The First Parish Church, 3 Church Street in Cambridge will host an Earth Dinner potluck on Saturday, February 6, from 5 – 9 pm, which will feature local foods, with a Slow Foods Boston representative, local farmers, and food producers discussing the local food movement. For more information, log on to www.slowfoodboston.com, or call the church at 617-876-7772.
Join author Amy Cotler at The Bookloft, 322 Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (near the Price Chopper) on Saturday, January 23, beginning at 1 pm, for a book signing of Amy’s new book The Locavore Way, an event which will include appearances by local food vendors. Amy will also be signing at the West Stockbridge Library, 21 State Line Road (Route 201) on February 5 at 7 pm, and will be with Slow Food Boston during the first week in May, details to be announced. For a complete calendar of signing events, log on to www.amycotler.com.
Amy Cotler brings 3 decades as a culinary professional (AKA food fanatic) and farm to table advocate to her books and other offerings. A longtime advocate of seasonal cooking and local eating, she is the founding director of Berkshire Grown, which became an early model for local farm and food advocacy. She consults, teaches and lectures nationally on food and farm to table issues.
Ms. Cotler worked as the web food forum host for The New York Times and her food articles have been published in periodicals, including Fine Cooking, Kitchen Garden, Cook’s and Orion. She has written 5 cookbooks, including Fresh from the Farm: The Massachusetts Farm to School Cookbook, a training tool for schools, which was distributed to every school Massachusetts and is now available free on-line.
Her new book, published in November 2009, brings together her culinary and local food advocacy experience. The Locavore Way, Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Foods is a people’s solution to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a hands-on guide to becoming someone who seeks out and savors local foods.
A veteran chef and cooking teacher, Ms. Cotler has taught home cooks and professionals at Institute for Culinary Education and Culinary Institute of America, where she also researched and wrote text for their professional cookbook.She has developed close to 1000 recipes, including many for the Joy of Cooking. Her media appearances include The Television Food Network and National Public Radio.
Ellen Messer, Visiting Professor of Gastronomy at Boston University, will present a free lecture on Tuesday, November 3 at 6 pm, entitled “Feast or Pharmacy? Meeting Micronutrient Needs with Local Foods.” The lecture will take place at 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 117, and is free and open to the public, although Boston University asks that you call to reserve a space – 617-353-9852.  Dr. Messer is an anthropologist and specialist in human rights, food security, and religion, with a special interest in religion and development. She has taught Religion and Development and, in a cross-cultural approach, Nutrition and Food Security, at Brandeis University. The talk is part of BU’s ongoing MLA in Gastronomy Lecture Series in Food Studies. More information on all the lectures can be found at www.bu.edu/foodandwine.
Slow Food Cape Cod could think of no better way to provide a fitting finale for the Cape Land and Sea Harvest (CLASH), a weekend long salute to fishing, farming and all things Cape Cod, than a shared meal, featuring the bounty of local foods. The setting for such a feast is at the source, outdoors in a field at Cape Cod Organic Farm. A group of chefs, farmers, fisherman, wine makers, cheese artisans, bean roasters, brewers, and musicians unite for an afternoon of education and fun. The host farmer is Tim Friary; the date is September 27th at 3:00 PM, till it gets dark. Profits will be donated to the Food Bank, in the form of real food purchased from local farmers.
The idea of Farm to Table is to gain a better understanding of the connection between the earth and the food on our plate. Enjoy a leisurely meal, while meeting local food artisans as they educate us on all aspects of what is on our plate. There will be a 5 course meal, each course paired with local wines:
– Les Hemmila, Barnstable Seafarms and Laura Scheel from Out of the Blue will set up a raw bar with both Barnstable and Wellfleet Oysters.
– Joe Dunn, of The Island Merchant will create an amazing soup.
– Stephen Skelton, from The Glass Onion is going to prepare a pasta dish.
– Liam Luttrell-Rowland from LunaSoul Foods is the man at the helm for the catch from the sea.
– Peter Hyde, Blue Moon Bistro, is on the grill for meat, secured from NEFF (North East Family Farm).
– Veronica Worthington, Pleasant Lake Farm, will create a salad, accompanied by an assortment of New England farmstead cheeses.
– Paul Olaf Lively, from Chef Paul’s Truffles, will wow you with the finale, followed by coffee from The Beanstock Roasters.
– You will be tasting wines selected from Truro and Westport Vineyards, and of course be served Cape Cod Beer. And did we mention music? Yes, we have Robertchez playing jazz classics and originals (some written just for Slow Food) to lift our spirits and set the mood.
For pricing, information, and reservations, call 508-375-9883, or email info@CapeCodCLASH.org.
