On August 2nd,I was lucky enough to attend the first food festival put on by Strathmore.It was called Appetite; A Gastronomic Experience . The event had two very famous chefs;Giada De Laurentiis on Friday night and Bizarre Foods Chef Andrew Zimmern on Saturday Night .I did not attend their presentations. Instead , We purchased the Saturday general Admission ticket for $100 for 2 .This event was terrific. The overall themes that were repeated in tastings and lectures were the farm to table movement and sustainability of farming and fishing so that our food sources are protected for the generations to come.
There were food trucks and small tables in the lot between the Music Center and the Mansion with everything from corned beef sandwiches to ice cream. There were several tastings prepared by local chefs and restaurateurs like Todd Gray and his wife from Equinox and staff from Jose' Andre's Jaleo of Bethesda.There were so many events that I had to pick and chose events from several categories. My favorite event was "All things Olive: hosted by Keith Voight. He had several varieties of olive oils to taste and then the to die for Balsamic Vinegar from the Robbins Family Farm. Did you know that the Extra Virgin Olive Oils you buy in the supermarket, are for the most part blends and not regulated? There are no specific standards for EVOO. There is now an Olive Oil Council that publishes standards and inspects olive oils to assure there are "no taste or odor defectives". Unfortunately ,participation and adoption of these standards are all voluntary. I could go on and on about what I learned, but it is safe to say that I am now much more aware of what goes into the EVOO bottle and I have some tools to differentiate good from not so good olive oils.
There were also a variety of farms and wineries selling their products .I had an Ape Man walnut taco which were delicious. Ape Man foods is a vegan food provider and advocate. This was just one of the Pike Central Farmer's Market vendors participating in the event. he market is open each Saturday from 9 to 2PM.See there website www.CentralFarmMarkets for additional information.
This was a well thought out quality program . I hope that Strathmore VP Shelley Brown and her staff do this again next year .I learned a lot, tasted some yummy food and want to do it again!
