by Jeff L.
Orange County's Culinary Capital is hosting for the first-time ever the Patchwork Edible Edition for two days, Saturday, October 5 from 11 a.m.-8:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 6 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The two-day event will showcase the flourishing artisan food movement in SoCal through an interactive weekend filled with baking programs, food trucks, restaurant pop-ups, book signings, beer and wine gardens, samples and more! Come experience the latest offerings from some of the leading voices in the Southern California food movement including Evan Kleiman, Aida Mollenkamp, Russ Parsons, Gustavo Arellano, Bill Esparza, Christoper (CJ) Jacobsen, Dean Kim, Ernest Miller, and Laura Avery, and dozens of chefs, ranchers, farmers, bloggers and authors from across the region.
The Kombuchadog was very intriguing. It is a fermented tea loaded with anti-oxidants, detoxifying acids and probiotics which is really good for digestion. At first it was just bitter, but then it grew on you. They had raspberry and ginger. Definitely raspberry was my favorite. The ginger was made from fresh pressed Peruvian ginger. The alcohol content was slight at 0.7% so as their literature says ”the government does not allow us to say it is good for you”. The labels have pictures of dogs which actually depict real dogs that are in need to rescue. Very refreshing drink with a great story behind it.
For the OC Mixes Cheese Shop there was only a sampling of their very extensive cheese and bread selection. All the food was good but the bread (see center in pic- 4 bread)stood out the most – very light and fluffy yet substantive. Also, the red pepper jam paired nicely with the bread, cheese and meats. The Japanese Ginger had a wonderful spicy kick to it.
Almond Milk definitely has gained popularity and this was the right combination of milk with a slight almond taste, not to overpowering like many. It’s handmade from organic, raw and non-GMO ingredients. It’s also soy and gluten free. It was very smooth, rich and overall tasty. At the event there were samples of the Honey, Cacao and the pure milk. My favorite was just the pure one that was made of organic almonds and pink Himalayan sea salt.
I almost walked by and didn’t stop at the Preservation Society because there was just an array of jars. I started talking with Ernest Miller, the master chef, and was duly impressed. He was very knowledgable about food preservation and their seasonal approach to making jars just makes sense - there is such a variety of differences depending on the time of year. Products we discussed were relishes, preserves, pickles and marmalades. Plus, he was working on a sauerkraut made of red cabbage that turned out excellent.
There was an wide array of bread sample by Bread Artisan Bread and they all were consistently fresh, crunchy outside and chewy inside. Very much like good quality bread you would find in Europe. Onotria was a hidden gem that I will definitely need to seek out to dine in the future. The owner was there making two kinds of mozzarella cheese from scratch, burrata and regular. We had a fascinating conversation about cheese and how different it is in Italy vs America. Both cheeses you had to work and play with in your mouth, chewing slowly to really appreciate the work that went into making them as he demonstrated. The burrata was served on passion fruit and more subtle to the palette where the regular mozzarella was just there waiting to be chewed, savored and appreciated.
The YES Bar caught my attention because Abigail was so passionate about what she did and I had to try these. So, these tasty little morsels are free of dairy, gluten, and soy. I tried the coffee cayenne and macadamia chocolate chip. Both were chewy and crunchy at once with bursting flavors. Definitely worth a try for anyone with food allergies.
Taco Maria served up some seriously good corn and the home made chips were enough to get me to come back and try the restaurant. The chips were fried to perfection and heavy, I had no fear of them breaking when scooping up large gobs of guacamole that they served. They just opened a full sit down restaurant there at the Soco mart area.
Greenleaf Gourmet chopshop served up delightful morsels of flavor and the peaches with cream hit the spot.
Front Porch Pops showcased some new items venturing into pies and pretzel bites. The pretzel came with several kinds of dipping sauces, all worth trying. My favorite from their table though was the cutely packaged up pie cubes – yummy and easy to eat.
For more info, go to: http://www.patchworkshow.com
