Slow Foods, Hot Teas

\ Oct 13, 2005

3 min read

This Saturday, Oct. 15, join Slow Food Rio Grande for a celebration of tea tasting from small producers around the world and accompaniments. The featured speaker is Sebastian Beckwith, a ranking tea authority based in New York. He teaches educational tea seminars at New York City’s China Institute and the Institute of Culinary Education, as well as at museums and other venues. He also leads presentations with the internationally known, integrative health expert Dr. Andrew Weil at New York City’s Columbia University.

The tasting has been broken down into two sessions, allowing a smaller session for those with a stronger interest in teas. Accompaniments consist of rice balls, dried fruit, nuts, Japanese tea cakes and other treats.

The event will be held at the Friends Meeting House (1600 Fifth Street NW, south of Mountain). Please bring a small Asian-style teacup, if you have one, or your favorite cup. Cost is $12 and participation is limited to 25 people. Reserve your place at slowfoodriogrande@yahoo.com.

Chocolate Chocolate

Thanks to Bookworks and TVI, Albuquerque will be treated to three days of chocolate events with renowned chocolatier and chef Lisa Yockelson, author of Baking by Flavor (Wiley, $45), and the new coffee table book ChocolateChocolate (Wiley, $45). Yockelson is a baking journalist whose recipes, articles and essays have appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Cook’s Illustrated, Gastronomica and Pastry Art & Design. Her book, Baking by Flavor, was a James Bears Foundation Award nominee and an IACP Cookbook Award winner. A graduate of the London Cordon Bleu, she has been baking with chocolate since she was seven years old.

First off, “Anatomy of a Brownie” is on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. Enjoy a decadent and delectable chocolate dessert tasting of recipes, made by TVI culinary students, from ChocolateChocolate while the author teaches some of her secret tricks for making the world’s best brownies.

Then on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at noon, there's “Deep, Dark and Fudgy: Baking with Chocolate.” Free and open to the public at TVI's Smith Brasher Hall (at the southwest corner of University and Coal), Room 100, take part in a demonstration, tasting and talk on the tricks of making the world’s best chocolate desserts.

Finally, on Wednesday evening, Oct. 19, Lisa Yockelson will be the keynote speaker at a fundraising event for TVI Culinary Arts Department, featuring a selection of foods and chocolate treats. Ticket price is $75 per person or $90 per couple, with a copy of ChocolateChocolate included. Call 224-4648 for tickets.