food

On May 10th, 2012, PEA HARVEST…

peas in the podded and shelled

…has been on my mind since I first noticed some of those pods plumping up a few weeks ago, and this afternoon I have the gumption to hunt them all down one by one,  then to a stump in the shade to shell, and finally to the kitchen where they go into the the big red pot with everything else looking good today – like kale, parsley, broccoli…

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By Fritz Haeg on May 10, 2012 | food, gardens
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On May 7th, 2012, FAREWELL OUR ORANGE DOME…

communal chopping

…or F.O.O.D., was the title given to the final public event of our Princeton Student Colony, which consisted of a variety of activities throughout the afternoon, but the highlight must have been sitting in a circle on linen squares around a student-made communal chopping board, wielding knives of varying sharpness, chopping vegetables for stew while chomping on rounds of Weatherspoon Bread Company bread, sheltered from the unexpected rain by a decidedly bougie white rental tent – and finally the last act of the day was the levitation of our well worn orange dome HQ, facilitated by one of the architecture students who had unscrewed it from the platform and fabricated a perimeter tube allowing us to gather around, grab the ring and lift it up, making us realize how fragile the architecture of our classroom had been, and kind of blowing our minds as we carried it away to another part of the campus for fruit, tea, and singalongs.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 7, 2012 | education, food
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On May 4th, 2012, VEG ON THE ROOF…

veg on the roof

…in their crowded bed – lovingly raked, graded, laid out, and sprinkled with compost just this winter – is dusty green, bright green, lettuce green, strawberry green, onion green, pea green, kale green, calendula green, and a little yellow from the small flowers produced by the beautiful bolting broccoli.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 4, 2012 | gardens
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On May 1st, 2012, PEAS, PEAS, PEAS…

Sundown peas on the roof

…yes, yes, yes.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 1, 2012 | gardens
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On April 28th, 2012, A ROOFTOP GARDEN REPORT…

late spring rooftop garden bounty

…while looking back at January 16, March 2, and April 7th updates gives me new appreciation for the speed of dirt to wild native fields and dense veg beds.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 28, 2012 | gardens
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On April 27th, 2012, CARDOONS…

cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) drama

…or Cynara cardunculus, are found wildly making their way all over my L.A. hill, and I do my best to encourage their big-leaved purple-thistle-flowered towering drama – and one of these days I have to get around to actually braising those tough stems into something to eat.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 27, 2012 | Uncategorized
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On April 20th, 2012, DOMESTIC INTEGRITY FIELD STARTS…

UNC Domestic Integrity Field rug braiding

…in a gallery space at UNC Greenboro where piles of cast-off clothes are slowly being transformed into a rainbow-colorful rug, braided with the help of students (each making their own personal braid which can be finished and absorbed into the spiral rug when they leave) being nourished with my homemade soup of locally sourced produce and nutty spelt bread which I baked down the hall in the faculty kitchen – and when I realize how long it is taking us to make the rug, I decide to change strategies for the Domestic Integrities project, and instead of making a rug (upon which the real project takes place, but more on that later) in each city the project travels, there will only be one rug per continent, which will expand as it moves from city to city, with rings telling the story of regional growth.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 20, 2012 | art
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On April 7th, 2012, ANOTHER ROOFTOP GARDEN REPORT…

today's rooftop garden with wildflowers, succulent rocky slopes, and veggies

…follows on the heels of others from Jan 16 and Mar 2, and today the reports are coming in of wildflower blooms, big fat broccoli heads, more kale than a kale-lover can consume, lines of leafy greens getting harder to keep up with by the day, meager strawberry harvests that allow for little more than a nibble on alternate days, onions that are shooting up, snap peas that are climbing the fence and putting out subtle white flowers, plus ambitious collards, early eggplants, and tangy parsley…

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By Fritz Haeg on April 7, 2012 | gardens
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On April 5th, 2012, LUNCH STRAIGHT FROM THE GARDEN…

today's lunch produce

…is the pleasure of late winter L.A., enjoyed as four guests are coming over for a midday meal, so today it will be everything veg for a big pot of soup, plus leafy green salad, and the last of the loquats.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 5, 2012 | food
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On April 4th, 2012, BROCCOLI IS IN THE HOUSE…

broccoli in half

…ya’ll, jealous? just violently beheaded from the plant out my window and now I’m slicing it up for steaming, but actually it tastes like heaven just raw.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 4, 2012 | food
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On March 19th, 2012, PRESERVED LEMONS…

lemons, lemons, lemons

…were gifted to me in a classic Kerr self-sealing Mason jar this afternoon from a generous lunch guest along with a print-out of this recipe from Epicurious - inspiring me during these lemon-days in the garden.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 19, 2012 | food
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On March 14th, 2012, COLLARDS…

collards flanks by broccoli and kale

…in a messy row between the broccoli and the kale are up and ready to eat on the rooftop garden ya’ll.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 14, 2012 | food, gardens
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On March 10th, 2012, THE LATE WINTER LOQUAT…

Loquats in the garden and on the table

…that under-rated Chinese fruit is starting to turn soft and yellow on the tree hidden at the top of the garden (planted in 2006, originally part of the Edible Estate #2: Los Angeles HQ installation at Machine Project) which never fails to give me an annual late-winter peachy, citrusy, mango-like surprise.(more info)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 10, 2012 | food
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On March 1st, 2012, FIRST KALE OF THE COOL SEASON ROOFTOP CROPS…

garden kale ready for the soup

…is ready – and though it pains me to remove those pretty leaves in lots of shades of green from the garden – it’s also one of my favorite foods, an extremely critical addition to the spelt, lentil, carrot, leek, parsley, garlic, pot of soup stewing on the stove, so I’m just back from the harvest and in it goes.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 1, 2012 | food
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On February 22nd, 2012, WEEKLY FOOD CART VILLAGE OFF FIGUEROA…

weekly food cart gathering off Figueroa

…caught me off guard while doing some L.A. re-entry grocery shopping on the other side of the hill in Highland Park, exiting Figueroa Produce – my new favorite neighborhood market and go-to place when I miss the farmer’s markets – where I came upon a make-shift main street of various food makers, families making themselves at home on the asphalt for impromptu urban picnics, and smiling faces of Angelenos happy to have a temporary place to ‘walk’ down the ‘street’ for some ‘food’ with friends.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on February 22, 2012 | food
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On February 4th, 2012, BUDDING GRAPE VINES…

grape vine bud with a great view from the deck railing overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains

…(which I have been training around the house for the past 11 years) are a sign that we have entered the back side of winter, the surprising reminder that Southern Californian spring is here, or close, with things in the garden getting greener by the day – like the leafed-out California Oak and the orangey leaf and blossom buds of the Pomegranate – which is all a bit bitter-sweet after three mostly settled tranquil months at home and tomorrow beginning a more steady rhythm of travel through the spring and summer…sorry to miss the daily details in the garden.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 4, 2012 | gardens
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On February 2nd, 2012, BROCCOLI ON THE ROOF…

dusty brocolli green growing on the roof

…was planted a few weeks ago in the new terraced beds I labored over for weeks, now finally paying off with some evidence of slow February vegetable growth, plus that lovely spectrum of dusty peculiar shades green only seen in cool-season crops.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 2, 2012 | gardens
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On January 26th, ALL KINDS OF MUSHROOMS…

all kinds of mushrooms for dinner

…are what’s for dinner at a neighborhood friend’s place, so we are talking about my favorite mycology enthusiast John Cage.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 26, 2012 | food
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On January 25th, 2012, ELF CAFE IN ECHO PARK…

Eden at Elf in Echo Park

…(tiny intimate crunchy veggie local organic sort of deal) is my favorite place to eat in the area, when I actually manage to go out, and tonight I was lucky to have a friend in the kitchen…Eden Batki, who is cooking up some LA food plans herself. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 25, 2012 | food
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On January 19th, 2012, LA WINTER SOUP…

bright veggies waiting to be soup

…is everything you want, using whatever is available, becoming whatever you need it to be, lasting for a while, feeding whoever shows up, and my weekly drill these days – and for dinner parties – gathering up all of the great soup-friendly produce at the local Atwater Village Farmers Market on Sundays, sautéing things like onions, squash, carrots, leeks, in olive oil, adding water to the soup pot, and then filling up with everything else that wants to join, like tomatoes, parsley, potatoes, parsnip, kale, spinach, garlic, etc. plus a little peperoncini for kick and salt to taste, then always always a mix of dry lentils and spelt.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 19, 2012 | food
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On January 3rd, 2012, MY SPELT BREAD…

4 loaves of spelt bread

…which I have been making just about every other day since I first discovered it, was the star of another dinner party the other night, four loaves devoured fast.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 3, 2012 | food
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On December 12th, 2011, HOME BAKED SPELT BREAD TRIUMPH…

piping hot spelt bread fresh from the oven

…this afternoon while trying to approximate the simple primitive spelt (farro) and water non-yeast bread that I fell in love with in Italy – especially the stuff made by the mystical baker/artist with a little stand at Rome’s  whom I would visit most Sunday’s (who would apologize for the ashes on the bottom of the loaf while brushing off that evidence of the homemade fire it was baked in) - and it was on my first attempt of what I thought would be many, and with many recipes – that the magic steaming loaf came out of the oven, warming this rainy day – amazingly textured, light/substantial, delicious and satisfying in the way that only bread can be – especially to someone who is vegan and avoids wheat – making me wonder why I ever bought bread? (recipe website)

3 cups spelt flour – organic
1 1/2 cups water - purified
1 tbs. baking powder – non-aluminum
1 tbs. olive oil
1/4 tsp. sea salt
Mix liquids and dry ingredients separately; then combine and mix well. Place in oiled and floured cake pan. Bake at 375 F  for 50 – 55 minutes. When top is light to medium brown, bread is ready to cool on rack.

…plus I basted the top with homemade almond milk before baking…and next time, nuts!

