- We missed the Culinary Breeding Network’s Variety Showcase, so we’d welcome a report.
- Pete Brown’s new book The Apple Orchard looks worthwhile.
- “The Mennonites do not like to be photographed, but they gave me permission to photograph their vegetables.” Take a look.
You need to get to the next CBN Variety Showcase. It’s a mix of public plant breeders, independent breeders, and farmers doing both complex breeding and simple improvements on older heirlooms – each of whom is paired with a chef. Those who attend get to learn about the breeding process and goals, and then sample dishes crafted from the crops. For example, a pastry chef (Nora Antene from Tusk) made a “Corn Silk Pie” with sweet corn bred by Bill Tracy (in a participatory plant breeding project with a number of farmers). This wasn’t an actual pie made from corn silks (but hey, has anyone tried it?) but rather a pie in the texture and tradition of chocolate silk. It may have been the best thing I’ve eaten in life. Although the hulless pepito ice cream was pretty damn good.
Anyway…great event that helps the public understand plant breeding.
I would so love to be there next year. Maybe even to do a special series for Eat This Podcast. How might we make that happen?
Here’s a little video from the event that you can see the pie and more.
Send me an email Jeremy and I will connect you to the organizer.