Hello Slow Food Tufts!

Its a brand new academic year and we would like to welcome new and returning Tufts Slow Foodies. Your Slow Food Tufts board has a bunch of exciting events lined up to celebrate local, fair, and delicious food. Get excited for visits to a cranberry bog and local farm, potlucks and skill shares, and an end of the semester bake-off featuring Friedman's sweetest.

We will be holding our first meeting on Tuesday September 13 2:30-3:30, Location TBA

Join us for our first pot-luck of the semester where we reclaim the value meal. Bring a dish that costs under $5 to make and the recipe for the dish. Your Slow Food board will compile the recipes into a cookbook of cheap, delicious meals! This event is part of Slow Food USA's challenge to take back the value meal. More information can be found at https://secure3.convio.net/sfusa/site/SPageServer?pagename=5Challenge_Home

Welcome to Slow Food Tufts- we're excited you joined us!

Sharpening Up on Knife Skills

by Jessica McGovern

About a month ago Tufts University Slow Foods Student Organization approached me to host a skillshare at my apartment to discuss knives, I gladly obliged. The evening began with some basics that included an overview of knives and knife skills and ended by using all of those meticulously cut vegetables in a tasty vegetable and herb soup. Here are some of the topics that we discussed:

Overview of Knives
You don't have to be a trained chef to produce a great meal. Knife skills are one of the fundamental components to becoming an exceptional cook. Knives come in many shapes and sizes, each having its own specific purpose. Many people become discouraged by all of the different options that are available, but it really is not necessary to have more than the four basic types of knives.

* Chef's Knife
- The most versatile of all knives, with a wide blade that is 8" to 10" long. It is best to choose a knife that feels good and balanced in your hand. The knife should have a full tang (this means that the blade should go all the way through the handle for the best wear and stability).
* Paring Knife
- Paring knives are generally 2-1/2-4" in length. It is ideal for peeling and coring fruits and vegetables, cutting small objects, slicing, and other hand tasks.
* Boning Knife- 
This type of knife has a more flexible blade to curve around meat and bone. Generally 4-5" long.
* Bread Knife
- Bread knives are usually serrated (having teeth like a saw). Most experts recommend a serrated knife that has pointed serrations instead of wavy serrations for better control and longer knife life. You must use a sawing motion when using a serrated knife.

Knife Cuts
The main point I stressed when discussing knife cuts was uniformity. If all of the pieces are about the same size the vegetables will cook evenly. One of the best ways to learn, besides doing, is by seeing. Check out this video by Bobby Flay to see how to cut red peppers and garlic (his favorite).

Knife Safety Tips

1. Chop slowly and carefully.
2. Always cut away from your body.
3. Make sure your hands are dry.
4. Make sure that you curl your fingers under on the hand holding the food. This takes a while to get used to, but will become second nature with practice. If your fingers are curled under, the chances are good you will never cut yourself.
5. Watch what you're doing at all times.
6. Using your dominant hand, hold the knife firmly and using a rocking motion, cut through the food. The knife should not leave the surface you're working on. Move your hand (with the curled under fingers) along as the knife cuts the food.
7. Always make sure that your cutting board is secured and will not move while you are cutting. Try placing a wet paper towel or dishrag underneath your board.

Sharpening and Truing
A chef once told me "a sharp knife is a happy knife." It's a little sentimental for my taste. I prefer the saying "a sharp knife is a safe and efficient knife." Having a sharp knife ensures that you have even cuts. Dull knives can become dangerous when you apply extra pressure while pressing down on the knife, the extra pressure leads to less control. There are several ways to sharpen your knife such as using a wet stone, a handheld sharpener and an electric sharpener. Personally, I prefer the handheld sharpener because it is cheap, effective, light and safe to use.


Another tool used to keep your knife sharp, but it does not actually sharpen your knife, is called a truing steel. This long, round object keeps knives sharper by straightening out the edge. To use a steel hold the knife in your dominant hand and the steel in the other, with the steel point pressed into a solid waist-high surface. Hold the knife base at the top of the steel at a 20 degree angle. Slowly draw the knife down the length of the steel, pulling the knife back so the entire blade, from base to tip, moves against the steel, as if you were slicing off pieces of the steel. Repeat on the other side. Do this five or six times.

