Tag: food stands

Posted on by

The Mission Barbeque Grills Generously

The Mission Barbeque - Foodzooka Splat Feature

Barbeque famously brings people together to enjoy hearty feasts made with effort and expertise. As a family-run business, The Mission Barbeque aims to add even more meaning to their skillfully grilled meats as a means to help feed the needy in the local community.

The Mission Barbeque started bringing juicy, smoky, fall-off-the-bone barbeque classics and sides as a new vendor at La Cañada Farmers Market nearly three months ago. Each week, George and Judith Buendia and their helpful children prepare two bountiful batches of slow-roasted meats and dishes: one set to sell at the Saturday farmers market, and another set to give directly to the homeless that same evening.

The Mission Barbeque - Combo plate (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – Combo plate (Foodzooka)

“We cook enough for the sales, and then we make extra for service—for skid row, or the river, or wherever the homeless camps are—and take food out to them,” said Judith. A portion of the proceeds from the market sales pays for the food that the family donates.

On the menu of meats is Texas-style brisket, St. Louis-style pork ribs, and Southern-style pulled pork, which you can order as a combo meal with two sides or buy on their own by the pound. All of the meats are selected and hand-trimmed by George before spending hours and hours in the smoker, absorbing flavors from pecan and oak woods. The final result reflects the amount of patience George devotes to the process as well as the amount of sleep he loses the night before.

“It’s a 12-hour cook a lot of times with the brisket,” he said, which may explain why it’s The Mission Barbeque’s most requested item. The Angus beef brisket is simply rubbed with black pepper and kosher salt and injected with George’s secret mix of juices to ensure the meat is flavorful to its core. As he cuts through the blackened surface, each slice reveals a mark of excellence in the pinkish red ring along its edges. “That’s the smoke ring. That’s the one you’re working for,” he explained.

The Mission Barbeque - Texas style brisket (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – Texas style brisket (Foodzooka)

George coats the ribs and pork meat with rub recipes he developed to infuse flavors of brown sugar, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and other spices overnight. He also adds special final touches in the last hours of grilling, such as a homemade barbeque sauce glaze on the ribs and a spritzing of apple juice on the pulled pork.

All of it cooks inside a smoker grill large enough to feed 200 people. The Buendias had the grill custom built in Atlanta, Georgia and towed it across the country themselves. Then for three years, George strove to excel in the art of pitmastering and find that coveted balance of timing and temperature required to make plump piles of meat.

The Mission Barbeque - St. Louis style ribs (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – St. Louis style ribs (Foodzooka)

“I still see myself as learning, but I take it very seriously,” George said. One particular lesson he had to learn was to stop opening the grill to check on the meat. “Once you can get to where you can leave it alone, just keep the temp right and keep the smoke going, then it’s going to be fine.”

To accompany your choice of meat are the traditional sides. Crisp coleslaw, creamy mac and cheese, velvety baked beans, and fluffy cornbread are all made from scratch in a commercial kitchen in Sunland. Judith puts her 23 years of experience as a baker to good use to craft each item from Southern recipes. Even the barbeque sauces are made in-house. “We’ve had people from the South come up to our booth and give us compliments,” she said.

The Mission Barbeque - Side dishes (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – Side dishes (Foodzooka)

In case you’re finicky about your barbeque, George and Judith are happy to offer sample bites for market goers to try. “A lot of times people are kind of hesitant. They hear that it’s barbeque, but they don’t think it’s real barbeque,” said George. Nevertheless, when the market nears closing time at 1pm, The Mission Barbeque is completely sold out. “There are times when we’re taking everything down and people say, ‘Wait, do you have anything left? Anything? Whatever you have in there, we’ll take it!’”

Like their meals, The Mission Barbeque’s farmers market stand is packed with the essentials and delivers more than expected. Absent is the actual smoker grill, which would be difficult to place, being the size of a small vehicle. But everything else about this tent is pure barbeque delight. The inside is surrounded with food, and the meat is kept dripping hot inside a well-insulated carrier throughout the Saturday event. Foil-covered catering trays keep the side dishes cozy, and a carving station gets its share of marks from George’s slicing skills. Within reaching distance are squeeze bottles of homemade regular or spicy barbeque sauce, along with honey for the cornbread.

“We’ve received nothing but positive feedback. The food—everybody enjoys it. Word is getting around. People are telling their friends. We’re always selling out, pretty much every week,” said George.