 

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By Fritz Haeg on December 12, 2011 | food
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On December 10th, 2011, COOKBOOK IN ECHO PARK…

the beckoning storefront colors of Cookbook in Echo Park

…is the recently opened neighborhood boutiquey charming but expensive green grocer that I am hearing about – as I’m asking around trying to figure out what progress has been made with access to simple good food on the east side of LA while I’ve been away the past 16 months – so I stop by this afternoon, impressed by the way it feels like someone has opened up a room in their home as a store – reminding me of the candy-jar-filled wood-paneled glass-cabinet-lined Minneapolis candy store in the first floor parlor of the Melby family house a few blocks away where we got out sugar fix as kids.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 10, 2011 | food
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On December 5th, 2011, THE LENAPE EDIBLE ESTATE…

Lenape garden 30 months later

…was established in 2009 in front of the Hudson Guild community center at Elliott-Chelsea Houses near the corner of West 26th Street and Tenth Avenue with thirty edible plant species that the native Lenape people of the island of Manhattan would have been eating from as recently as 400 years ago – and being in the neighborhood this morning, I stopped by to check it out (since there is no particular family that takes care of it and eats from it – as with most of the other Edible Estate gardens - I have always been a bit concerned about it’s future prospects) where some plants had gone and others had arrived, but it was still looking good, and even a little wild – in a good way. (webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 5, 2011 | Edible Estates
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On November 29th, 2011, A LONDON HONEY MAP…

honey from all over London

…by our friends at Åbäke is in the works for the Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services, and today we received this exciting preview planning picture of jars and jars and jars of the local stuff….mmmm honey.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 29, 2011 | Animal Estates, food
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On November 19th, COOKING WITH MOTHER FROM MIAMI…

Bert Rodriguez's mother cooking in the gallery

…is what I stopped by a West Side LA gallery to see Bert Rodriguez doing tonight. (more in the Style of the Times)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 19, 2011 | art, food
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On November 6th, 2011, DOSA…

the Chez Panisse worthy spread at Dosa

…housed in cozy vast top floor downtown LA loft hosted Alice Waters for an Edible Schoolyard benefit event and sale this afternoon….yum.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 6, 2011 | food
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On November 2nd, 2011, SOFIA’S MARKETS…

Sofia Women's Market & Supermarket

…old and new are in vivid contrast all over town – as in many of the European cities I’ve been visiting lately – most vividly evidenced on visits to the super long and lively ‘Women’s Market’ that runs all the way up Boulevard Stefan Stambolov and then past the nearby supermarket with mega plastic graphics of picture perfect produce wallpapering the facade.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 2, 2011 | food
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October 31st, 2011, BULGARIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION…

Bulgarian morning TV

…is where I started out my first morning in the country for a live interview to discuss my work, and tomorrow’s talk at the Sofia Architecture Week, and then out to explore the streets of Sofia for a brisk afternoon of meandering wanderings in crisp cool sunny weather enjoying one of my last days as a free flâneur this year (before moving back to the dome and L.A. on Wednesday!)….when I very luckily happen upon a young man preparing some wholesome looking bread in a warm window at the intersection of two small tree-lined side streets, which draws me in to discover The Sun and Moon Cafe, a very very awesome slow/local food, vegany, fresh, cozy place, my ideal sort of food refuge in a foreign city, where the menu full of good/real vegan food overwhelms me so much that the waitress has to return a few times until I finally figure out what from the menu bounty I want to order, and then afterward it is clear I will not find a better place to eat in town, I will eat all of my meals here, and decide to change hotels so I can stay around the corner….but I guess that’s what happens when comfort craving begins to rule at the end of three months on the road.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 31, 2011 | food
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On October 22nd, 2011, ŁÓDŹ TOWER BLOCKS AND VEGETABLE MARKETS…

Łódź tower and market

…oppressive and quaint, global and local, dominating and warm, standing side by side, on the same street, duking it out.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 22, 2011 | architecture, food
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On September 30th, 2011, RENO FOOD AND BOOK DISCOVERIES…

Sundance Books and Music and the Great Basin Community Food Co-op

…came just as I was beginning to think that this town was all casinos and slot machines, just before my talk at the Nevada Museum of Art for the Art + Environment Conference, as I wandered around the corner to find the super cute inviting sophisticated food co-op – The Great Basin Community Food Co-op – and bookstore – Sundance Books and Music – where I bought two favorites: Architecture Without Architects by Bernard Rudofsky and a new edition of Earth-Sheltered House, Revised Edition: An Architect’s Sketchbook by Malcolm Wells.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 30, 2011 | books, food
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On September 25th, 2011, PICKING APPLES…

picking apples on the bluffs above the Mississippi River

…is a tradition for the family this time of year on our Minnesota apple orchard up on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River just south of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and this is the first year I am able to join in the fun, with little kids alternating between putting apples in bags and eating as many apples as they can (or bites out of as many apples as they can).

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By Fritz Haeg on September 25, 2011 | landscape
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On September 9th, 2011, A MORNING VISIT TO THE LONDON EDIBLE ESTATE…

corn popping up from the beds of Edible Estate #4: London

…(which was commissioned by Tate Modern in 2007) before heading to the airport for a flight to Istanbul, was a happy diversion (situated at the corner of Webber and Lancaster in Southwark, just around the corner from where I am staying) where I discovered the garden going gang-busters (as my aunt Kay says) with towering sunflowers, laurel bay trees filling out, rosemary plants now a hedge, strawberries trailing everywhere, robust apple trees coming into their own, plus chives, sage, chard, raspberries, and corn stalks popping up making ears lookeing about ready to eat, which I saw a father point out to his young daughter as he was walking her to school down the street. (garden webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 9, 2011 | Edible Estates
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On September 7th, 2011, RIDLEY’S FOOD FOR FOOD TEMPORARY DINING EXPERIENCE…

Ridley's scaffolding in place for opening night featuring latex curtains, and a single central tricked-out 2nd floor table whose central panel decends with pulleys to the lower level open air kitchen

…opened tonight in the middle of London’s Ridley Road Market in Dalston – which I visited with my London Animal Estates collaborator Benjamin Reichen (of the super design collective Åbäke) whose former students had masterminded the project – alas, we were to early to eat, but were at least able to see the structure, seating, kitchen, coming together for this very cool project…

Ridley’s, a temporary dining experience in Dalston, is a project by The Decorators and Atelier ChanChan. This group of designers-artists-architects have transformed an exposed yet derelict void in Ridley Road market, into a podium for outdoor exhibitionist eating.

For the month of September a two-storey structure will rise above the stalls, housing a new kind of market food initiative. Come and exchange market produce for a meal if you’re having lunch or bring £15 if you’re looking for dinner (includes your dinner and a £5 food shopping voucher for use at the market ).

A lineup of guest chefs will create daily menus from market produce only, whilst diners share a communal table high above the market. Meals prepared in the ground floor kitchen, the hub of exchange and production, will be raised by a mechanical table up to the guests on the first floor. This scenographic journey emphasises the vertical transformation of the raw food at market level to the cooked meals at the elevated podium above.

This temporary summer installation is a means of demonstrating the kind of activities that could be created to make the life of this market sustainable and is an opportunity to re-imagine the possibilities for the regeneration of the area. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 7, 2011 | food
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On September 1st, 2011, A MASSERIA (WITH FRANTOIO IPOGEO)…

Masseria courtyard over a massive ancient subterranean olive mill (frantoio ipogeo)

…is something I have had an intense architectural crush on since first reading about them last year (a fortified farmhouse unique to Puglia, often with a series of connecting vaulted spaces made of local stone on the ground level for animals and farm workers around a central protected courtyard overseen by more comfortable castle-like quarters on an upper level for the noble landowners, some featuring their own chapel and underground mill – frantoio ipogeo – for processing olive oil) – and today I went to visit a dreamy abandoned masseria from the 1600′s – with a massive 800 year old frantoio beneath the courtyard, a chapel at the front gate, and extensive local dry stone walls enclosing fruit orchards and gardens – for sale just north of Lecce where I was entertaining fantasies of retreating with friends who could come and go to a quiet life in the country, living and working and creating and gardening on ancient land – so I am now realizing that my unexplained deep interest is in part related to their village-like nature, originally created to protect it’s community of inhabitants from invading warriors, but maybe today offering protection from invasions of other sorts – like the toxic aspects of contemporary society which could use an oppositional model – the courtyard becoming the possible focus for a group of people turning in to create their own community, a place that is consciously quieter and slower, being connected to centuries of the past might change your perception of the future, and now I’m thinking about what my ideal life in one of these ancient ready-made villages might look like today?