Simple Vegetable Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
5 medium red potatoes- cut into medium cubes
2 red onions- cut into a large dice
4 carrots- peeled and cut into a large dice
1 cup mushrooms- cleaned and roughly chopped
Slow Foods members cutting up vegetables.
1 large yellow squash- cut into a large dice
1 head of garlic- peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups vegetable stock
5 sprigs fresh thyme
3 fresh sage leaves
4 sprigs fresh rosemary

Directions:
1. In a large saute pan heat the olive oil and add the onions, carrots, mushrooms and yellow squash.
2. Cook the vegetables on medium-high heat for 4 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
3. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a large sauce pan. Add the potatoes and cover with the vegetable stock.
4. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add the thyme, rosemary and sage and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper if necessary and serve hot.

Check out Jessica's blog: Great Eat-spectations!

Brew-off and “Beer Luck”: What More Could You Ask For?

by Nicole Tichenor





As a devoted beer drinker, I can safely say that yesterday’s Brew off and Beer Luck was my favorite SFT event of the year. A lot of other people probably agree, because those two rooms full of homebrewed beer were packed with people (over 100 members of the Tufts graduate community attended!) Here’s how the night went: everyone brought a glass, and we were able to choose 6 -7 beers of the 19 (!) to try, just to make sure everyone got enough tastes. Meanwhile, there was an esteemed panel of judges tasting each beer and scoring them. From Cambridge Brewing Company we had Will Meyers, Brewmaster and Megan Parisi, Head Brewer. The other judges were Dave Lytton, who works at the Modern Homebrew Emporium and James Nicholson, who runs Mystic Brewery.



The homebrewers were from several schools at Tufts: the medical, dental, urban and environmental policy and planning program, Fletcher school, and nutrition schools. The diversity of backgrounds matched the diversity of beers entered in the competition – everything from Black Saison and India Pale Ales to American Style Black Ale. It was really interesting to hear the brewers (fellow students) describe their beers like seasoned professionals. One of the pairs of brewers told me that their Oatmeal Stout was made with a real bowl of oatmeal with all the fixins in it. It’s my new favorite breakfast!




At the end of the night, the winners were announced. The students picked Kristin Irvin and Greg Saia’s Pale Ale as the 2nd place winner and gave the gold to Melissa Page’s “Vitamin Apri-Hop.” The judges’ pick was the Gluten Free Pale Ale brewed by Friedman student Alyssa Koomas. The judges also picked favorites in the different beer categories. For Classic Styles, 2nd place went to Sam Barber’s IBU-tiful, and 1st went to Scott Recksiedler for his California Common lager. Scott also took 2nd place in the specialty category for his Pumpkin Ale, which was like fall in a glass. 1st place specialty beer went to Alyssa’s Gluten Free Pale Ale. For darks/lagers, 1st place went to Kate Abowd Johnson, who brewed a powerful wood-aged beer, called Bourbon Trail Stout. 2nd place in that category went to Sarah Kasten’s American Style Black Ale, which was one of my favorites of the night.



Many thanks to our judges, donors, brewers and participants. Thanks also to our sponsors who donated wonderful prizes: Modern Homebrew Emporium, Redbones BBQ in Davis Square, Christopher's Restaurant, Cambridge Common, Mystic Brewery, and Cambridge Brewing Co.





We’re looking forward to Brew-off 2012 already!

Cambridge Brewing Company: A Tasting and Tour

Cambridge Brewing Company: A Tasting and Tour

by Sarah Kasten

Last Saturday, a group of us gathered at Cambridge Brewing Company in Kendall Square for a tasting and tour led by CBC head brewer Megan Parisi. She and fellow CBC brewer, Jay Sullivan , gave us through a full introduction to the art of brewing and a tasting of CBC's diverse beers. We walked through CBC's brewing facilities, learning all about how this brewery makes and stores its many varieties. A great way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Here are some highlights:

-Megan showed us three malts that they use in varying combinations to create a variety of beers: Regatta Golden, a light, crisp Kolsch-style beer, the cararmel-like Cambridge Amber ale, and the Charles River Porter loved by the coffee fiends among us. Malts can add a range of flavors and colors to the finished beer. The malts are all created from the same raw grains (usually barley, but sometimes wheat or oats) and then roasted. The different flavors and colors the different types of malts are created entirely by the temperature and length of the roasting process. Megan was keen to highlight that brewing really is about taking a raw agricultural product and turning it into something entirely new. CBC works closely with its suppliers to maintain consistency through growing seasons and sources, adjusting their own recipes in some cases in order to stay true to their well-known beers.

