Waiter Tomas Rojas, Lima

Peru has probably the most diverse cuisine in South America. Foods that were prepared in the time of the Inca are still staple dishes in the Andes and the Amazon. Typical Peruvian dishes along the coast, however were influenced heavily by European, Asian and African immigrants. Indigenous products…potatoes, sweet potatoes, grains, corn, all manner of squashes, peppers, chilies, a wealth of seafood…blend with introduced products and foreign cooking techniques to form a fusion known as Comida Criolla.

Arriving in Lima last month, Bruce and I are told we must start with the national dish, ceviche. A meal of raw fish has been around since the earliest civilizations along the Peruvian coast. But it became ceviche when the Spanish brought citrus and onions to Peru.

We are directed to Antigua Taberna Queirolo in the neighborhood of Pueblo Libre. This is a modest place with a weathered bar and clusters of local men sharing a noon time Pisco (Peruvian grape brandy). The ceviche is simple: corvina sea bass in one-inch cubes tossed to order with leche de tigre (citrus juice seasoned with salt and pepper), accented by yellow aji peppers and very thinly sliced sweet red onions. Each flavor is distinct, full of vitality and in perfect balance.

Antigua Taberna Queirolo

The next afternoon we find Restaurante Portofino, on the sea cliffs of the tony Mireflores district in Lima. This level of dining targets wealthy locals and foreign visitors. Our waiter, Tomas Rojas, directs us to a mixed seafood ceviche and scallops wrapped in bacon accented with local chilies and Pisco. The seafood is so well prepared that we return for another lunch a few days later. Tomas recommends a good Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and we order two Italian style seafood salads, one featuring pounds of grilled octopus with potatoes on sautéed greens. Richly flavored and at half the price it would be in Europe.

Many of the criolla classics are clearly Spanish in origin such as Rocoto Relleno (small red peppers stuffed with ground meat, capers and vegetables), Escabeche (fish with peppers, eggs, olives) and empanadas. Chifas are Peruvian-Chinese restaurants, often very modest, preparing one of the country’s most beloved dishes, Lomo Saltido. This turns out to be a stir fry of beef strips and vegetables in soy sauce over white rice served with fried potatoes. With Pisco Sour cocktails one night we order a ubiquitous bar snack in Lima: grilled beef heart skewers, a contribution of the African community.

Scallops with Bacon, chilies and Pisco

Before heading down to Peru we eat at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana in San Francisco, a restaurant by Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio.  Acurio has 20 restaurants in his portfolio in North and South America, Mexico and Europe, all serving some form of Peruvian cuisine.

 Now in Lima we secure a table at his elegant Astrid y Gaston, named one of the top restaurants in South America. The dining rooms are sophisticated, the service engaging and the wine list international. The menu is one of the most whimsical we have ever seen. Each dish is described poetically. I order an appetizer translated as “scampering through wild fields on dainty pig paws”. This turns out to be boned pigs feet stuffed with native herbs and they are spectacular. Both my lamb entrée and Bruce’s suckling pig arrive in five distinctive, complex preparations.

This cuisine is criolla gone global, less Peru than Paris. It is a place far too expensive for most Peruvians to ever dine at. And they probably wouldn’t recognize much on the menu as “local.”  But it is pushing Peru’s diverse culinary scene to new limits and that seems very criolla.

La Mar in San Francisco: http://www.lamarcebicheria.com/web/index.php
Astrid y Gaston in Lima:  http://www.astridygaston.com/web/intro.php

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Garlic Sour Cream Sauce

This recipe follows the tradition of Comida Criolla, a fusion of native products and immigrant cooking styles in Peru. When Spanish cooks stuffed the local rocoto peppers with introduced products: beef, onions, cheese and raisins, they developed one of criolla’s classic recipes, Rocoto Relleno.

Our version of stuffed peppers uses most of the traditional ingredients but substitutes quinoa, one of the native grains of Peru, for the ground beef. Rocoto peppers of Peru are small, red and have a good dose of heat to them. I have not found them here. So I stuff small multicolored peppers from Mexico and add chili powder in the filling for added heat.