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By Fritz Haeg on September 1, 2011 | Italy
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On August 31st, 2011, GALLIPOLI FISHERMEN AT SUNSET…

returning fisherman set up shop at the docks

…this evening were just pulling back into the docks where crowds of locals were waiting to receive them…and why I wondered, was it their families? was it a ritual? had they been away for weeks? but no, they were just waiting to inspect the day’s catch and pick up something fresh for dinner.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 31, 2011 | food
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On August 27th, 2011, THE SALENTO WATERMELON HARVEST…

masseria surrounded by unharvested watermelons

…never happened this year since it would cost the farmers more to harvest them than they could then sell them for – leading to some sad but beautiful fields of rotting watermelons as far as you can see – one of many local agricultural anecdotes, aspects, stories, visions which have brought me here to the Salento region of Puglia.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 27, 2011 | food
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On August 26th, 2011, GENOVA CENTRAL MARKET…

a taste of Liguria at the market

…is a pleasure the way all Italian markets are, where you are given an instant taste of the precise season, climate, weather, landscape, culture, economy, history, habits, and personalities of the region, and this morning it was mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms – all gorgeous varieties – being cleaned and prepared by expert knife-wielding hands at my favorite stand where I chose to gather huge dark grapes and tiny light figs for the upcoming 10 hour train ride south to Puglia.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 26, 2011 | food
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On August 22nd, 2011, GRAND APPETIT…

Grand Appetit, Paris

…the simple casual homey delicious macrobiotic Marais cafe established in 1980, where you feel like you are dropping by your very cool exotic earthy French aunt and uncle’s place for a fresh vegan homemade lunch (bus your own dishes!) – is my Parisian culinary salvation at whose front door I was hungrily waiting at noon today for them to finally re-open from the August holiday – to dine on a nourishing plate of beans and grains and fresh vegetables – yum – now to be my Paris Souen, the place I have a hard time not eating every meal at when in NYC.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 22, 2011 | food, Paris
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On August 17th, 2011, A SMALL PURPLE MUSHROOM…

little purple mushroom sitting in the French woods

…which we are later told might perhaps be edible, stops me on my afternoon hike from the lake, down the hill, through the woods, a shock of subtle but extravagant color in the relentless green around us here.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 17, 2011 | landscape
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On August 10th, 2011, TAO FOODS…

the central open kitchen at Minneapolis' Tao Foods

…the wood-lined, screen-doored, toybox-equiped, homey health food store and cafe dating from the early 1970′s on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis is often our place of choice for morning nephew meetings and this morning it is the divine simple vegetable rice plate made freshly in front of me in the sunny central open kitchen by nice guys in cool hats and white aprons.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 10, 2011 | food
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On August 4th, 2011, ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE…

Barbara Kingsolver's 2007 book 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle'

…the influential 2007 familial account of eating products grown close to home for a year by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, is one of the books I’m dusting off from my ‘to read’ list, finally able to finish with this lazy week on my hands up at the lake – and though it echoes everything I think I know and already believe and feel (especially after our luxurious Roman year of seasonal and local eating), this friendly home-spun activist no-nonsense series of personal stories got me fired up and inspired – ‘yes’ to cheese & bread making, and neighborly crop-sharing, and forever ‘no’ to industrial jet-setting bananas and winter tomatoes! (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 3, 2011 | books
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On August 1st, 2011, BOATHOUSE ON BAY LAKE…

view from Bay Lake boathouse

…is where I have come home to retreat for the week, but continuing on a hybrid continental schedule involving going to bed with the sun at 9pm and then up at the uncontrollable crazy hour of 3am to read, work, write, and wait for the sun to show itself for what turned out to be about 15 minutes of glorious lavender sunrise before disappearing for the day behind welcome rain clouds providing a perfect guilt-free excuse to stay cozy in the porch and on the laptop for the better part of the morning before heading to the kitchen to prepare a soup of bounty from The Wedge and St. Paul’s Farmer’s Market – tomato/zucchini/onion/cauliflower/bean/kale/potatoes/spelt/parsley/carrot/lentil – that is smelling the place up in a good way and making the cozy cabin cozier.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 1, 2011 | Minnesota
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On July 30th, 2011, THE SAINT PAUL FARMERS MARKET…

zucchini and onions at the very neat & organized St. Paul Farmers Market

…was founded in 1853 back when streets where dirt in these parts and has since been relocated a few times before landing at it’s current downtown location which we visited early this morning in preparation for a week ‘up north’ at the lake cabin – and my first impression is that in comparison to the slightly wild, loose and casual presentations at the Italian and Roman farmer’s markets – these displays were super neat and organized with bowls of prearranged produce displayed in perfect grids – thanks to that Germanic love of order which I happen to grudgingly share.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 30, 2011 | food
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On July 26th, 2011, A NEW HOME FOR THE ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

a happy new home on the ground at the Ex-SNIA community center for the Roman rooftop garden

…on the ground of the former parking lot at the Ex-SNIA community center – a vast abandoned industrial complex east of Termini being reclaimed by trees and meadows and groups like Ciclofficina where you can get your bike fixed for free, also known in the 90′s for it’s raves, but now more frequently offering a place for the local unemployed and immigrant communities to gather, meet and hold events – so yesterday a big truck showed up at the Academy on the West side of town to haul the entirety of the Roman Rooftop garden to Ex-SNIA on the east side of town where local organizer installed it in a smart new arrangement working around a few existing plantings (such as a few small fruit trees and zucchini in bathtubs) and integrating locally scavenged materials in the spirit of the original garden (like wood palettes for enclosure and to lift the planting beds off the ground since this is highly contaminated soil), which was born and raised in high isolation on top of a building on top of a hill on the other side of the river, and will now continue to thrive down on the ground as the center of meals and community activities.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 26, 2011 | gardens
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On July 25th, 2011, A FAREWELL ROMAN ROOFTOP DINNER…

farewell Roman Rooftop dinner party

…last night, cooking for my local Roman friends, was the best way to say goodbye – to them, to the city, and to the garden, which was picked up this morning – after a final harvest – by a local community center this morning at 6:30am.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 25, 2011 | food
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On July 24th, 2011, TORICELLA IN SABINA…

homemade pasta at a dinner party in the Sabina

…near Rieti in the Sabine hills north of Rome is the location of the country house that our artist friend Emiliano Maggi partly grew up in – and where his mother prepared a feast for about 20 Roman friends this evening – so up we headed to conduct interview #26 for Roma Mangia Roma with Marcella while she was serenely and lovingly preparing the approximately 15 or 20 dishes that would be served (handmade pastas of varying sorts, pasta fagioli, cicoria, maiale, coniglio, abbacchio arrosto, fresh figs from the garden, torts and roasts from the wood oven are those that immediately come to mind) and immediately followed – as apparently is common here, but unheard of in my more mild-mannered Minnesotan upbringing – by raucous music with impromptu a cappaella songs both solo and sing-along plus dancing that went on well after I retired upstairs to bed at midnight.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 24, 2011 | food
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On July 23rd, 2011, INTERVIEWS OFF VIA APPIA…

an old family house hidden in the woods and fields off Rome's Via Appia

…for the Roma Mangia Roma book take us this morning to a house in the most remarkable location on extensive grounds covered with thick woods, picturesque meadows, modest fruit orchards, and casual vegetable gardens, right off the ancient Roman road, where our thirty-something Roman subject grew up, where her parents continue to live on the top floor, where her brother lives downstairs, and where she shares the neighboring quarters with her Japanese boyfriend who used to work in an Italian restaurant in Tokyo (but has now lived in Rome for 7 years, the first few months of which he tried to make Japanese food, but when he realized that the proper ingredients just couldn’t be found, he surrendered and eats a typical contemporary Roman diet now, starting every day with a cornetto and cappuccino) – all of which made for some good talks about food, cities, culture, Rome, Tokyo, and what it means to share a house with your family, grow your own food in the city, and be dislocated from your homeland.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 23, 2011 | food, Rome
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On July 20th, 2011, TREVIGNANO ROMANO…

the old rambling structures of Agriturismo Acquaranda

…is the village overlooking Lake Bracciano north of Rome where we traveled this afternoon to interview Massimo at Agriturismo Acquaranda, for the Roma Mangia Roma book, to hear about his experiences with food, in particular with making cheese on the land where his father made cheese (which it turns out that he doesn’t even eat), his recent shift from cows to sheep, his discovery of traditional processes to make artisanal cheeses no longer found, leading him to the slow food movement, kilometer zero, and other ways of approaching food production he had not previously considered.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 20, 2011 | agriculture
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On July 19th, 2011, SCANDRIGLIA…

road trip with Gilda and Lorenzo to Scangrilia, Lazio for a special lunch with Oretta at her country house

…in the Sabina of Lazio was the destination of our morning road trip to visit Oretta Zanini de Vita (the font of inspiration and information regarding cucina Italiana and staunch advocate for taking food seriously as culture at the highest level) at her house in the country – built in the 70′s with found windows of all sizes, salvaged wood beams, medieval stone fireplace mantels, and other assembled pre-used materials – for a special lunch straight from her garden, a continuation of our March 14th interview for the Roma Mangia Roma book (coming out in the fall in English and Italian from Nero Publications with editor Lorenzo Gigotti), and the opportunity for Gilda Aloisi to take some casual analog photos of Oretta at home and in the kitchen to accompany the story.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 19, 2011 | books, food
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On July 18th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEWS #18-21…

the family home on the ground floor of this newish apartment building with underground parking also features a vast hidden orto

…took us to a family of three generations living in a newish housing development about 8 km south of central Rome – still within the Grande Raccordo Anulare, bordered by a few other housing developments, a few isolated farms, and to the east by the Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica (the vast greenbelt flowing from the countryside into Rome and terminating at the Circo Massimo) – where they are lucky enough to have the space for a big orto (too bad we don’t have such a specific word in English for the homegrown kitchen/vegetable garden) tended by the definitive cook and oldest member of the family (who grew up Bagheria, Sicily – the picturesque coastal town where the 1988 film Cinema Paradiso was set – in the 1930′s and 40′s in a completely self-sufficient household where they even ate the bread made with wheat grown on their own land) where he is playing out his nostalgic memories of his childhood garden with mammoth Cucuzza Sicilian squash and Sicilian tomato varieties, and at his own family table he is adamant that all are seated together each night at the precise moment that his culinary creations are ready – which his 18 year old son tolerates less and less, as he is out most nights with his his friends (sometimes enjoying quick fast food, that he even convinved his father to try once when they were on a road trip) and his girlfriend of Veneto decent, though in a separate interview acknowledging his appreciation for that one occasion each day that the whole family is together and grudgingly admitting that he will likely require the same of his own family in the future.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 18, 2011 | books, food
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On July 13th, 2011, HINKEL BÄCKEREI…

the baked bounty in the Hinkel Backerai window

…is the best bread in Düsseldorf according to a few of the market farmers I have asked (in a country where people take their bread very very seriously), so this afternoon I wander around the corner from my temporary home of the Schmela Haus to check out the place (for possible baked goods to accompany tomorrow’s Soup Salon & Talk), where the warm inviting street view of stacked loaves in a variety of ovoid shapes and a spectrum of deep German browns lining the street window into a modest-sized shop where eager bodies of all ages are pushing up against a counter of jovial smiling Hinkel workers presenting a wall of other gorgeous loaves more beautiful than any sculptures I’ve seen – does nothing to prepare me for the intoxicating aroma and good vibes as soon as I open the door (even though I’m vegan and don’t eat processed flour, preferring delicious ancient grains like farro and kamut – they point me to a few beautiful egg and butter free loaves) – on this dreary Wednesday afternoon, bread is warming and cheering us up, and everyone is super happy to be there. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 13, 2011 | food
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On July 4th, 2011, INDEPENDENCE DAY…

cutting of the American Academy 4th of July cake & 'Le Cercle Rouge' at Villa Medici