-CBC was started 22 years ago, before the model of the brew-pub had become popular in the U.S. Not knowing whether the restaurant would be a success or not, the main brewing kettle was stationed in the center of the dining room. The gas burners and the kettle of steaming wort generate so much heat that CBC's brewers are up at the crack of dawn to brew so that the dining room has cooled down by the time the restaurant opens for lunch.

-When asked about current brewing trends, Megan and Jay were thoughtful in their responses The industry has definitely benefited from a surge in consumer interest in microbreweries. On the one hand, this has led to some consolidation in the industry as large beverage corporations seek to expand their market share. On the other hand, the brewers named several examples of start-up breweries in Massachusetts alone, noting a trend towards nano-breweries, who typically produce just one or two barrels at a time. Either way, it seems like an exciting time for beer in America with high-quality beers becoming increasingly available to consumers and a new generation of producers striking out on their own!

Thanks to Cambridge Brewing Company for hosting the event! Check out their website for more information about their beers: http://www.cambrew.com/.

Olive Oil: How Much Do You Know?

For SF Tufts April meeting, Olive Oil Importer and Governor of Slow Food New England Rosemary Melli came to teach our group how to properly taste olive oil, and tips and tricks for purchasing good olive oil (even on a budget). Here's a little taste of what we learned at the event!

Intro facts about olive oil:
*Most of the olive oil in the United States is actually vegetable oil (either canola/other vegetable oil or olive oil made from lower quality olives) mixed with up to 30% real olive oil to impart the signature color/taste of olive oil.

*Extra-virgin olive oil has an acidity of less than 1%. Good EVOO will have an acidity of around 0.3%. The acidity comes from a certain amount of oleic acid in the olives. EVOO olives will be picked and then taken to the mill between 24 hours to 3 days after being taken off the tree.

*It takes 3 kilos of olives (about 6.6 pounds) to produce one bottle (about 1 liter) of olive oil.

*Olive trees take about 20 years to become mature enough to bear fruit.

*The California olive oil industry is growing, and is starting to produce high quality olive oil. Look out for this oil in the future!

*The National Organic label in Italy is called "Biologica"



The life of an olive oil importer
Rosemary goes back to Italy every year to check in with olive oil growers and producers to see how their product is made. She shared pictures with us of beautiful olive trees, families working in the field, and the Italian countryside. But the best olive oil does not always have to come from Italy-- it depends on what tastes you look for in olive oil. Spain exports some great olive oil, and Rosemary mentioned that she has started to explore Turkish olive oils as well!

Rosemary has noticed that the olive oil industry has become more mechanized. The children of families who used to pick olives now all work in cities in the IT industries, so olive oil producers now hire Slavic workers or purchase machines to pick the olives.




Tips for purchasing/storing olive oil
1. Look for the harvest date on the bottle. Olive oil has the best nutritional and taste properties when consumed less than 18 months after harvest. After that, the oil will lose some flavor and antioxidants.

2. Pure olive oil will congeal when stored in the fridge-- this is an easy way to find out if your olive oil is pure or not!

3. Store your olive oil away from oxygen, light, and heat. Metal containers imparts a certain flavor to the oil, so store your olive oil in ceramic, glass, or even plastic. Olive oil should be stored away from the stove. Good places to store oil are cool cabinets, a basement, or the fridge.





Steps to tasting olive oil
The International Olive Oil Council will have a tasting yearly to test different varieties of olive oils from around the world. Here's how they do it (notice the similarities to tasting wine).

1. Color: Look for a fresh green or golden color. In a real competition, a blue cup would be used to mask the color of the oil so that the judges aren't biased by a brighter color.
2. Circulate the olive oil in the tasting cup to release odors.
3. Add a little bit of heat to the oil by rubbing the cup on the palm of your hand.
4. Smell (enjoy this step!)
5 Sip the oil out of the cup by breathing air in as you sip. The oil will hit your tongue-- swallow!
6. You'll notice a peppery flavor at the back of your palate. This flavor is stronger after harvest and can be overwhelming for people who are not used to the flavor. What you're tasting is the antioxidants in the oil!