1 half yellow onion, small dice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot, small dice
1 half red bell pepper, small dice
½ cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon hot chili powder
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
Salt to taste
8 small multi-colored peppers
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
½ cup small dice Monterey Jack cheese (or crumbled queso fresco)

In a medium sauce pan cook the onion in the oil until soft. Add the garlic, carrot and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins, chili powder, quinoa, water and salt to taste. Cover and let cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Without lifting the lid, turn the heat off and let quinoa steam for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a boil. Slice just the top off of each pepper and remove the seeds, leaving the pepper intact. Cook the peppers in the water until just soft, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Blend the capers and cheese into the quinoa and stuff the peppers. Place the peppers on an ovenproof plate and heat through in the oven or microwave to heat through and melt the cheese. Remove to a serving plate and serve warm with garlic sour cream sauce.

Garlic Sour Cream Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoon milk
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder (or more, to taste)

Flying in to Mulege

Drug associated violence is decimating the tourist industry in Mexico. In the towns of Baja California, where much of daily commerce is about providing services to visitors, streets are silent, opportunities to make a living drying up. My husband Bruce and I had not planned to go either. But the opportunity to pet whales and make the 900 mile trip easily by small plane brought us to Mulege, a rustic town on the Sea of Cortez. Before going we had no idea how important it was to the town that we, and 30 other planes, made the trip.

Bruce and I fly in on the last Friday of February, our plane kicking up dust on the beach-side dirt airstrip of the Hotel Serinidad. We are motioned into the parking area as another plane lines up to land. For the next three days we are joining the Baja Bush Pilots in Mulege for their annual whale petting adventure. This association of private pilots is orchestrated by a guy from Arizona, Jack McCormick, and he greets one plane after another like we are all part of his family reunion.

Fresh Tamales in Mulege

It will be a few hours before everyone arrives so we take a stroll along the river. The Mulege River is the only navigable river along the Sea of Cortez and it is the reason the town survives against this arid backdrop. A fresh breeze blows in from the sea, rustling palm trees and keeping the temps pleasant. An enclave of 50 relatively new homes lines the river but many lay deserted, without roofs and open to the sky. Over fish tacos and cocktails at the hotel that evening we learn this once thriving ex-pat community was heavily damaged in a hurricane the year before. Many folks aren’t rebuilding.

The next day we explore the vacant, dusty streets of Mulege. Mulege is the mid-point overnight stop on the 1,000 mile highway stretching from the U.S. border to Cabo San Lucas. This simple town depends on providing goods and services to travelers. A modest town square is deserted except for a woman selling her chicken tamales, still warm and tasting of home. Two children approach us and tentatively present a can for donations to rebuild their school. Behind them shops display flip flops and straw hats for sun-seekers who didn’t show up this winter. 

One day we launch our fleet of small planes for the Pacific side of Baja and Laguna San Ignacio, the world’s largest Grey Whale nursery. The lagoon is so large it is easy to loose sight of the shore as we bob around hoping for a 35 ton whale to approach our 10-person open boat. We are told that the whale count in the lagoon this year is 300 mothers and pups and they aren’t shy. We are surrounded by breaching and spouting. A whale glides in, close enough to touch the coarse rubbery skin, its frying pan sized eye glinting up at us. Laguna San Ignacio is justifiably popular with visitors but few have made the drive this year and most campsites surrounding the lagoon are unoccupied.

Whale Petting off Baja

On our last evening an assortment of local cars transports everyone to the center of Mulege for an al fresco fiesta. The Mayor greets us and explains that when the hurricane of the previous year left the town without vital water, food and medical supplies he made a call to Arizona. Jack gathered several tons of humanitarian aid and enlisted a convoy of his bush pilots for multiple flights. Tonight the town honors their friend, Jack, and officially thanks us all for flying to Mulege. Three days earlier we had expected to enjoy meeting other pilots and seeing whales up close. Now it seems more important that we got the chance to help Jack help his friends in Mulege.