…American Academy-style involved an Americanissimo coleslaw, homemade potato chips, grilled hamburger with fixins, potato salad, and watermelon lunch (making for a strange greeting for newly arrived guests who heard so much about the amazing seasonal local Roman RSFP cuisine) followed by the dramatic arrival of an elaborate patriotic blueberry and strawberry decorated American flag cake – but for the evening we defected to the French Academy – Villa Medici - overlooking the city for a firework-free evening for the first night of their outdoor summer film series – kicking off with the stylish but seemingly endless (2’20″ – including a half hour heist scene that would be hard to imagine coming out of any a.d.d. Hollywood editing room today) 1970 crime thriller ‘Le Cercle Rouge‘ directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 4, 2011 | film, food
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On July 1st, 2011, THE BEAN POLE WIGWAM…

bamboo bean pole wigwam dramatically on axis with top floor AAR corridor

…I placed on axis with the top floor Academy corridor – where I live and work – is providing some drama in the distance this morning as I wake up and head down the hall for coffee and morning garden watering.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 1, 2011 | gardens
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On June 29th, 2011, CUCUMBERS…

night portrait of Roman rooftop cucumber

…cetrioli, (two of them) are busting out, pumping up daily, from those vines creeping up the rebar structures that I installed months ago – finally, finally being put to use by those lazy climbers.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 29, 2011 | food, gardens
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On June 27th, 2011, BORLOTTI…

borlotti garden harvest

…beans have arrived to the rooftop garden, with harvest day for the speckled magenta pods hiding everywhere I look.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 27, 2011 | gardens
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On June 25th, 2011, YELLOW PLUMS…

yellow plums caught with flash in midday sun

…known as susine around here, in clustered abundance are bending tree branches out back with their weight while sneakily ripening to sweet perfection undetected as they remain yellowy green – but I see them and have filled a backpack to gorge on this weekend – and maybe a sugarless compote?

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By Fritz Haeg on June 25, 2011 | food
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On June 23rd, 2011, ‘HUNGRY CITY: WILD ROME’…

Carolyn Steel and Mona Talbott (left) digging into desert on a fig leaf at the end of the Hungry City: Wild Rome dinner for 120 with oily bread bag menus (center) and garden scavenged table goods

…was the loose title for this evening’s marathon of activities that I organized at the Academy – kicking off with a rousing talk by “Hungry City” author Carolyn Steel (narrowly arriving in time from London) about the relationship between food and cities – specifically Rome (wheat mills floating on the Tiber – license for a stone slab fish counter at the market worth more than a house – fake food fed to not quite distinguished enough feasting dinner guests only there to fill seats – Monte Testaccio mountain of discarded terra cotta amphorae…) taking us all the way up to present day Roman and global food and city circumstances (20% of meals in America are consumed in a car, one billion people are overweight and one billion are malnourished globally…), and happily ending at her vision of the future which she refers to as ‘sitopia‘ – after that it was responses from members of the Academy community including scholar fellow Michael Waters, architect advisor Carlo Vigevano, and RSFP chef Mona Talbott – followed by a casual reception in the vegetable garden under ripe apricot and susine laden trees – and culminating in a feast for 120 in the courtyard on one long L-shaped table under the arcade covered with coffee-dyed cast-off Academy bedsheets cum table-clothes upon which were scrawled handwritten food-related quotes from Roman residents excerpted from the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book, then generously sprinkled and piled (like a forest floor) with all of the various random garden and kitchen detritus I had been gathering all year (pine cones; bean pods and leaves; fruits and seeds; dried sage, bay and rosemary cuttings; tufa rocks; all of my empty glass jars full of dirt and candles), plus big hunks of Roscioli bread (which looked remarkably like the lightweight tufa rocks – in a good way) and various courses served on fig leaves and grape leaf lined terra cotta roof tiles scavenged from out back – all enjoyed to the amplified sounds coordinated to the courses by Paul Rudy, and the lighting and central hanging plant branch daisy-chain chandelier by Giovanna Latis – under which the kitchen staff piled all of the goods related to the meal including a controversial lambs head which I – though vegan – was ultimately all for, since it showed those meat-eaters where their meat was coming from. (plus super big thanks to Ben Barron, Walker Williams-Smith, Sarah Ripple, and Eleonora Recupero, the classy, eager, and efficient foursome of local youth who assisted)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 23, 2011 | food
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On June 22nd, 2011, IL VASCHELLO…

Il Vascello propietors Angelo and Dorina

…is the friendly, local, slightly hidden, Monteverde trattoria – just outside of the Aurelian wall from us – presided over since the early 80′s by gregarious hostess Dorina and Sardegnian chef Angelo, whom we have come to visit this afternoon for interview #14 for the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book (featuring interviews with five generation of people living in Rome about food, how they eat, earliest culinary memories, etc…), to hear their stories of growing up in rural areas, coming to Rome, working in a restaurant under a nurturing father-like mentor prankster chef next to the Pantheon, and finally establishing  Il Vascello – by now a familial hang-out for friends, regulars, locals, the film crowd (such as Gianni de Gregorio) and foreign residents like us – Dorina loves America and has memorized the U.S. state capitals by heart, reciting them in alphabetical order when she can’t fall asleep.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 22, 2011 | food
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On June 14th, 2011, THE ‘HUNGRY CITY: ROME’ EVENT…

Hungry City: Rome

…that I am organizing at the American Academy in Rome for June 23rd has just been announced – spread the word to Roman friends….

HUNGRY CITY: ROME – an evening with CAROLYN STEEL, British architect, lecturer, and author of ‘Hungry City’ on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at the AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME at Via Angelo Masina, 5

18:00 LECTURE introduced by: FRITZ HAEG, Garden Club of America Rome Prize Fellow – with responses from: MONA TALBOTT, Rome Sustainable Food Project Executive Chef; CARLO VIGEVANO, Abbate e Vigevano Architetti principal; MICHAEL WATERS, Donald and Maria Cox Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellow – presentation in English, followed by garden reception – 20:30 DINNER – by ROME SUSTAINABLE FOOD PROJECT (SOLD OUT)

On June 23rd, 2011 Carolyn Steel will give a public lecture at the American Academy in Rome related to her best selling 2008 book “Hungry Cities: How Food Shapes our Lives,” which depended heavily upon early research in Rome, and how the ancient city fed itself. She will discuss the ways in which cities evolve around food, and in particular how the city of Rome has been shaped by these influences over time. Responses and questions from selected members of Academy community including chef Mona Talbott, architect Carlo Vigevano, scholar Michael Waters, and moderated by Academy fellow Fritz Haeg, will lead to an open discussion to be followed by a garden reception and a special Rome Sustainable Food Project dinner al fresco.

Carolyn Steel is an architect, lecturer and writer whose chief interest is exploring the inner lives of cities, focused on developing a lateral approach to urban design that looks at the everyday routines that shape cities and the way we inhabit them. She has run design studios at the London School of Economics, London Metropolitan University and at Cambridge University, where her lecture course ‘Food and the City’ is an established part of the degree program. Her 2008 book “Hungry City: How Food Shapes our Lives” follows food’s journey from land to city, through market and supermarket, kitchen and table, waste-dump and back again, to show how food affects all our lives, and impacts on the planet. Check out Carolyn’s book, the review in the Guardian, and TED talk.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 14, 2011 | food
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On June 12th, 2011, THE MID-SUMMERS ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

a hazy June morning in the Roman rooftop Edible Estate

…is needing a good watering every morning (that nearby Lago Bracciano is happy to oblige, providing Rome with the abundant local clean water that is the pride of this city and celebrated in it’s generous bounty of public fountains) which I am happy to offer every morning, wandering with a hose from planter to planter, getting my head eased into the day, pondering the big picture of the sprawling city framed by the volcanic mountains beyond, and paying attention to each member of the wild assortment of ambitious little plants making the most of their shallow beds and cramped roots, reaching as far up and out of the dirt as they can manage – and today the real troopers seem to be the barlotti, zucchini, and pomodorini all setting fruit, but taking their time. (Roman rooftop Edible Estate webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 12, 2011 | gardens
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On June 10th, 2011, LONDON SOUTHBANK CENTRE ROOF GARDENS…

the new Southbank Centre roof garden at Queen Elizabeth Hall

…newly installed on top of Queen Elizabeth Hall, in partnership with the Eden Project in Cornwall, is what I am admiring out the window on this alternately warm sunny/cool rainy typical London day from a neighboring conference room where we are planning an upcoming 2012 project at the Hayward Gallery.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 10, 2011 | gardens
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On June 9th, 2011, EDIBLE ESTATE #4: LONDON…