The Mission Barbeque - George Judith and Karina Buendia (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – George Judith and Karina Buendia (Foodzooka)

After the market closes on Saturdays, the Buendias return to their Eagle Rock home to drop off supplies and reload the car with more food. The family then spends the evening driving around Skid Row and along the banks of the Los Angeles River, parking near the tents and offering the crowds warm-cooked meals.

“We get this renewed energy,” said Judith. “And the appreciation from all of the people and all of the hearts you touch, it’s priceless.”

George and Judith were inspired to take this approach by other organizations that encourage helping those in need. They had been active with Angelus Temple, a local Foursquare Gospel church, which runs the Dream Center, a nonprofit community outreach center. The church also practices an active approach of giving items directly to people on the streets, such as food, money, clothes, and blankets. These efforts motivated the Buendia family to come up with their own way of contributing to help others, by serving high-quality meals to the homeless.

The Mission Barbeque - Beef burnt ends (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – Beef burnt ends (Foodzooka)

“To give people a real hot meal, they appreciate it,” George said. “And not only because it’s food, but because you took the time to give them something that they know you could sell at a restaurant.”

In the near future, the family expects to take on catering gigs. And you can currently request special items, such as beef burnt ends, which The Mission Barbeque will bring to the La Cañada Farmers Market. George and Judith ultimately want to take their passion as far as a brick and mortar restaurant that might allow them to feed thousands of homeless each week. But for now, as their slogan states, The Mission Barbeque is “Smoking hunger one meal at a time.”

The Mission Barbeque - La Cañada Farmers Market (Foodzooka)
The Mission Barbeque – La Cañada Farmers Market (Foodzooka)

For more info and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find The Mission Barbeque website and follow them on social media.

Posted on by

Big Grandma’s Kitchen Gives Pupusas & Yuca Fries A Crisp Edge Around Altadena

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Foodzooka Splat Feature

At the heart of Big Grandma’s Kitchen is a pupusa recipe that’s made its way from El Salvador to Los Angeles through three generations of grandmas. Now in the hands of Chef Guillermo Lima, the family recipe for these savory stuffed corncakes has ventured beyond the home kitchen to local farmers markets and events.

“This recipe comes from my great-grandmothers. It goes way back,” said Chef Lima while manning his regular station at the Altadena Farmers Market. “I was lucky enough that my mom was able to show me, and we’re very happy to pass it on to my daughter Sophia. The name Big Grandma’s, it’s her grandma.”

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Pupusas and ensalada drink (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Pupusas and ensalada drink (Foodzooka)

Though Chef Lima has added some of his own twists, his mother Sylvia still gives the food her stamp of approval, having once managed a pupuseria with her sister in El Salvador where they made everything from scratch.

For Big Grandma’s Kitchen, making pupusas from scratch involves a lot of time and multitasking to prepare each element, from the masa dough to the variety of fillings: cheese, asada, chorizo, beans, spinach, or jalapeno. Popular specialty pupusas include the “loroco,” which combines cheese with an edible green flower bud from Central America, and the “revueltas,” stuffed with pork, beans, and cheese.

“It’s a whole 8 to 10-hour process that I do with just the beans. I soak them, I cook them, boil them, grind them down. The masa, we let sit for a couple of hours,” Chef Lima described. “They’re so hard to make. And it takes a lot of practice to make them round, to stuff them.”

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Pupusa ingredients (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Pupusa ingredients (Foodzooka)

While pupusas can often look uniformly the same with fillings well hidden in a thick blanket of masa, Big Grandma’s Kitchen doesn’t shy away from showing off what’s inside. Chef Lima intentionally uses less masa, so that each pupusa reveals the light and dark shades of its contents, some of which peek out through the edges after being flipped over and over on a flat iron griddle.

“When I ball them up, I take off the excess masa. That way when you bite it, all you get is flavor,” he explained. “That’s my view of my pupusas. That’s what I like. That’s why I’m very picky of how I do my pupusas.”

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Pupusas Revueltas, Spinach and Cheese (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Pupusas Revueltas, Spinach and Cheese (Foodzooka)

Inside his tented makeshift kitchen at the farmers market, Chef Lima applies the skills he learned both from his mother and from his years working on food trucks and in restaurants. He deftly assembles and shapes each pupusa to order, watching over the grill and flipping the pupusas with precise timing to prevent the masa from cracking. His dexterity and focus while cooking has fittingly earned him the nickname Pupusa Ninja.

As his sister, Syl Lima, manages the orders that come in, she marvels at how he hustles behind the scenes. “He’s got magic hands. He’s really good at what he does, and he loves it. And it shows in the food,” she said.