Afterward:
The Baja Bush Pilots, reporting a 60% decrease of general aviation (small private planes) to Mexico over the last few years, has announced it is forced to move many recreational trips out of Mexico to more stable destinations and change the association name to Bush Pilots International.

For more information: http://www.bajabushpilots.com/

Fried Bananas with ice cream

Mulege is a simple town half way down Baja California, on the Sea of Cortez. The bananas and coconuts that grow along the Mulege River are used in local desserts. One straightforward recipe is just 3 ingredients, banana slices quickly fried in butter and sugar. I like the idea of adding the coconut flavor, either as coconut ice cream or a splash of coconut rum.

This recipe only cooks for 1 minute so have the ingredients measured and the serving plates at hand before you set the skillet to heat.

Serves two

2 ripe but firm bananas (some green on the tips)
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons rum or orange juice
ice cream or coconut rum for finishing

Peel the bananas, cut each in half crosswise and lengthwise. Choose a non-stick skillet large enough to hold the slices in one layer. Heat the skillet over medium and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, sprinkle in the sugar and cinnamon. Place the bananas, cut-side down in the pan and cook for 20 seconds without moving the pan. Add the juice or rum and swirl to combine (being careful of the steam). Let cook 40 seconds more swirling once or twice, until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove bananas and sauce to individual plates, garnish with ice cream or a sprinkle of coconut rum.

Hodo Soy Beanery

My friend, Julia, is curious about the process of making tofu.  I have never been a fan of the spongy, lack-luster supermarket variety, but maybe freshly made tofu will be different. So we go on line, get a reservation for the once a month visit and head for the Hodo Soy Beanery in Oakland.

Making flavorful and texture-rich soy bean products is a daily event in Asia. Soy is an important source of protein in countries such as Vietnam, where Minh Tsai, the founder of Hodo Soy Beanery grew up. In 2004, Tsai left a career in finance to make fresh soy bean products in his uncle’s garage in San Jose. From that humble beginning he assembled a team of food professionals and two years ago opened a sparkling new manufacturing plant in Oakland.

Hodo began by selling at Bay Area farmers’ markets and still does. Now with the new state-of-the-art beanery they supply 30 restaurants and 50 supermarkets in the Bay Area as well. Even with their expanded production, Hodo’s products are made by hand, using much thicker soy milk than usual.

Hodo Soy Kitchen

We join twelve others at the front door of Hodo Soy Beanery and meet Maria Yates, Hodo’s farmers’ market manager. The visit begins promptly at 10:30 with a video explaining the process of making soy bean products. Dried organic soy beans are soaked overnight then ground, blended with water into slurry and cooked under high heat and pressure to separate the proteins into rich soy milk. This rich soy milk is the basis of their product line.

After the video a curtain is drawn away from a wall of glass and we are looking at the kitchen. It gleams with stainless steel steamer tanks, crushers, vats and forming tables imported from Japan. In the background soy milk is coagulated into curds, wrapped in cheesecloth and pressed into tofu of various textures. Before us the technician making yuba is precise and methodical. Fresh yuba, (called tofu skin) forms atop warm soy milk as it cools. We watch as he lifts paper-thin sheets gently by hand to dry on a pole above the vats. He will return to each vat, testing the density before lifting the next series of skins to dry. The sheets are then folded and packaged for sale.

Making Yuba sheets

Maria tells us that Hodo is the only company making fresh, organic yuba  in the U.S.  One reason might be the difficulty in sourcing enough organic soy beans. Hodo contracts a farm in Illinois for their non-GMO (genetically modified organic) soy beans. That farm is arduous about testing for pollen that might blow over from genetically modified soy bean fields. Genetically modified soy beans account for 93% (as of 2010) of the beans grown in the U.S. The theory is that by modifying DNA the plants and beans will be less venerable to pests and environmental issues, but not everyone agrees on the safety or tastiness of non-GMO soy beans.