Denise Withers, the force behind Edible Estate #4: London

…is what I am always most keen to visit whenever I find myself back in town, and this morning on my way to meetings at the Hayward Gallery I make my garden pilgrimage to the corner of Webber and Lancaster in Southwark to check on it’s current status, where I immediately find Denise Withers – the Brookwood Estate resident who has been the great nurturing, cultivating, and protecting force behind the continuing life of the project since it was first planted and commissioned by Tate Modern in Spring 2007 – who was out of work and suffering from depression at the time (having never previously gardened she is now proudly employed by the project partner Bankside Open Spaces Trust), is now a passionate gardener at the Edible Estate just below her balcony – currently featuring a mini-hothouse for starting seeds, an extensive composting system, a green roof over an existing shed that collects rainwater, and a collection of little fruit trees really starting to produce. (garden webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 9, 2011 | gardens
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On May 31st, 2011, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET…

exotic veggies at Roman market

…near Termini is a destination this morning after tours of the playground of a nearby elementary school and the roof of an institution for the mentally handicapped – possible future homes for my Roman rooftop garden which will have to be relocated when I leave at the end of July.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 31, 2011 | food
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On May 28th, 2011, ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN NEWS…

view of Roman Rooftop this morning

…includes reports on recently planted loquat seeds; sad bean plants that are still refusing to climb up the bamboo wigwam structure that was made for them months ago; some eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes that are starting to flower and set fruit; lots of pretty lettuce plants that are being left to bolt up like mad and make pretty purple flowers; favas that are still producing; and a bin full of ever multiplying worms that keep eating and eating.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 28, 2011 | gardens
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On May 23rd, 2011, ACADEMY DINNERS…

the table waiting for another RSFP dinner in the AAR cortile

…have happily moved back outside – after almost seven months of meals in the formal dining room – with the warm weather to the central cortile where we gather around one super long table intoxicated by the blossoming jasmine.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 23, 2011 | food
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On May 22nd, 2011, THE STRAWBERRY REPORT…

spring strawberry arrival

…brings good news of the most regular and welcome daily fruiting arrivals in my Roman rooftop garden these days – with always a few to be found hiding in a planter – but never enough to do more than the occasional nibbling and grazing.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 22, 2011 | food
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On May 20th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #11…

Roma Mangia Roma interview #11, off Via Cassia

…this afternoon was a follow up to the interview with 15 year old ragazza Romana last month who recounted her early interest in cooking and cucina Italiana inspired by her grandmother, who is starting to let her into the kitchen when preparing the big holiday meals – so this afternoon we heard her story, tasted her marmalade, got a few of her special recipes, many of which she grew up learning from her mother and grandmother – but she has given each of them her own twist.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 20, 2011 | books
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On May 18th, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #10…

visit to Roman farm off Via Cassia with photographer Gilda Aloisi and Nero editor Lorenzo Gigotti

…this afternoon was with the amazing urban farmer Matteo Amati who presides over an enormous tract of city land where unemployed youth are put to work on the cultivation of the fruit tree orchard, the groves of olive trees, and the rotating fields of strawberries, fava beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc….and this is giving me some sense of what much of the land just outside the Aurelian Walls must have looked like not so long ago. (Roma Mangia Roma)

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By Fritz Haeg on May 18, 2011 | agriculture
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On May 15th, 2011, WEALTH UNDERGROUND FARM…

farming artist Nolan of Wealth Underground Farm reveals the colorful speckled lettuce coming up under crop covers in the still chilly hills of north Portland

…hosted a conversation about art & agriculture this afternoon, with Danny Percich, Tim Donovan, Harrell Fletcher, and myself, as part of the Open Engagement conference, on their Portland adjacent small CSA organic farm – which some of the of the hardcore student bikers arrived at on two wheels up a steep hill – and what a pleasure to spend time in this little Pacific Northwest nirvana of farming in the scenic hilly woods next to the city, so well known for it’s fixation on slow local organic radical foody bikey composty feministy ethos that there is even a TV show about it called Portlandia – which happened to film the farm scene at Wealth Underground in the episode where the couple ordering dinner at a restaurant is concerned about how local their food is and goes to inspect the home of the chicken named Colin that they are planning on eating.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 15, 2011 | agriculture
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On May 13th, 2011, THE PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY GARDEN…

pizza in the garden

…hosted an Open Engagement conference lunch event today as the father of one of the students wheeled his mobile wood burning pizza oven into the center of the garden, where he took orders, rolled out the dough, make pies to order, and fired them up in minutes, as we enjoyed the show.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 13, 2011 | food, gardens
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On May 8th, 2011, PORTLAND STREET FOOD…

endless 4th Street dining choices

…offers Argentinean, BBQ, Beer, Bosnian, Breakfast, British Isles, Cajun, Central Asian, Cheese Steaks, Chinese, Coffee, Comfort Food, Creperie, Cuban, Czech, Eastern European, Ethiopian, European, Fish and Chips, French, Fried Chicken, Fries, German, Gluten Free, Greek, Gyros, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Lebanese, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, New Mexican, North Pacific, Northern European, Pastries, Peruvian, , Polish, Pomme Frites, Popcicles, Sicilian, Smoothies, Soups, Southern, Spanish, Sushi, Turkish, Vegan, Vegetarian, Venezuelan, and Waffles one after the other along the prettiest streetscapes in town, featuring cute little cottagey shacks with wheels up on blocks and shutters swung open during serving hours – and they even have a website.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on May 8, 2011 | food
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On May 3rd, 2011, BACK AT SUNDOWN…

pomegranate blossoms framing the Sundown dome

…my home in LA for the first time in ten months, is bringing on welcome homey feelings – but the big shock is all of the growth I am seeing in the trees, plants, weeds, vines, and gardens after the endless winter rains that I missed here – and now a very green spring for Southern California before the inevitable dry brown sets in….and then fire season!

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By Fritz Haeg on May 3, 2011 | home, Los Angeles
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April 23rd, 2011, FAVAS…

fresh favas twice de-nuded: served fresh they should be shelled from the pod and then de-skinned

…from the Roman rooftop - shelled twice and served fresh with pecorino are the classic May 1st Roman picnic dish – which we are enjoying a week early tonight.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 23, 2011 | food
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On April 21st, 2011, PEA SHELLING SEASON…

busy hands trying to keep up with crate after crate

…is upon us which means that I am often confronted by a table full of pea pods ready for shellers when passing through the cortile on my way out for some errand which gets distracted by the sirens of those bulging pods ready for that days soup, salad, gnocchi, risotto,  pasta – and I find myself 15 minutes later so engrossed that I forgot where I was headed.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 21, 2011 | food
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On April 17th, 2011, THE LAPIN KULTA SOLAR KITCHEN RESTAURANT…

Antto preparing food to be solar-cooked behind the Triennale Design Museum

…a collaboration between Catalan designer Martí Guixé and Finnish food visionary Antto Melasniemi (the two fellows I was in conversation with at yesterday’s Domus conversation on food for the Urban Futures series) – was SO lucky today with the intensely warm spring Milanese sun we had beating down on us, and cooking the food with such theatrical style in 5 bright shiny parabolic dishes that were constantly being shifted to follow the rays. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 17, 2011 | food
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On April 12th, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #9…

Franco & Livia in their Monti neighborhood kitchen

…was conducted this morning with Livia and Franco – who met when they were 14 and have been married for 53 years – in their cozy long-time quarters (inherited from previous generations) in the Colosseum adjacent neighborhood of Monti where he used to own the local newsstand, so it’s hard to walk with Franco more than a step or two down Via dei Serpenti without a friendly greeting – and being a former runner, and living through the war years in Rome surviving on potato milk soup, I was surprised to hear about his very simple austere tastes, eating little meat, mostly dishes like pasta in bianco and very precise small portions (exactly four biscotti every morning).

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 12, 2011 | books
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On April 11th, 2011, PEA, FAVA & WORM POOP HARVEST…

the big beautiful fava pods posing by the worm estate, being harvested of it's rich fertile black worm stuff

…is the breaking news from the Roman rooftop garden this morning – having never grown the favas, I’ve waited until they are as big as those I’ve been seeing at the farmer’s market (which is BIG) before picking – and as far as that worm compost is concerned, I’ve been waiting all year to pull out the fertile goods – putting off the dirty work (which is now urgent since it is full of compost – great for the plants, but toxic for little squirmy guys – crawling around in their own waste and all) of somehow extracting the castings and not the worms to start a fresh new bin – of which there are a few methods, mine being the slow process of leaving the top of the bin exposed direct sunlight forcing the them to retreat down into the darker depths, and then scraping off a top layer until I find them again, and those that are too slow just end up in a planter with some other good things to eat, which isn’t so bad for them either.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 11, 2011 | gardens
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On April 10th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #7…

his terrace overlooking the landscape of Villa Ada

…of 35 planned interviews with five generations of people living in Rome (about how they organize their homes and lives around food, their memories and current thoughts on Cucina Italiana/Romana, and how things are changing) was a fascinating two hour conversation with a distinguished 92 year old Italian film director who recounted amazing tales of growing up in rural Italy where farmers went door to door selling their homemade goods, including a particular ricotta that he has a strong memory of – but mostly it was the aromas (rather ‘profumo’ in Italian) he remembered, of the various lost foods which he can still smell, but no longer exist as they did when he was young – the tomatoes, the breads, the olive oils, the wines, the potatoes, the eggs – and then later stories of his early days in 1940′s Rome and the shock of all of the strong tastes that his Tuscan palate was not used to – but it was his off-hand remark “Quando mangio qualcosa buona, io sono più buono” towards the end of the conversation that will stay with me. (a bit more on the book)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 10, 2011 | books
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On April 5th, 2011, FICCIN AND HELVETIA LOKANTA…

veggie plate at Ficcin is a little different every day!