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Chef Lima grilling pupusas (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Chef Lima grilling pupusas (Foodzooka)

Making the pupusas to order ensures that you experience them at their best, straight off the grill—hot and crispy on the outside, steamy and gooey on the inside. The final dish is finished with a tangy topping of curtido, a pickled slaw which Chef Lima makes with purple cabbage instead of the traditional white cabbage for a vibrant visual contrast. A mild, red tomato salsa made from scratch adds another splash of flavor. “Traditionally, Salvadorian food is not spicy at all. That way the kids can enjoy it, and everybody can eat it,” he said.

Chef Lima’s flair for Salvadoran cuisine doesn’t stop at the pupusas. An order of Yuca Con Chicharron is a surprisingly substantial plate loaded with plump wedges of fried yuca and meaty chunks of fried pork. He boils the tropical tubers beforehand and fries them to order, giving the yuca a much fluffier inner texture than french fries, with an extra crispy outer layer.

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Yuca con Chicharron (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Yuca con Chicharron (Foodzooka)

Between savory bites of pupusa or yuca, you can enjoy refreshing sips from a cup of ensalada, a Salvadoran fruit juice made from chopped pineapple, mango, and apples. The diced fruits floating in your cup hint at the freshness and natural sweetness of the housemade beverage.

For a desserty course, the Platanos Fritos is an addictive dish of plantains, slowly caramelized to bring out the mild flavor of bananas with starchy, crisped edges. Big Grandma’s Kitchen offers two dipping sauces, a savory cream and a cinnamon drizzle, which Chef Lima specifically made to cater to the tastes of picky kids, “Because if the kids are going to eat it, the parents are going to eat it.”

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Platanos with cinnamon drizzle (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Platanos with cinnamon drizzle (Foodzooka)

Though Big Grandma’s Kitchen started vending regularly at public venues this past summer, the business first began in 2017 out of Chef Lima’s home kitchen. Initially, friends and family would come to his house for pupusa lunches every other Sunday afternoon. As word spread about the home cooked meals, nearby foodies started joining the weekend gatherings, which soon turned the Lima’s house into weekly a pop-up eatery. Now that they’ve successfully moved the business out of their house, Chef Lima aims to book larger events like the LA Food Fest, which they attended this year at Santa Anita Park.

“It’s been a great journey since we started. People have been showing us amazing love, a lot of support, a lot of good vibes,” Chef Lima said. “This is not a job for me. It’s a passion. It’s a great feeling, and that’s what keeps me going.”

Big Grandma's Kitchen - Altadena Farmers Market (Foodzooka)
Big Grandma’s Kitchen – Altadena Farmers Market (Foodzooka)

You can find Big Grandma’s Kitchen in an extra wide booth at the Altadena Farmers Market on Wednesdays, where a towering sail waving the word “pupusas” will guide you to their spot.   They also regularly attend the monthly Latino market event Molcajete Dominguero in downtown Los Angeles. For updates on upcoming special engagements and menu items, click their Foodzooka profile below and follow Big Grandma’s Kitchen on social media.

Posted on by

Cobblermania Is Just Getting Warmed Up

Cobblermania - Foodzooka Splat Feature

When you’re compelled to forage through farmers markets for freshly made cobblers, you know you’ve got Cobblermania. Shae Seward, creator and owner of Cobblermania, has been fueling cobbler fanaticism at Los Angeles farmers markets and food festivals for over 10 years.

If you add up all the seasonal variations and multi-fruit combinations, Shae cobbles together over 70 different cobbler flavors throughout the year. Some popular options include Peach, Mango-Blueberry-Peach, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Sweet Potato, White Nectarine-Blackberry-Apple, Fig-Pear, Pumpkin, and Sweet Potato-Pumpkin with Candied Pecans. Even if the top picks are sold out by the time you get to a Cobblermania stand, the mere freshness of any random choice could win you over to flavors you hadn’t considered before.

“People have told me, ‘I can’t believe I like your cobblers, because I normally don’t like cooked fruit.’ But that’s because we don’t overcook our fruit,” Shae said. “I do it all by hand. The fruit is hand-peeled, the sweet potato is hand-peeled, cooked, then strained and baked.”

Cobblermania - Freshly baked cobblers (Foodzooka)
Cobblermania – Freshly baked cobblers (Foodzooka)

Shae shops for fresh produce daily, buying some items at the farmers markets she attends, such as green and black figs, plums, and apriums from Arnett Farms and mango flavored nectarines from Ken’s Top Notch Produce. But the secret to Cobblermania comes from a family recipe Shae learned directly from her great aunt, whose peach cobbler was always her favorite. “Auntie Roi baked with fresh fruit when she made cobblers and apricot turnovers, so I was used to fresh. I’m a stickler for fresh,” she said.