Curiosity peaked, we are ready to sample. Tasting the tofu plain I am struck with the custard-like creamy texture and fresh “beany” flavor. We taste several of their grab-and-go salads of fried tofu with Asian flavors and Maria tells us these sell particularly well. But I can’t seem to get enough of Hodo’s Spicy Yuba Strips with sesame, ginger and chilies. The texture of yuba reminds Julia of crepe-like Chinese egg pancakes, but slightly more toothsome. Maria offers to take orders for purchasing products and nobody leaves empty handed.

Look for Hodo Soy Beanery products at Bay Area farmers’ markets: medium tofu is $2.50 a block, yuba in a 6-oz. package (two large sheets) is $7 and containers of all “salads” there are $7 each or 3 for $20.  Prices for all these products may vary by retail location.

To visit the Hodo Soy Beanery: http://hodosoy.com/
Where to buy Hodo retail: http://hodosoy.com/where-to-find-hodo/retail/

Yuba Pork Spring Rolls

At the Hodo Soy Beanery they make the point that their soy products aren’t just pale substitutes for meat protein. In fact, their yuba (tofu skins, also called beancurd sheets) make an excellent low calorie wrap for traditional pork spring rolls. No deep frying needed here, the pork and vegetable filling retains a bright, fresh taste. The rolls are just as tasty at room temperature and hold their shape so that they can be cut into bite-sized pieces for a passed appetizer. Use an interesting dipping sauce for added complexity, such as the Vietnamese dipping sauce below.

1/3 # ground pork
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 yolks
2 large garlic cloves
2 scallions
¼ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 oz. dry rice vermicelli
½ cup bean sprouts
6 – oz Hodo Soy fresh Yuba, or dried yuba sheets (see Cook’s Note below)
1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil

Mash the pork with the sugar, salt and yolks. In a food processor, or by hand, finely chop the garlic, scallions and cilantro. Add to the pork. Soften the vermicelli by soaking it in water too warm to the touch until pliable, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Finely chop the vermicelli and the bean sprouts and blend into the pork.

Gently open up the yuba sheets to flat and cut into 6×8-inch squares. Place 2 tablespoons pork filling along the bottom 1/3 of a sheet, gently shaping it into a cylinder. Lift the bottom edge over the filling. Fold in the side edges over the filling. Form into a roll about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. If the rolls don’t seal well, brush a streak of water then a streak of flour or cornstarch on one edge and seal. Set aside and continue rolling the rest. To avoid sticking, do not stack. Rolls can be made several hours ahead, kept covered and refrigerated.
 
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the vegetable oil to the skillet and brush over the bottom. Add the rolls and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Do this in batches, if needed. Return all the rolls to the skillet. Add ½ cup water, cover the skillet and let steam until the water is gone and the pork is cooked, about 5 minutes.

Let cool several minutes to before cutting. Serve with a soy sauce based dipping sauce or Vietnamese dipping sauce which follows.

Yield 8-10 rolls

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

¼ cup mild fish sauce
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 fresh small red chili, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Makes about 1 cup

Cook’s Note: Yuba is the Japanese name for fresh tofu skins such as those produced by Hodo Soy Beanery. Tofu sheets can also be found semi-dried and dried in Asian markets. These need to be dampened or soaked in hot water to make them pliable enough to roll (look for directions on the package).  Semi-dried and dried sheets will be less tender than fresh once cooked and may need to be cooked longer. The longer you steam them the softer the skins become, but the drier the pork filling. For cooking a larger batch brown the rolls and stack in a steamer to be steamed for 10 minutes.

Hodo tofu salad

This recipe has a lot to recommend it: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. Crunchy peanuts and crisp cucumbers accent the rich smoothness (like panna cotta or custard) of Hodo Soy fresh tofu. To highlight the tofu’s delicate texture we leave it in one large piece per serving and cook it over a gentle heat for only 2 minutes, just to accept the soy glaze.

Make the cucumber salad (recipe follows) first. Have all your ingredients ready before you start as the cooking takes only a few minutes and you don’t want to blacken the garlic and sesame seeds.