…are my two favored food places in town – both serving delicious inexpensive basic vegetarian/vegan friendly Turkish plates that I hear approximate what your Turkish mom would have made for you if you grew up here – and since Ficcin has become popular since it started out as a tiny hole in the wall it has slowly taken over other little spaces on the little street off İstiklal Caddesi – so it seems that there are about 7 different dining environments to choose from – plus it is right next to the new SALT Beyoğlu, which is why we are there every day for lunch – and tonight it was Helvetia Lokanta with artists Nina, Robin, and Can – all preparing work for the SALT opening on Friday.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 5, 2011 | food
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On April 4th, 2011, PICKLED ISTANBUL…

storekeeper in front of his shop lined entirely in jars of pickled goods

…in a stupendous store where every surface is covered the bright chromatics of jars brining and fermenting anything you can imagine on a market street off of İstiklal Caddesi.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 4, 2011 | food
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On April 1st, 2011, BALKAN LOKASI…

market workers line up at Balkan Lokantasi

…the hazır yemek “ready food” restaurant off of İstiklal Caddesi is where I went to lunch today, which I happened upon during my last visit – basic really inexpensive Turkish food that is very vegan friendly, plus it seemed to be where all of the market workers were eating (which is a good sign, since my typical tastes tend away from elaborate dining experiences – instead appreciating any culinary tradition rooted in peasant austerity – like most Italian food for example), and though I wasn’t sure if my recent allegiance was misplaced due to some foreigner naiveté – this afternoon it was validated by the lunch-time line out the door, and today: chick pea soup, okra, eggplant…

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 1, 2011 | food
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On March 26th, 2011, ROMAN ROOFTOP HOMESTEAD GARDEN UPDATE…

rooftop garden view with my studio windows beyond

…today includes happy news about the reals stars of the show at the moment, the bursting crop of fava beans (which I saw all over Praiano this week) starting to produce their gigantic pods, plus more lettuce than I can eat, pea-pods getting plumper by the day, little peach trees displaying their pink blossoms, baby potatoes asking for another harvest, strawberries that do not seem to understand it is spring, and some very slow beets which I am really starting to wonder about, but container root vegetables are sometimes tricky.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 26, 2011 | food, gardens
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On March 23rd, 2011, ‘BELLE VERDURE’…

farmer 'belle verdure' with his mushrooms and meticulous garden in Praiano

…or ‘beautiful vegetables’ is the apt nick-name of the local Praiano personaggio, or character, who grows his own food in perfectly composed and tended gardens, enclosed by beautifully laid retaining walls which he built with rocks from his modest piece of land, where he also bakes bread and pizza in his own wood burning oven, makes his own wine from his own grapes, makes his own olive oil from his own trees, grows his own mushrooms, raises his own chickens, catches his own fish, cans his own fruit, and all with the great stylish panache of a real artist with a very particular aesthetic that confidently mixes the casual and trashy (styrofoam fish coolers re-purposed as garden planters and walls) with the fastidious and precious (you should see his woodpile following the sinewy curve of the land, where logs are carefully stacked and organized by size, shape, and color)  – so today we climbed a few hundred steps up the hill of Praiano to go pay a visit to this man, an exceptionally creative do-it-all character in a town full of such types (where people have always done it all, existing within the confines of difficult terrain where nothing comes in or out without great difficulty), who friends had heard of and whose handiwork they had always admired, but never met, and the time that we spent touring his place, hearing about his work, asking about his life, and learning about his ways makes me realize why I live in Italy right now.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 23, 2011 | agriculture, food
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On March 22nd, 2011, SEASIDE TERRACED FARMING IN PRAIANO…

farming on the sea in Praiano at the Lewitt's white-washed villas

…where I am staying for a few days (at a friend’s stunning collection of big farmed ocean view terraces accommodating a variety of little white houses dating from the 1600′s that have been in the family for generations, where she is now hosting a casual residency program for young cooks, farmers, and artists) on the coast south of Napoli between Amalfi and Portofino – is a highly common, visible and gorgeous aspect of life here in this small picturesque village, where biodynamic farming with lunar cycles (dictating the planting of below and above ground vegetables during different phases which I am still not so clear on) is part of the tradition and common among all of the local gardeners and farmers who I talked to.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 22, 2011 | agriculture
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On March 14th, 2011, ORETTA ZANINI DE VITA, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #3……

Oretta Zanini de Vita's collection of ancient food and pasta tools

…is the effusive indefatigable lively wise sage on cucina Italiana, the author of the definitive book on the history of food in Rome and the Lazio (previously mentioned here), and the recently released Encyclopedia of Pasta (plus about 30 other books…) which I just started reading this morning in preparation for the interview with her at her home this afternoon (for my upcoming Roma Mangia Roma that I am working on with Nero Publications) which was a total inspirational & revelatory delight – with her animated, articulate, enthusiastic, and at times defeatist ruminations on the past and present state of food in Italy – and now we are looking forward to continuing the conversation in the garden and kitchen of her house in the country, which is apparently where she really gets cooking.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 14, 2011 | food
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On February 27th, 2011, CITTÀ DELL’ALTRA ECONOMIA…

fresh pasta at the Bio Mercato housed in Testaccio's old slaughterhouse

…the center for activities promoting another economy (organic farming, fair trade, renewable energy, reuse and recycling, responsible tourism, ethical finance, open communication plus a ‘bio’ caffe’ and store) housed in Testaccio‘s ex-mattatoio (old slaughterhouse) is the place in Rome where I feel most at home these days and the Sunday market has become a highlight of the week, biking back with baskets full today just in time for the beginning of what should be five days of rain? (website)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on February 27, 2011 | food
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On February 26th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #1 IN MONTEVERDE…

bright happy yellow 1930's fascist Roman housing block in Monteverde

…this afternoon with a young local resident living in cozy top floor quarters of a 1930′s fascist apartment block (previously cheap working class housing, now expensive sought after real estate my Italian friends envy) which he once shared with his grandmother – is the first in a series of 35 profiles we are doing with five generations of Roman residents to find out what and how they eat, and how they organize their days, lives, families, friends, and homes around food, for my upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book to be released this fall with Nero Publications. (and if in Rome, hold the evening of June 23rd in your calendar for a special related event to be announced soon)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on February 26, 2011 | Rome
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On February 23rd, 2011, THE ANNUAL PRUNING OF THE OLIVE TREES…

Andrea surveys progress of the olive tree pruning

…took place this morning in grand style with freshly cut dusty green leaved olive branches covering much of the ground after the garden crew had come through to trim each tree back into a classic hollow bowl-shape which allows more light into the center of the tree. (more on pruning and more on Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 23, 2011 | gardens
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On February 21st, 2011, THE PEA REPORT…

the first peapods on the roof

…from the Roman Rooftop Homestead is very good indeed, with the happy plants beginning to climb up the pea-stake branches that were just installed for them, and today I notice the first peapods hiding in the bright green foliage, and then, as often happens when first discovering something, you begin to realize it is everywhere.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On February 18th, 2011, THE FOOD OF ROME AND LAZIO…

The Food of Rome and Lazio, 1995 by Oretta Zanini de Vita

…the 1994 book by Oretta Zanini de Vita full of fascinating accounts of Roman’s relationships to food through time featuring folklore and recipes (with chapters including Mills on the Tiber, Pastoral Kitchen, Papal Table, Carnival, Osterias, Poet G.G. Belli, Jewish Cooking, Sweets, Tourists & Movie Stars, Tuscia, Sabina, Castelli, Ciociaria, Pontine Marsh, Ex-Terra di Lavoro, Coastal Lazio) is a current inspiration and bible of reference for work on a few exciting upcoming projects I’ll talk more about soon…

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By Fritz Haeg on February 18, 2011 | books, food
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On February 14th, 2011, ROOFTOP PLANTING CRATES…

lettuce, potatoes, fava beans, onions, rosemary, and some quiet strawberries in the rooftop garden planting crates lined with burlap

…and their happy healthy plant residents enjoying this afternoon’s sun, are visible out the window as I shuffle around in my dim influenza delerium, at least encouraged to know that they are out and enjoying the weather.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 14, 2011 | gardens
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On February 13th, CAFFÉ D’ORZO…

orzo coffee and honey

…is my sick bed salvation coffee substitute which I have always loved anyway – a classic roasted caffiene-free barley drink brewed in the stove-top mocca coffee maker – with a big gob of some thick Tuscan millefiori honey. (orzo on wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 13, 2011 | food
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On February 12th, ALMOND TREE BLOSSOMS…

winter pinky white almond blossoms

…are popping up in back – a late-mid-winter color boost – but I’m hearing from the gardeners that the mice usually get to the almonds well before they are ready for the humans.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On February 9th, 2011, CAVALO NERO…

back-lit leafy greens (with cavalo nero in back) at sunrise in the American Academy in Rome gardens

…or ‘black cabbage’ (a loose-leaf Italian cabbage, or kale) has been on our plates almost every day this winter, and today will be no exception, as I harvest the lastest tangy dark leafy green bounty from the back garden where I help out Wednesday mornings when I can – and ‘cavalo’ is an extra expressive word, also being the Italian expletive of choice – like ‘shoot’ or ‘darn’ – when they really want to say ‘cazzo.’

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By Fritz Haeg on February 9, 2011 | food, gardens
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On February 2nd, 2011, THE LETTUCE REPORT…

winter insalata in make-shift planters on the roof

…from the Roman rooftop garden is good – and though some are still looking small and scrappy after months in the ground, growing very slowly with the cool temperatures and little light available to them in the winter – others are looking more robust and ready to eat, and I am realizing that my extreme rooftop micro-climate does have some pluses in the winter which became apparent last month when a few nights of frost descended on the gardens out back, but not on the roof garden, probably the result of a high elevation garden avoiding the sinking cold air? plus the bit of warmth absorbed by the stone pavers during the day and released at night? neato.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 2, 2011 | gardens
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On January 28th, 2011, PUBLIC PASTA MAKER AT THE ART FAIR…

Bologna Art Fair restaurant pasta maker

…in Bologna – where we have come on a two and a half hour speedy train ride north through the mountains from Rome for a night to attend a few events in the freezing cold and even snowflakes  – seemed to be a highlight for many fair-goers based on the reactions of some of those with fascinated faces pressed up to the glass chamber she was performing in.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 28, 2011 | food
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On January 26th, 2011, ORTICHE…

ortiche showing up in the pot of a small bare peach tree which is a bit Charlie Brown Christmas, so every bit of green is welcome these days

