cloudy at the Saturday Ferry Building Farmer's Market; Right: Tierra Vegetables' Chipotle Chili Jam and a package of Ground Parching Corn

Tierra Vegetables is a farm specializing in wool, chili peppers, beans and root veggies, and is also a culinary artisan of jellies, spices and milled products. Founded over 20 years ago by the brother and sister team of Lee and Wayne James, they grow their products using sustainable practices on 20 acres near Healdsburg, CA. They can be found each Saturday in the back portion of the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market.

This producer has a rustic feel and unique seasonal items. In the summer one can find football-sized Lutz beets, giant onions, crazy-shaped & delicious St. Valery carrots and a beautiful array of peppers. Currently for sale are spice packs of dried chilies, wool, sunchokes, beans and jellies.

I’ve discovered my love for chili jam and Native American parching corn (which makes an aromatic, popcorn-y tea) from this vendor. Lee always has interesting items, provides historical context and great recipe ideas. And she is always accompanied by two very cute dogs.

Tierra Vegetables’ website

Left: Manufactured art from the home department of a national chain store;
Right: Original art- clockwise from left, a watercolor by Kristie Rolke Smith,
a sculpture by Betty Blake and an acrylic painting by Molly McCracken

Anyone can appreciate and be a collector of art – it is not just for wealthy people or people with a lot of schooling or experience. A space filled with beautiful, challenging and unique items is fun to live with and the art buying process is exciting and can quickly turn into a passion. Art is not only a great conversation piece, it is also a great investment as the value of items increases as time passes.

One of the most inspiring art collecting stories is that of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a postal worker and a librarian who started their collection in the 1960’s by finding pieces local to them in New York City. They were able to find and purchase artworks from many artists before they became well-known and were thus affordable for them to acquire with their average salaries. Their collection is now an important part of The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. There is a great recent documentary about them called Herb and Dorothy that tells their story.

Many people want to collect but do not have the time or means to make contact with the artists of their local area. Some cities like San Francisco have an annual month of open studios that offers this opportunity. It’s an amazing program but is only one short month out of the entire year. Artists and their art should be accessible year round.

In the coming months you will have a new resource available to help you grow your local art collection.

Booth (left) and White (right) varieties of cherimoya, found at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market

One of the best parts of shopping at the farmer’s market is happening upon foods you’ve never heard of. Discovering the cherimoya was a fun experience.

The cherimoya is the fruit from an evergreen tree native to the Andean highland valleys of Peru. It is typically oval in shape with green bumpy skin and white, sweet, sherbet-like flesh with numerous black seeds. The flavor of the flesh has been compared to a blend of pineapple, banana and strawberry or to bubblegum. The seeds should not be eaten or crushed as they are toxic and have insecticidal properties. The skin should also not be eaten.

Originating in the Andes mountains, it is cultivated in many places throughout the Americas, including California (where it was introduced in 1871) and Hawaii. In the Mediterranean region, it is cultivated mainly in southern Spain, Madeira, Egypt and Israel. The first planting in Italy was in 1797 and it became a favored crop in the Province of Reggio Calabria. It is also grown in Taiwan and New Zealand.

It is a fruit with many admirers, including Mark Twain, who wrote that the cherimoya was “the most delicious fruit known to men.”

When shopping, one should look for large fruit which is uniformly green. When ripe the skin gives gently to pressure, like ripe mangoes or avocados. Avoid fruits with cracks or mostly browned skin. Ripe fruit may be kept in the refrigerator, but it is best to let immature cherimoyas ripen at room temperature, until it yields to gentle pressure.

A hard fruit can ripen within 2-4 days of shady counter top storage.

This fruit is delicious and very sweet. Slice the cherimoya in half and scoop the white custard with a spoon. The seeds can be easily scraped out of the flesh. Do take care not to eat or break open the seeds.

Laura Patnaude and John Robblee are the designers and producers of the mens clothing line Alley, which operates out of South San Francisco. They specialize in ‘urban workwear’- tailored clothes made of rugged fabrics like duck canvas and structured fabrics like twill. They focus on fit for athletic physiques and have interesting details like the built-in double cuff (the black second cuff in the shirt pictured above is actually part the shirt).

They can be found at several San Francisco & Bay area boutiques, as well as one in Chicago.

Above: The Mikey Shirt

The Alley website

This video makes a convincing case for keeping food purchases local, especially with regard to environmental impact. It is shocking that far fewer calories are available for energy in the consumption of a box of cereal than were required for its creation.

There is irony in the fact that for how energy draining mass production is, it is viewed as more economical for both producers and consumers. Government subsidies and large-scale distribution deals with supermarkets benefit the bottom line for industrial food companies, who then produce cheap food and market it to consumers, who see the lower prices as a better deal.

But, times are changing as books likeThe Omnivore’s Dilemma and films like Food Inc. have revealed the true cost of mass production and have enlightened consumers, who are now demanding better access to locally made, smaller scale and more environmentally sound foods and products.