Because of her sensitivities to sweets, Shae’s goal with Cobblermania is to take a more healthful approach to creating nostalgic desserts. Since she’s allergic to eggs and never liked milk, she makes cobblers without eggs, milk, or butter, so they’re all dairy-free and entirely vegan friendly. And since sugar makes her feel sluggish, Shae instead uses a light organic agave, which is flavor neutral, adding a mild sweetness without overriding the natural flavors of the fruits. ”I want everything to taste like what it is, not like a molasses flavored agave. I want you to taste the actual fruits—like white nectarines, guavas, pluots, blackberries, and apples,” she explained.

Cobblermania - Blackberry cobbler (Foodzooka)
Cobblermania – Blackberry cobbler (Foodzooka)

For Cobblermania’s signature crust, a layer of pastry covers the filling and lines the bottom of the pan. It has a tender, flaky quality that’s neither too crumbly nor too doughy. Shae also offers a gluten-free crust made with rice flour instead of white flour. Loaded with chunky ripe fruits, the cobblers come out of the oven looking truly homemade with lumpy golden tops and syrupy juices seeping through the edges. To Shae, this is what distinguishes her cobblers from neatly preened pies, but it’s okay if you want to call them pies.

The heart-shaped opening on each cobbler allows steam to escape during baking, with the offset pastry cutout adding a decorative and biscuity bonus layer to the top crust. This particular embellishment caught on several years ago when Shae switched from cutting a circular hole to a heart for Valentine’s Day and sold out of the entire batch of themed cobblers. “The following week, I was back to doing a circle,” she said, “and people returned asking ‘Where are the ones with the hearts?’” Since then, Shae has always put her heart into the crusts, though she may surprise you with other fun cutouts for special occasions, such as bunnies for Easter, or bats over the moon for Halloween.

Cobblermania - Peach Strawberry cobbler (Foodzooka)
Cobblermania – Peach Strawberry cobbler (Foodzooka)

You can feel all the hands-on work and thought Shae puts into making her fresh cobblers when you pick one up at a Cobblermania stand and find that it’s still warm. She bakes the batches of cobblers hours before each farmers market appearance, even the ones that open at 8am. For those markets, she starts work at 2am. “I tried baking the day before, but I didn’t like the texture,” Shae said. “When you buy from me, it has to be fresh-fresh.”

The 7-inch width of each cobbler looks larger than a single serving and may technically be big enough to share. But to avoid the regret of giving up a piece, Shae recommends, “If you plan on sharing it, taste it first.” Experienced customers have been known to buy two—one to share, and one for themselves, often finishing a whole cobbler in one sitting. This may be why the Cobblermania banner warns that they’re “So good you’ll (want to) slap somebody!”

Cobblermania - Farmers market banner (Foodzoka)
Cobblermania – Farmers market banner (Foodzoka)

Cobblermania turned out to be not just a fun name for Shae’s bakery, but a reflection of its loyal customer base. Shae came up with the name when a friend told her she had turned her into a cobbler fiend. As the business has grown, Shae’s cobblers—along with her exuberant and welcoming personality—have earned a devoted following of self-proclaimed Cobblermaniacs. You may even spot a few celebrity Cobblermaniacs at her booth, such as Congresswoman Maxine Waters, actress Marla Gibbs, Los Angeles Laker John Salley, “Weird Al” Yankovic, legendary model Lauren Hutton, “Byrd” the bailiff from Judge Judy, Tony Todd from the cult classic horror film Candyman, and more.

Shae has gotten to know many of her repeat customers, forming friendships that have lasted for years. Regulars have invited her to parties and family events not just for catering, but as a personal guest. For instance, Chef Tanya Petrovna, the founder of Native Foods, approached Shae to take part in vegan pop-ups at her place in Palm Springs. And at the recent wedding between Jasmine White and Tilmon Keaton, Shae even received surprise recognition when she heard them state in their vows, “I promise never to eat Cobblermania without you.”

“To me, Cobblermaniacs are as important as the cobblers. I focus on both of them. They are both growing my business,” said Shae.

Cobblermania (courtesy) - Cobblermaniac customers
Cobblermania (courtesy) – Cobblermaniac customers

Back when Shae asked her Auntie Roi to teach her how to make peach cobbler, she had no designs on starting a cobbler business. Shae still fondly recalls the first cobbler she made for her great aunt: “She ate it in silence. She was standing up and eating it, and she didn’t say a word. So I thought, oh my God, I messed it up. But then she sat down and she started scraping the bowl, and she said, ‘You have outdone me.’ And she never made it again, ever.”