…or nettles, are to be found all over the streets of Rome, coming up from any unattended space between stones, they sting (a fact I am sure every Roman child learns early on with a warning from a parent – since it is the first thing that all of my Italian friends say about them: ‘pizzica!’), are known as a sort of peasant food, can be brewed as tea, or cooked with pasta, making a cameo appearance in Pasolini’s ‘Teorema” when the maid refuses to eat anything else – and I am letting them have their way in my garden as they pop up here and there – a pretty green in a winter garden – since they are such a quintessentially Roman street food.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 26, 2011 | gardens
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On January 21st, 2011, THE FLOWERING FAVA BEANS…

the promising winter flowers of my happy fava bean plants

…or Vicia faba, are keeping my rooftop garden spring-like in the middle of a Roman winter – and since I have never grown them before, it is all new to me – like the fact that they are often used as a cover crop, excel at fixing nitrogen in the soil, grow to become 2-6 feet tall, do great in cold weather, have those pretty wing-petaled white with black-spot-centered flowers, and here in Italy are typically planted on 2 November, All Souls Day, and harvested in time to be eaten with Pecorino for a traditional May Day picnic.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 21, 2011 | food, gardens
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On January 10th, 2011, DE BOLHOED IN AMSTERDAM…

view out of De Bolhoed across Prinsengracht, with requisite biker speeding by

…(‘bowler’s hat’ in Dutch, since it used to be a hat shop) is the rare organic vegan restaurant in this town in the land of dairy, which was a prized find (for this vegan) on my last visit a few months ago – a cozy place with lots of plants, views of the canal, a resident cat, and a relaxed decor that seems to have been around since the 1970′s, on Prinsengracht – where I enjoyed lunch today…and then later…dinner – with Fantastic Man Gert and husband Rob, before taking a late train to Rotterdam.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 10, 2011 | food
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On December 30th, 2010, ROOFTOP POTATO HARVEST…

a modest bounty of rooftop baby potatoes

…is the surprising legacy of the potato plants that were cut down by the one night of frost up on the roof last week – and as I am back in the happy business of gardening in the sun, moving dirt, emptying the pots of ill-fated wild transplants, moving salad starts into bigger flats, transplanting eager artichokes into more spacious accommodations, and optimistically planting even more fava bean stalks knowing full well they may come to naught – I come across the hidden golden treasures ready for a minestrone of verdure, farro e lenticchie. (more about the Roman rooftop homestead)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 30, 2010 | gardens
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On December 6th, 2010, THE BISCOTTI BOOK…

A tea reception for the new Biscotti book by Mirella Misenti (left) and Mona Talbott (right)

…featuring recipes from the kitchen of The American Academy in Rome by Mona Talbott and Mirella Misenti just had a very civilized Academy event and tea reception to celebrate the release of the first in a series of books to come from The Rome Sustainable Food Project. (publisher’s webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 6, 2010 | food
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On November 8th, 2010, A VENETIAN FRUIT VENDOR…

my Venetian fruit vendor from 20 years ago is on the left

…in the Venice sestiere of Cannaregio where I lived from 1990-91, was the highlight of my day, involving a visit back to my old street, Calle Riello, only to find that the lady who sold us fruits and vegetables around the corner was still there selling fruits and vegetables – so of course I introduced myself, and of course she didn’t remember me, but she was gracious about it, and even posed for this picture with her friend.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 8, 2010 | food
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On October 5th, 2010, LECTURE IN DEN HAAG…

Stroom, Den Haag

…this evening at the wonderful Stroom – described as “an independent foundation established in 1989 as is a centre for art and architecture with a wide range of activities, starting from the visual arts, architecture, urban planning and design the program focuses on the urban environment.” -  features exhibition spaces, public programming, commissioned civic projects, and a fabulous/extensive public library of books, journals, and periodicals related to architecture, design, and art in public space – and right now they are in the middle of a two year series of programs related to food in the city, called Foodprint, for which my esteemed artist friend Nils Norman is constructing an urban permaculture pubic garden. (webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 5, 2010 | art
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On October 3rd, 2010, A HARVEST DINNER FOR 500 AT OMAHA GRAIN ELEVATOR…

Emerging Terrain: Stored Potential harvest dinner celebration above, and view from the freeway headed to Eppley Airfield

…was a stunning culinary, pastoral, heartland experience created by Anne Trumble of Emerging Terrain that featured beautiful 20′x80′ images by local artists covering the silos visible from the freeway, an endless gorgeously set table with hand made pottery and wood platters, some of the best squash of I have ever tasted, and perfect autumnal prairie weather – made this afternoon the highlight of my trip – and now I am at the airport about to leave town, sad to miss the rest of the gathering, not to mention desert. (more info from the Emerging Terrain website)

As Midwest metropolitan landscapes undergo change — from agrarian to suburban — the systems of earlier settlement become obsolete; farmsteads, rail, grain silos, etc. Many of these are demolished to make way for the new, with the exception of the mid-century concrete grain elevators and their assembled silos. Thick, heavily engineered construction renders them too expensive for demolition. These structures, with their economic condition and cultural narrative, are opportunity for compelling regional land use discourse. Emerging Terrain is spearheading a collaborative endeavor to re-purpose a derelict, yet iconic, historic landscape structure as contemporary cultural awareness. Designers, artists, etc. will submit ideas for 20’ x 80’ images to hang on the exterior of a vacant grain elevator near downtown Omaha. Concurrent with fall harvest, a dinner table at the base of the elevator will host an epic dinner to celebrate the exhibition.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 3, 2010 | food, travel
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On September 19th, 2010, GIOVANNI BERNABEI…

Giovanni Bernabei at his stand at the Testaccio market

…is the farmer just outside of Rome – who supplies most of the fresh, local, seasonal, and organic produce to chef Mona Talbott at the American Academy in Rome (they have a picture of him up on the wall in the kitchen) – and this morning Mona introduced me to him at his stand at the first market of the season in Testaccio – and I hear that he will take me in as part of the family when I start to go up there and spend time on his farm – can’t wait! (more on the Rome Sustainable Food Project – and much more to come here…)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 19, 2010 | agriculture, food, Rome
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On August 27th, 2010, MACDOWELL COLONY VEGETABLE GARDEN…

the MacDowell Colony vegetable garden

…is looking great towards the end of the season, producing butternut squash, tomatoes, and lots of leafy greens.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 27, 2010 | gardens
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On August 11th, 2010, LEAFY GREENS…

MacDowell leafy greens and reds

…and a few reds, are popping up in Emily’s vegetable garden at MacDowell Colony – we get some in our lunch if the hedgehogs don’t get to it first.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 11, 2010 | food, gardens
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On August 7th, 2010, THE STAFF GARDENS AT THE ALDRICH MUSEUM…

Aldrich Museum staff gardens, "Something for Everyone," 2010

…which were planted in the early spring as a part of the “Something for Everyone” show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut – are now at their end of Summer peak – and I just had the chance to see them this afternoon during a quick day trip…

EDIBLE ESTATE #9: ALDRICH STAFF GARDENS & COMPOST – Watch, smell, feel, and even taste, as the Aldrich Museum staff grows their own food in their new Edible Estate garden, nourished by the compost being made at the museums front door from their very own kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, and yard clippings. Here is a regional planting calendar of edibles, and special thanks to Garden of Ideas for their contributions to the project.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 7, 2010 | art, gardens
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On July 27th, 2010, A MACDOWELL GARDEN TOUR…

the new kitchen garden at MacDowell Colony

…was lead today by Emily, the amazing MacDowell gardener, who is also an old friend who within the past two years has started a garden of natives around Colony Hall, and a new edible garden (recently invaded by a pesky hedgehog) that provides some fresh produce to our dinner plates here.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 27, 2010 | gardens
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On June 26th, 2010, DINNER AT MILDRED’S LANE…

dinner at Mildred's Lane

…seems to be an elaborate and highly staged event every night – lead by the “gastronomic choreographers” Monique and Athena – tonight taking the form of a gorgeous picnic, and last night night supplemented by a crown of wisteria and grape vines for each diner before an evening of sound installations and performances throughout the 93 acre property – this is an amazing place, I don’t want to leave tomorrow morning. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 26, 2010 | travel
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On June 19th, BISTROTHEQUE’S ROOFTOP “STUDIO DINING EAST”…

Bistrotheque's Studio East Dining Architecture by Carmody Groarke

…opened a few days ago on a rooftop overlooking the construction site of London’s Olympic Park…

Bistrotheque‘s Studio East Dining, 16 JUNE – 4 JULY 2010,
London’s most amazing rooftop dining experience; Bistrotheque opens a 3 week temporary dining room, and pavilion designed by Carmody Groarke, perched 35m atop Westfield Stratford City’s 1.9 million sq ft site, overlooking the Olympic Stadium and Zaha Hadid’s 2012 Aquatics Center. A fast build with a life span of just 3 weeks, weighing 70 tons, it is constructed from hired materials borrowed from the existing construction site, including: 2000 scaffolding boards, 3500 scaffolding poles, and reclaimed timber, used to create the walls and floors of the 800 square metre dining space. The cladding material which encases the roof, is a semi-translucent membrane, using industrial grade heat retractable polyethylene, all returned to the site afterwards and recycled without any waste.
www.studioeastdining.com

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By Fritz Haeg on June 19, 2010 | architecture, food
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On June 8th, 2010, ROOFTOP VEGGIE SURPRISE…

the beginnings of the wild rooftop kitchen garden with a squash plant of mysterious origins (butternut?) in the foreground

…is what I am calling this season’s kitchen garden which began with mixing up in a container all of the seeds for edibles that I have been collecting for the last few years but not able to plant, and spreading them around generously on the extremely fertile soil, newly covered with a thick layer of fresh compost, on my rooftop planting area – which is enclosed by thick trellised passionflower vines – and I have no idea where most of the seeds came from, what might pop up, and it’s been fun to try to figure out what is going on in this wild garden, and then eat whatever happens.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 8, 2010 | gardens
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On April 6th, 2010, COOKING ISSUES BY DAVE ARNOLD AND NILS NOREN…

Nils and Dave scowling from the masthead of their blog called Cooking Issues

…is a super-smart-and-articulate-detail-oriented-science-wizzy-foodie-blog (ie, see today’s post: Sous-Vide and Low Temp Primer Part II: Cooking Without a Vacuum) written in part by my old New Haven friend Dave (famous for having three fry-daddies in college – and now mad scientist food technician at the French Culinary Institute in New York) – and even though most of the delightful writing a) I can’t quite understand due to my very limited technical skills in the kitchen, and/or b) is lost on this vegan  – I still really enjoy it. (link)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 6, 2010 | food
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On April 4th, 2010, HOT KNIVES…

Evan & Alex of Hot Knives

…the sophisticated-but-street cooking & blogging (vegetarian) foodies Evan George and Alex Brown – whom I met when they presented a provocative pickling workshop in one of the geodesic tents pitched at the MAK Center’s Schindler House for the L.A. launch of The Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive – just sent out this message:

Friends and food-fiends,
In our endless pursuit of world wide web domination, the Hot Knives tech team we employ to make our monkey asses seem like sophisticated bloggers has crafted a beta version of a new Hot Knives Forum. To this we say “thank you, delicious, and fuck yes!!”
http://urbanhonking.com/hotknives/forum/
The goal: To get friends and readers to discuss cooking, recipes, beer, and food in a way that simply leaving simple on the Hot Knives blog can’t accommodate. Think our can-free hummus blows? Think we used too much oil? You can still playa-hate on the blog of course, but NOW you can expound on what would make it better or poll others for tips! After all many of you are cocktail legends, raw food wizards and eloquent o-piners in your own right.
Before we finish designing it, or launch this to the masses, we’d love you to test out its boundaries and start some discussion threads. We’ve begun with one crucial question: what is your favorite grilled cheese and why?