Makes 4 starter salads

8 oz. Hodo Soy medium firm tofu
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts
¼ teaspoon rd chili flakes
2 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Dash of sugar
Handful of young greens and fresh cilantro

Drain the tofu on paper towels and cut into 4 large triangles. Coat the bottom of a cold non-stick fry pan with the oil. Distribute the garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts and chili flakes in the pan and place over a medium heat. Heat until the garlic is fragrant and the sesames turn golden (2-3 minutes). Add the wine, soy sauce and sugar to the pan, let cook 30 seconds.

Push the peanuts to one side of the pan, set the tofu on top of the glaze and don’t move the pieces for 1 minute. When the tofu is nicely browned, turn over and remove the pan from the heat. Let cool in the pan. Divide the greens and cilantro between 4 salad plates, add a mound of cucumber salad and spoon a little of the cucumber marinade over the greens. On ach plate place a triangle of tofu and top with the peanuts and sesames.

Vietnamese Cucumber Salad

3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 shallots, peeled
½ small fresh hot chili, such as Serrano or Thai red
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 medium English cucumber

Combine the vinegar, lime juice, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the shallots, sliced as thinly as you can. Add the chili finely minced. Stir in the cilantro. Add the cucumber, sliced as thinly as you can. Let rest at least 15 minutes before serving. Can be made several hours ahead.

Cucumber salad dapted from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham

For more information about Hodo Soy products see article above.

The Feral Pig beckons

Corporate hotels in the Hawaiian Islands do something really well…landscaping. Immaculate properties of flowering tropical plants and indoor/outdoor spaces call to you with their peaceful beauty. But when it is time for dinner it is time to get out of the resort. Despite Hawaii’s history of plantations…sugar, pineapple, beef…today nearly everything ships in from the mainland. The result is a high-priced, predictable menu based on frozen food (even the fish). On each island a handful of micro- farms and independent fisherman supply the type of creative, fresh kitchens we want to eat at and I have learned how to find them. Head for a mall.

We pop over to Kauai for a long weekend at a gorgeous property of creamy-colored sand and drinks with umbrellas in them. With our beach-side cocktail we order “grilled flat bread with white bean hummus and crudités”. It could be interesting and tasty, but isn’t. The hotel concierge gives a blank stare when I ask about nearby restaurants offering fresh fish and local produce. She suggests we stay at the resort. She can tell me, however, that there is a mall of small shops nearby. And it is here, just outside the resort gates, we spot The Feral Pig Pub and Diner.
 

The Feral Burger

This is just the kind of mall I look for….a clutch of two- storied wooden buildings of  Hawaiian theme stores for the visitors and boutiques and necessity shops for the locals. By the front door of The Feral Pig sits a small sandwich board listing close-by produce farmers, meat providers and a baker. The decor is minimal but the menu enticing. Dinner is a tough choice between smoked, roasted or slow braised cuts of pork, well executed and accented by unique produce. For lunch on another day we return for the feral burger: half ground beef and half ground smoked pork shoulder, locally cured bacon, caramelized Maui onions, cheddar cheese, with a spicy aioli on a bakery bun. And a Hawaiian microbrew.
 
The Feral Pig takes its name from a local delicacy. Of the four major islands, Kauai is the oldest at five million years. That’s a lot of time for volcanic peaks to erode into deep gorges and dramatically furrowed sea cliffs. Pigs and goats, escaped descendants of livestock that arrived in the nineteenth century, inhabit inaccessible wild areas. These feral pigs and wild goats are highly celebrated by hunters and chefs.
 
The next day we need a tasty breakfast before a hike above the magnificent Kalalau Valley. We head out for the Kukui’ula Shopping Mall in Koloa. Old Koloa Town is the home of Hawaii’s first active sugar mill, the birthplace of the state’s strongest industry for more than a century. Koloa lies just a few miles south of mountain peaks that gather some of the highest rain fall on earth. Yet these flat lands extending toward the sea are sunny and semi-arid.
 
