Culture Kitchen SF

Now, I must admit, I did make a American blueberry pie as my contribution to the festivities. I hardly ever whip out the All-American cookbook, but for the 4th, I felt it to be appropriate. I wanted to relish in the red, white and blueness. But I think I was the only one to do that. This years potlucking for the 4th seemed far more culturally diverse than I have ever seen, and well, I loved it.

Tamales, seeweed salad, yucca chips, marinated tomatoes with boiled eggs, Vietnamese rice noodles with grilled pork, warmed pita and fresh hummus. Then the drinks, fresh tropical cocktails and Sangrias to die for with fruits I know don’t think could come from the local grocery.

Besides the fact that it was nice to have a taste from 4 continents on my plate, it was exciting to see that, on all the days we come together to share food, the 4th of July was such a global event. I guess we are a country built upon immigration after all. Next year I plan to make my mothers flan, with blueberry sauce. Okay maybe she never makes it with blueberry sauce, but I think a little American spin on it could be good.

Hey there Culture Kitchen Cooks!

We just checked out potential spaces for Summer 2011 classes and one place in particular made us do a double take, a large freighter. That’s right a ship, with a kitchen of course. We wanted to reach out to you all and hear your opinions, should Culture Kitchen start offering classes on a docked boat? Is a private freighter luxury kitchen appealing? You decide. Post on our facebook wall, suggestions, opinions and thoughts. Where should Culture Kitchen be hosting classes?

Culture Kitchen has never met a Gordita it doesn’t like. And this is specifically true for the incredible Gorditas Norma, our instructor from Durango taught on Sunday.

With help from her daughter Sarai, Norma shared her grandmothers Gordita recipes and her memories of life on the farm in Mexico.

Norma taught two gordita fillings, one zucchini and tomato filling along with a ground chicken in fresh pepper salsa. After creating the fillings and making little gordita disks (corn meal dough also used to make tortillas) we went to the griddle to cook our creations. The best part was watching these little disks poof up on the griddle just waiting to be cut open and filled with cheese and fillings.

That along with a pineapple agua fresca sweetened with agave nectar and a light cabbage salad with keylime dressing, we had a lovely lunch and look forward to many more stories of the Durango farm and moments with Norma and her daughter. Look out for upcoming Mexican classes on the Peninsula and San Francisco.

Culture Kitchen is proud to announce we won second place in the Stanford BASES Social Entrepreneurship Challenge! Thank you to everyone that come to watch our presentation and support Culture Kitchen as we grow. We look forward to continue providing meaningful cooking experiences, and proving that much more than food gets made in the Kitchen. Look out for our new class offering coming soon!

We want to extend a great thanks to everyone who came and visited us at the TEDx SV Social Innovation Showcase. We had a fantastic time and are so excited to have such interest in Culture Kitchen! Check out a few images of the event below.

Tonight Culture Kitchen will be at TEDx Silicon Valley presenting at their innovation showcase. Come chat with us at our booth and taste some delicious home made authentic ethnic Thai and Mexican dishes. We will be available from 6pm to 9pm.

Thursday we got a taste of Nicaragua with Maria Lourdes and her amazing menu of Vigoron, Yucca fries and Almibar. Maria Lourdes was back to teach her second class with Culture Kitchen, teaching just as much about the food as the history of Nicaragua.

Vigoron a staple Nicaraguan dish is composed of Nica Salad, (as lovingly referred to by Maria Lourdes) Yucca Fries, Chicharron, Carnitas- or otherwise known as Chancho Muerto translated as dead pig. Ensalad Nica covers the plate and the yucca, chicharron and carnitas get layered on the top. This is a full meal no question about it. After a little post dinner chatting we were ready to have some Almibar and Nicaraguan coffee. Almibar is a sweet dessert made of reduced and caramelized tropical fruits. Imagine guavas, pinapples, cashew apple (marañón in Nicaragua) mangos and papayas made into a natural pudding. That and a little Nicaraguan coffee is everything one to ask for in life.

Maria spoke to us about the marañón or cashew apple that is quite uncommon in the U.S. but very common in Nicaragua. Maria with the help of the students broke open the seed to see the raw cashew inside. This being the first time for most people to see the cashew in its unprocessed state.

A great dinner, fun conversation, some cashew explorations and a little bit of Nicaraguan music and culture made the class a great success. Maria Lourdes looks forward to teaching more of her Nicaraguan specialties in the summer.

On April 21st we had a great class with Nataliya! She led to class to making their first Holubci. Holubci is a form of cabbage roll that is stuffed with rice and ground meat. Cooked on the stove or baked in the oven. We all had our chance at rolling our own cabbage rolls and tightly packing them in the pot just as Nataliya’s grandmother did growing up.

Nataliya taught us some tips and tricks to steaming cabbage and making sure one can easily remove all the cabbage leaves easily from a head of cabbage without ripping or tearing, critical in making a tasty and good looking roll.

We also learned to make a staple eggplant and tomato side dish, which surely did not dissapoint, adding rich color and flavor to the meal. Along side the Apple Charlotte we had a great dinner!

This was the first time for many of our students to eat Ukrainian food, and surely not the last. Check back for other classes with Nataliya.