…and they describe themselves thusly:

We live in Los Angeles. We don’t cook with meat. And we like sharpening our knives about as much as we like: bicycling, performing harsh noise music, gardening, slugging whiskey, and muckraking. We believe in cheap groceries, cooking with high alcohol content beer and free leisure. We hate weak sauces.

…though their homespun beer and cheese activities are lost on me, since I don’t partake in either, I still really really appreciate it…check out their blog.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 4, 2010 | food
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On March 26th, 2010, ANNIE NOVAK OF GROWING CHEFS AND ROOFTOP FARMS…

Annie Novak helping kids with a corn husk craft project at the opening of the Lenape Edible Estate, 2009

…will be joining Will Allen (Growing Power), Scott Stringer (Manhattan Borough President), and myself in a conversation about the possibilities for publicly growing food in the most unlikely of places – on the streets where we live, in the middle of our cities, and in particular, in New York City – at WNYC’s Greene Space on April 8th to celebrate the release of the new expanded edition of “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn” moderated by Leonard Lopate – she also prepared delicious food for the opening of the Lenape Edible Estate: Manhattan last fall – from the produce growing in the garden – which is how I first met this awesome urban farmer. (websites for Rooftop Farms and Growing Chefs)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 26, 2010 | agriculture, food
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On March 10th, 2010, SOUEN…

The Macro Plate at Souen

…is where I am at for lunch (the one at Prince & Sixth Avenue, though the one on 13th Street & University is equally good, but more crowded and less calm) – and if I had my way, where I would be for EVERY meal when I am in New York – and since I am vegan, and don’t eat pasta, bread or even tofu, this place is my food mecca – with really simply prepared macrobiotic dishes of  fresh vegetables and grains, and even though I try to be adventurous, I usually just end up getting the Macro Plate – Hijiki, beans, squash, broccoli, kale, and grain of the day with carrot or Miso sauce – which seems to be I all I ever want or need to eat (I even try to recreate it at home) – here is more info from their website:

Since 1971, Souen has been offering natural organic food to New York diners, with the foremost priority being to serve delicious meals in keeping with good health. We prepare our food simply and naturally, offering you the best quality grains, beans, and produce. No refined, chemicals, preservatives, meat or dairy products are used in our kitchen. We also employ traditional methods of preparation whenever possible to enhance the healthful quality and natural flavor of our food. With the increasing awareness of the connection between food, health and the environment, we continue our consistent effort to maintain and improve upon our high standards and Macrobiotic principles.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 10, 2010 | food
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On March 3rd, 2010, WILL ALLEN OF GROWING POWER…

Will Allen talks about compost with visitors to his urban greenhouse

…will be joining me in conversation on April 7th at Princeton University and on April 8th at WNYC’s Greene Space in New York (along with one or two other exciting participants to be announced shortly) for a conversation on food and cities, to coincide with the release of the expanded edition of the Edible Estates book – for which Will has contributed a wonderful new manifesto and call-to-arms for a food revolution, here is a short excerpt/preview:

My Edible Estates, therefore, are schoolyards and vacant lots, abandoned tracts of brownfield land, any plot of any size and condition that can be used to grow food right in the middle of the community that needs it. It is a daunting prospect, to say the least, yet I am optimistic that I will see examples created in which these food deserts will be turned into oases where, again, at least 10 percent of the community’s food needs will be supplied.  I am optimistic about this not because I believe so strongly in my own abilities, but rather because, to my surprise, the people in those communities have been asking me for this opportunity since the day my journey as a farmer began.

When I was born, my father was a sharecropper, but he wanted to free himself and his large family from that particular form of bondage. He saved enough to buy a small farm in Maryland. His market was the Washington, D.C., area, and it became focused on the large population of Southern blacks who were moving north and settling, people who were used to having fresh produce in their diets but who expected it to be affordable.

I saw firsthand, by working with my hands, the amazing amount of produce that could be grown on just eight acres if the most intensive methods were employed. Later, when I was living in Belgium and playing basketball, I got to know a number of farmers who similarly grew astonishing quantities of food on very small acreages by constantly enriching the soil with organic matter.

Eventually I was drawn back to farming, and in 1993 I bought a small roadside market and garden center on Milwaukee’s impoverished north side. The stand was intended as a market for my own produce but also, and I hoped more importantly, as a place to offer fresher, more healthful food to an undernourished community. As it happened, that tiny two-acre plot, with its miniature storefront and handful of timeworn greenhouses, was the last tract of land within the city of Milwaukee that was still zoned for agriculture. It was almost as if some city planner had forgotten something—or that fate had somehow reserved the place for me. At any rate, I realized that I could do a good deal more at what I was then calling “Will’s Roadside Produce Stand” than just sell vegetables from my farm. For one thing, I could grow more vegetables right there on site, and I proceeded to clear a half-acre bed, improve its soil, and plant it with an assortment of veggies.

(book webpage and Growing Power website)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 3, 2010 | food
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On February 27th, 2010, “HUNGRY CITY: HOW FOOD SHAPES OUR LIVES” BY CAROLYN STEEL…

Hungry City by Carolyn Steel

…is a fascinating book that I just finished:

…about how cities eat. That’s the quick definition. A slightly wordier one might that it’s about the eternal engine driving civilisation. Feeding cities arguably has a greater social and physical impact on us and our planet than anything else we do. Yet few of us in the West are conscious of the process. Food arrives on our plates as if by magic, and we rarely stop to wonder how it might have got there. (book website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 27, 2010 | cities, food
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On February 21st, 2010, THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS MARKET…

famers market carrots

carrots selections at the Hollywood farmers market

…is really overwhelming this morning – which of the ten available varieties of carrots do I want? do I really need five beautiful heads of cauliflower this week? who has the best kale?

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By Fritz Haeg on February 21, 2010 | food
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On February 12th, 2010, GARDEN RESTRICTIONS IN WAYZATA, MN…

Headline from today's Star Tribune about new garden restrictions in Wayzata, MN

…a suburb of my hometown of Minneapolis, is considering an ordinance to limit vegetable, fruit, and herbs in the front yard to 10 square feet – as reported by master gardener Rhonda Fleming Hayes in the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune – I’d love to post a list of other communities with similar restrictions – do you know of any?

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By Fritz Haeg on February 12, 2010 | gardens
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On February 9th, 2010, THE EXPANDED SECOND EDITION OF “EDIBLE ESTATES: ATTACK ON THE FRONT LAWN”…

The cover of the new expanded 2nd edition of "Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn" featuring before and after photos by Leslie Furlong of gardener Clarence Ridgley in his Regional Prototype Garden #6 in Baltimore, Maryland

…arrived in the mail last night – the first advance copy of the new book from Metropolis Books and DAP which will be out in stores by early April – and I am so excited about all of the new content including essays by Will Allen of Growing Power and Eric Sanderson of The Mannahatta Project, chapters on all eight gardens, and new stories from the gardeners in London, Austin, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and New York City. (book webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 9, 2010 | books
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On February 3rd, 2010, THE BROOKLYN EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD

Work AC illustration of P.S. 216 Edible Schoolyard in Brooklyn during fall harvest

…planned for P.S. 216 by Work AC is featured in a story today in Metropolis Magazine’s website including an interview with architects Amale Andaos and Dan Wood.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 3, 2010 | architecture
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On February 1st, 2010, SQUASH SOUP…

Close-up depiction of today's Butternut Squash Soup

…is stewing on the stove – and like my other favorite dishes these days, is primarily about one great fresh local ingredient with minimal preparation and very little else – started with baking halved squash (butternut today) with whole garlic and olive oil, which is then pureed and added to a pot of sauteed onions, which then gets lots of chopped fresh parsley and sage with salt and pepper.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 1, 2010 | food
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On January 18th, 2010, MICHELLE OBAMA…

Michelle Obama on Sesame Street, and bringing a basket of fresh garden produce back to the White House.

…is on my mind, can’t get enough of her, just the sight of her warms my heart, caught the appearance on Iron Chef the other night, but missed her on Sesame Street.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 18, 2010 | food
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On January 16th, 2010, HOMEMADE SWEET POTATO CHIPS…

Before and after views of today's sweet potatoes.

…(is there anything better that comes out of the dirt?) are baking in the oven at the suggestion on the farmer’s market lady that I bought them from this morning, which involved slicing them really thin, covering with a bit of olive oil and salt, spreading them out on a sheet, popping them in the oven to bake for about 15 or 20 minutes – and after getting my first taste, it is my new plan to make them everyday.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 16, 2010 | food
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