As usual, Carrie Brown and the Jimtown staff, hosted another great party. This time in collaboration with the Slow Food Sonoma County North gang as a benefit for Ana Maria Calan’s AMIDI. Ana Maria is the leader of AMIDI, the
association of indigenous Guatemalan women which has a close
relationship with Slow Food. Ana Maria brought some incredible weavings from the women in her village and let’s just say I went a little nuts, for a good cause. Of course the food was note-perfect. Not too ambitious but so much better than I could ever do. Hats off to our hosts and all who attended, and there were a lot of them!
And yes, those are Rancho Gordo Santa Maria Pinquitos, donated by yours truly, but made to perfection by Chef Peter.
All photos courtesy of Carrie Brown/Jimtown
Have you ever tried Ethiopian Yellow Lentils? William Woys Weaver wrote about them in his book One Hundred Vegetables and Where They Came From. What I particularly love about them is their shape. They are irregular and slightly puffy, not lenticular at all. When cooked they look more like baby hominy kernels than lentils. Plus they have a great nutty flavor and keep their shape. The vines are lovely, with beautiful blue flowers, and the green pods, like green garbanzos, are absolutely delicious.
Apparently the plants are tough as nails too. I haven’t tested their drought tolerance, but I had some volunteer in my garden over the winter! Okay, I’m in San Jose, so it’s not totally crazy, but still, I would never have thought they would like cold, wet conditions. I just harvested those vines and have replanted a few since they seem to grow well in the summer too.