thermometers, refractometers, and pacojets
A few feet away, in this spacious kitchen somewhere in Happy Valley, California, guacamole preparation was beginning,
and then the food prep yielded to croquet with technologists, a medical doctor, and a farmer on the manicured lawn,
and then strenuous swinging,
that continued until my friend Margaret and I found the secret entrance that led to a treehouse (rather than a rabbit hole),
with a burbling creek below and lights inside, the tiny elevated cottage was practically perfect, down to its emergency slide exit—
and as Margaret and I left a little later, we wondered if the house and its inhabitants were actually real as we drove into the perfect dusk toward Santa Cruz…
Saturday morning, I wasn’t looking for cakes to make me big or liquids to make me small (though the edible lavender will make you sleepy); the market at San Francisco’s Ferry Building spun its usual magic with all sorts of edible blossoms including wild radish,
stinging nettles (that do! They are lovely wilted on pizza),
bouquets for gazing,
and Primavera’s citrus-marinated pibil and onions under avocado slices with a hard-boiled egg slice hidden on top of the crunchy tortilla.
This market is often one I wander alone, but this time, my friend and fellow serious cook Cary meandered market stalls with me before we left to taste a bewildering array of flavors at the Scream Sorbet Emeryville headquarters—and to meet in person my current favorite machine, the Pacojet (isn’t it beautiful?)
We learned the importance of the refractometer on the sugar calculations of local fruit incorporated into these signature frozen concoctions,
and Sorbet Master (“I’ve been obsessed with frozen desserts since I was five”) Noah started the tasting with chocolate-peanut butter after we visited the freezer full of citrus.
My favorite was the Thai Basil, with separated herbs on top,
until the Pacojet stirs the green leaves into the white base, that seems to me the perfect ending to a Thai meal.
Scream Sorbet’s Macadamia Vanilla is one to try for the depth of flavor and beautiful smoothness, even with an incredible amount of vanilla bean flecks.
and digging deep into the freezers (and explaining the importance of air flow and evils of temperature fluctuation that causes crystallization),
Noah decided we could handle it,
and offered spoonfuls of Parsnip-Horseradish (yes, Parsnip-Horseradish).
Cary’s favorite was the bright beet sorbet that he described as “earthy,” (that I would characterize as true to root vegetable’s unique sweetness),
and we looked at the packaging (this was quite a tour),
before a final sample of blood orange sorbet for the road (thank you again, Noah, for such a delightful series of colors and tastes).
Meeting up with my friend Tim and then my friend Kristina, we walked toward the sun in Dolores Park,
and in that certain San Francisco way, Cary, Kristina, and I met someone headed toward us named Joel,
who was dressed in a found bunny suit for his friend’s birthday. He assumed that we wanted a picture.
And as the sun disappeared, we watched dogs play catch in the park, toasted to summer plans at dinner, and I caught a late flight back to Brooklyn, thinking about how much I have missed visits to the Bay Area this year and how happy I am to have friends to laugh, cook, and adventure with there…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Monday, April 12th, 2010, 7:06 pm * Filed in Food, Market, Technology, Travel. * Tags: kristen, kthread, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Rec: transport sorbet to tree house. Eat.
Mmm. (My favorite local sorbet is the honey ginger lime coconut milk sorbet… not sure whether it’s the honey or coconut milk that gives it a unique texture.)
Oh– also, nettles! They make a great tea. And so healthy! Yay for nettles!
April 12th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
These photos are amazing. I really enjoyed the thai coconut lime basil. trying to work it all off this week.
April 13th, 2010 at 6:16 am
J, that is the perfect combination and since the treehouse has electricity, the sorbet could even be reblended as necessary. It might be the coconut milk; mouthfeel was the most fascinating part of the tasting.
I second the cheer for fleeting nettles.
Cary, thanks, had such a great time on Saturday—glad you were up for the tasting and look forward to cooking together the next time I’m in SF–
April 13th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Beautiful photos! I love the sparkly sorbet! This makes me want to go to SF now…even if I’m afraid of earthquakes.
April 14th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Mica, SF is always worth it, you should plan a summer visit :) as a reward from your diligent work all semester, you deserve it—
April 16th, 2010 at 7:41 am
You are a magical photographer.
Edit: a magical person. So wish we could have spent more time together in Miami.
April 17th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Holly, I feel the same, but now you live closer, and we’ll have to be back and forth to visit often—you are always, always welcome in Brooklyn.
To many adventures ahead!
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm
After reading your poetry on Rhymes, I noticed that your photography and poetry have the same cadence. Detailed thoughts and broad views.