Food Font will be at the Shaker Square Farmers Market this Saturday from 8am – 12 noon.
You can read more on the Facebook event page.
I am hoping that tomatoes are out this week – so we can make a tomato alphabet. Otherwise, we will work with some other seasonal produce to make letters.
If you are in the area – come stop by and make a letter and say “hi!” (Or better yet – you can make a “H” and a “I” out of food!)
Last Monday after I ate dinner dinner in downtown Durham, I had a cherry chocolate Loco Pop. Loco Pops are popsicles with unique flavors that are made in locally in Durham, NC. I did a little research and the story behind the popscilces is pretty interesting.
In 2004, Summer Bicknell, the founder of Loco Pops was working in Nashville and felt ready to do something different. One day she ate a frozen popsicle from Mexico, called a paleta. She did some research, and then moved to Tlazazalca, a town in the southwest Mexico state of Michoacan. Here she did a three-month apprenticeship at a paleteria, learning to combine traditional Mexican flavors to make paletas.
She later moved to Durham, N.C. to start her business just two freezers, a basic kitchen and some whiteboards, and opened Locopops in 2005. In Durham she met Connie Semans who became her business partner. They both shared a desire to run a business that supports the community in a variety of ways. Locopops expanded from its original store Locopops began to be sold in other stores and venues in the area.
Locopops use fresh fruits, locally grown herbs, and locally produced cream. The flavors are unique, and the choices are constantly changing. Some of the flavors include rosemary lemon, orange cardamom, chocolate chile, mango coconut rose, blueberry thyme, raspberry hibiscus, strawberries and cream, cherry bay leaf, and nectarine ginger.
I have tried about three flavors, and my favorite still remains Mexican chocolate, which is a rich chocolate popsicle that has cinnamon and nutmeg in it.
The slogan of Locopops is “ Taste Good, Be Good, Do Good” Locopops works to support community groups, PTA’s, student groups, animal shelters and other non-profits through fundraising activities, donations, and public art space.
I can’t wait to get back to NC – so I can get my next Locopop. This time it will be the Mexican chocolate.
Image Source:
http://www.ilovelocopops.com/
Links:
http://www.ilovelocopops.com/
The Food Font Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC went well yesterday. Lots of people stopped by and made letters out of peppers from Peregrine Farm. There were two types of peppers – purple bells and cubanelles.
We had a short break when a rainstorm came through, when everyone went under the overhang area of Carrboro to stay dry. Soon the rain stopped, the jazz band started up again, and we set up the alphabet area and continued making the Weaver Street – Peregrine Farm Pepper alphabet. Thanks to everyone that came out for the event.
Pictures from the event as well as the images of the alphabet can be seen on the Flickr site.
Below are slideshows from the event. (NOTE: if you are on some mobile devices the slideshows will not show up since they are made with Flash so view the pictures from the Flickr site.)
Links:
What would a fish soup taste like if the recipe was based on publicly available local fishing data? What a pizza would be like if it was based on the population of Helsinki? What are the principles of local cuisine and how can this be represented?
One way to think about a recipe is that it is comprised of food and data. In the Open Data Cooking Workshop organized with Pixelache in Helsinki in September, the relationship of food and data is going a bit farther. The workshop explores how to represent information and data related to culinary topics. How can local food be represented in its qualities of color, form, texture, smell, taste, nutrition, and origin? In the workshop participants will have the opportunity to translate data in concrete, as well as more abstract methods. This includes using the senses, numbers, descriptions, language, and other means.
The workshop is described as a “collaborative research experience, blurring the boundaries between teachers and participants as well as data and food.” At the end of the workshop, a public event with a “data menu” will be tasted and documetation will be done in the form of a online cookbook.
The workshop is produced by Pixelache and organized by prozessagenten based studio that researches and initates processes by art and design), the OK Festival, Marc Aulum (creative chef and owner of the restaurant Qulma), and Moritz Stefaner and Miska Knapek, who do research and work in information visualization.
Image Source:
www.flickr.com/photos/suviko/
www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/open-data-cooking-workshop/
www.qulma.fi/
Links:
www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/open-data-cooking-workshop/
prozessagenten
This past weekend we setup the Food Font Booth for the first time at the Elmwood-Bidwell farmer’s market in Buffalo, NY.
The setup worked well since it protected us from the light rain and sun, provided enough room for two people to make letters at the same time, and had enough space for a crowd to gather to watch and join in the activity.
Food Font will be at the Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC next Sunday April 5th from 11 am – 1pm. Look for our setup!
Here is a slideshow of the Food Font setup from the Flickr site.