Much of the former sugar lands of Koloa are reborn into upscale homes and golf courses. This is the clientele that supports Living Foods Market in the Kukui’ula Shopping Mall. The market offers line-caught seafood and naturally grown meat, 20 cheeses including small producers in Northern California and Washington, gorgeous produce, racks of jarred condiments made on the island and coffee from the plantation just up the road

Living Foods Display Kitchen

We sit by the display kitchen. Our breakfast pizza cooks in the open oven and we watch Jonathan form crepes on a griddle and fill them with aged gruyere, locally cured ham and poached island eggs. “Most places don’t do quality, don’t do fresh. They never expect to see you again. But most of our business comes from the folks who live just behind here”. I ask how long he has been on Kauai. “I came on vacation 8 years ago and just knew this was the place for me. When I first got here there was no healthy food, nothing very fresh. Today this market has the only bakery on the south coast and we buy just about everything that is grown or produced locally.”

Produce is particularly hard to come by and expensive on the Islands. California sends  hearty lettuces (iceburg, romaine), carrots, cucumbers, celery, potatoes but not delicate, perishable produce. I stop by the local Kauai Food Bank in Lihue to see what is available. Plenty of packaged and canned goods, mostly products donated with expired sell dates. I ask about produce and a volunteer points to one flat of wilting lettuce in a cooler. “We don’t really get anything fresh” she tells me.

Local fish isn’t easy to find either. Most is commercially taken and exported, and one evening we set out for a recommended restaurant in Kapa’a. From the 1300s, Kauai’s kings thrived amid coconut groves and fish farming ponds around Kapa’a on the eastern flank of Kauai. During the nineteenth century Hawaiians lost control of Kauai and the coconut groves were expanded for export. Under the gentle sway of 100 foot tall coconut palms, the remnants of the once flourishing grove, we search Kauai Village Shopping Center for the Pacific Island Bistro.

We find the bistro tucked between a Subway Sandwich shop and a Starbucks. It is early and the place is already full of diners enjoying dishes like Kailua pork lettuce wraps, opakapaka fish in red Thai curry and Pacific seafood chowder. I ask Richard Liang, the owner, which fish are fresh today and he gives me a straight answer. “None of them. All frozen. When the boats do not go out, there is no fresh fish.” Liang was the manager of a restaurant that perennially was voted the best Chinese on Kauai so we figure his signature Peking Duck should be good and it is. Mid way through our meal a shaggy-haired young man in flip flops rushes in, headed for the kitchen with two shining Mahi Mahi in a bus tub. Our guess is his boat just got in and he is delivering as quickly as he can, and later tonight there will be very fresh fish on the menu.

Chili Ginger Shrimp at Pacific Bistro

When fresh fish isn’t available you can always opt for shrimp. Almost all shrimp served in restaurants or available in fish markets have been previously frozen. Because shrimp meat does not degrade like fish when frozen and thawed it is more reliable than taking a chance on questionable fish. Scallops also freeze well, but crab does not, so skip the crab cakes and go for the seared scallops.

When the owner of Pacific Bistro in Kauai told us none of his fish were fresh that evening Chili Ginger Shrimp was an easy choice. It is also an easy recipe to make at home.

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoons rice wine or white wine
1 pound raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Whisk together the first three ingredients and toss with the shrimp to coat. Spread on a plate and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes. The coasting protects the shrimp from drying as they cook, keeping them moist.

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 scallion, cut into thin 11/2-inch strips
¼ carrot, cut into thin strips
½ teaspoon dried red chili pepper flakes
2 ½ tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

Blend the salt, sugar, garlic and ginger in a small bowl.

Heat a large wok or flat bottom skillet over high. When hot swirl in 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Fry half of the shrimp for about 3 minutes, turning several times. Remove to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the shrimp, adding more oil if needed.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the wok. Add the scallions, carrots and peppers and stir fry 20 seconds. Stir in the salt mixture, let fry until the garlic starts to brown, about 1 minute. Return the shrimp to the wok, toss to coat and cook for about 1 minute to heat through. Serve at once with steamed rice.

