TURKEY TROT This has to be the dream trip to the Middle East for serious cooks, lovers of culinary folklore and adventurous antiquity lovers.
Jozseph Schultz knows his way around the fabled recipes and ingredients of this great crossroads of world culture. And armed with the deep experience gained from a similar tour three years ago, Schultz is inviting 10-15 food lovers to come tour, cook, sail and feast with him June 13–July 7, 2012. A stupendous opportunity: three weeks of days at archaeological sites, yachting on the Turquoise Coast, sailing down rivers, visiting small villages, being awestruck in Cappadocia. This beautifully organized tour begins and ends in Istanbul, but along the way tours the Olympos Hills, pilgrimage churches, carpet works, hot springs, covered markets, the shrines of Ephesus and dozens of kitchens. Unbelievable depth as well as range of flavors, textures and sights.
“It's going to be very hands-on,” Schultz explains. So yes, those of you who want to try your hand at the regional specialties and learn to use unique spice and ingredient combinations will find it exhilarating. “Turkey offers more variety than you can imagine,” Schultz continues with a gleam in his eye. “All the cultures come together here, in what was once the center of the world. And to find the best food, you go to the center—just as we do today going to New York or Paris.” Essentially many of the foods we today consider staples of Mediterranean cuisine originated here, and as Schultz says, tempting anyone with working tastebuds, “On this trip we will taste refinements in techniques that are hundreds, even thousands of years old.” The $6,500 price for the 24-day odyssey includes airfare, lodgings, gratuities and at least 50 meals throughout the journey. For details and applications, email soon: [email protected].
HOT CHEF Congratulations to Shadowbrook Restaurant’s Executive Chef, Ashley Hosmer, featured in the cover story of the December 2011/January 2012 California Bountiful magazine. Chef Hosmer grew up in Santa Cruz and graduated from the California Culinary Academy and the Cordon Bleu program. Now she oversees the kitchen at the landmark restaurant.
HOT DATE Love Apple Farms is offering a slew of classes this spring on such essential homesteading skills as beer-making, cheese-making, garden designing and cooking. Save Feb. 4 to join Pim Techuanvivit, the blog czarina of Chez Pim, in the kitchen for “Perfect Pie Crusts,” a four-hour class designed to give you the confidence to tackle this greatest of baking challenges without fear. $115. Reservations at http://bit.ly/tvbT2H