Serves 2 as a main dish

Leslie of Beringer Winery greets us at the door

I can not get a photo of Rico. He bobs and swishes, turning toward each outstretched hand that he clearly expects from the gathering crowd. Just behind Enrico Bacio il Tartufaio (Rico for short) his guy holds the leash and explains that Rico is a descendant of an ancient breed, Lagotto Romagnolo. These curly-haired water dogs from central Italy have been used since Etruscan times to locate truffles. Rico works his sensitive nose with enthusiasm in Northern California and Oregon, locating native varieties of fungi.

I am at the Napa Truffle Festival in the Oxbow Public Market with three friends from the local wine and food industry. We all wonder if Rico is going crazy with all the truffle scent he must be tuning into. Half of the two dozen food merchants in the marketplace are offering truffle-infused tastes.

C Casa hands out mini tostadas of white beans with truffle goat-cheese, topped with orange-cumin dressed greens. Oxbow Cheese Merchant has inserted truffle slices into wheels of Mt. Tam cheese and let them rest for three days to absorb the aromatics. Pica Pica Maize hands us a plate of hot yucca fries with a truffle aioli dipping sauce.

At 10:30 we gather around the Kitchen Door’s elegant expanse of marble and learn the technique to make a creamy truffle vinaigrette (see Cook’s Note below) for their mixed chicory salad with pickled walnuts and persimmons. It is a cold morning and we head for the comfort of The Model Bakery’s mushroom-truffle bread pudding, buying an extra portion to share. The Fatted Calf, a retailer of meats and house made charcuterie, has a classic offering of rough-textured truffle duck pate nestled in warm lentils.

Caulifower creme tops bites of wellington

The manageable crowd allows us to move at a relaxed pace without waiting more than a minute in any line. In between bites we sashay between tables of local wineries, matching food to wine. There are some big names like Beringer. Mid-sized wineries such as Raymond (a lovely 2009 Chardonnay with just a kiss of oak) and Robert Sinskey (pouring their balanced POV Bordeaux blend) are represented. And some tiny wineries, such as Bialla Vineyards. This winery, the epitome of hand processing (de-stemming the fruit by hand, crushing with their palms), is handing out tastes of their lush, non-tannic Cabernet that sells for $125.

“Hot pan coming through” rings out behind us and a tall man in kitchen whites slides by. He carries a sheet pan of diminutive rolls of pastry enclosed fillet. I keep hearing passing remarks about beef wellington so we follow him. Five Dot Ranch meat shop is topping one-bite portions of beef wellington with a slice of truffle and a foam of cauliflower crème. The crème gently catches the aroma of the truffle slice and smoothes its texture. Something I heard during the cooking demonstration stuck with me. “Try not to complicate the dish, let the delicate aroma of the truffle shine.” This simple recipe, rich with the flavors of beef, pastry and truffle, works particularly well.

Christina of Re dei Funghi (King of Mushrooms)

The final taste is a surprise and a delight. La Crepe offers a petite rollup crepe filled with truffle pastry cream topped with a wafer thin slice of truffle. Wonderful…earthy, sweet, unusual. There is one last thing to do…head to the King of Mushrooms table and buy my own rare “black diamond” (see the following Truffle Risotto recipe). I ask Christina and Todd to choose one for me as they are the top truffle experts in the market…after Rico.

Cook’s Note: Truffle can be used in multiple ways to accent a salad. Shavings of truffle are pureed with a few tablespoons of a neutral oil to toss with baby beets, diced cooked potatoes or fruit. To make creamy vinaigrette for greens whisk 2 tablespoons of the truffle-oil puree with 3 tablespoons lightly flavored vinegar, 3 tablespoons lightly whipped heavy cream, sea salt and a dash of sugar. Use a micro plane or fine cheese grater to add truffle shavings to the greens, or for an extravagant touch shave whole slices onto each salad.