From then on, Shae made the cobblers for family dinners, holidays, and potlucks, soon receiving requests to make them for friends and parties. As orders grew more frequent, cobblers became enough of a business for Shae to leave her career as a medical transcriptionist and become a regular vendor at local farmers markets. Cobblermania now covers four corners of Los Angeles at the Hollywood (Sundays), Culver City (Tuesdays), MLK Hospital (Wednesdays), and Torrance (Saturdays) farmers markets. You’ll also find Cobblermania cobblers at the annual vegan food gathering VegFest LA held in Van Nuys, as well as other local annual events and festivals.

Cobblermania - VegFest LA booth (Foodzooka)
Cobblermania – VegFest LA booth (Foodzooka)

Now, with Cobblermaniacs coming from all over, Shae has her sights set on expanding to a handful of Cobblermania storefronts. She envisions the shops as distribution spots that would recreate the look and feel of her farmers market booths. To ensure consistent quality and taste, the cobblers will be baked at a centralized commercial kitchen. Having run Cobblermania on her own since the beginning, she also now sees potential in strategic partnering with other complementary businesses as an opportunity to pool resources and grow together.

“Cobblermania is very popular and I work very hard. There’s so much more to it than just the baking,” Shae said. “I love my company, but it’s not that I just love baking. I like my customers, and they’re happy to see me. This is a happy business, and I love what I do.”

Cobblermania - Shae Seward and Kisha Boyd (Foodzooka)
Cobblermania – Shae Seward and Kisha Boyd (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to view Shae’s farmers market schedule and follow Cobblermania on social media.

Posted on by

Energy Bee Farm Hums Through 50 Years Of Raw Honey Busyness

Energy Bee Farm - Foodzooka Splat Feature

As you hover through the farmers market, the yellow banner at the Energy Bee Farm stand will lead you to a sweet discovery. Beekeeper Jeff Erb and his family have kept busy collecting and selling prized batches of pure hive-to-jar honey across Los Angeles area markets for more than half a century.

It’s a sticky business procuring raw honey the old fashioned way. Energy Bee Farm has always been a family business, started by Jeff’s father Gilbert Erb in 1968. Since then, three generations have worked to harvest honey from wildflower fields and orchards throughout Central and Southern California, hauling it to their facility in Inglewood, where it’s strained and packaged to be sold at 14 local farmers markets.

Energy Bee Farm - West LA Farmers Market (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – West LA Farmers Market (Foodzooka)

These days, Energy Bee Farm has between 3,000 and 6,000 active honey bee hives in locations such as Porterville, Lindsay, Ivanhoe, Visalia, and the Santa Monica Mountains. The trek to tend to so many far-flung hives pays off with the distinctive varieties of honey that come from each area. Eyeing the jars on Energy Bee Farm’s table, you’ll see various shades of gold, from bright amber to coffee brown. Simply put: different flowers create honeys of different colors and flavors, depending on the nectar source. Even the rate at which each honey naturally crystallizes can vary based on the traits of the nectar and the temperature where it’s stored.

The varieties currently available from Energy Bee Farm include avocado, sage, buckwheat, orange blossom, and wildflower. Orange blossom honey tastes expectedly citrusy like oranges, while avocado honey tastes nothing like avocados. It’s less sweet with a dark color like molasses, revealing a higher mineral content that occurs in seasons with less rainfall. The sage honey is mild and floral, buckwheat is strong and spicy, and the somewhat fruity flavor of wildflower can change between seasons.

“In drought years, you get a mishmash of everything,” Jeff described. “Because there’s so little rain, there isn’t any one dominant flower that’s producing nectar throughout the season, and then you get wildflower honey.”

Energy Bee Farm - Honey sticks and jars (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Honey sticks and jars (Foodzooka)

Raw, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey is sought after for its flavors and health benefits. In this natural state, it contains minerals, vitamin-rich pollen, antioxidants, and antibacterial agents, all of which are compromised in mass-produced honeys that are flash heated during the packaging process. At high temperatures, honey takes on the consistency of water so it can be blasted through a filtration system and shot into jars and bottles with the speed of automation.

Energy Bee Farm takes a less hurried approach to honey extraction and packaging. First, a specialized machine slices off the top layer of the honeycomb to open up the cells, and any cells missed are scratched open by hand with a pointed tool. Jeff then places the honeycombs in a spinning device that tosses the honey out of the cells without destroying the combs. To strain unwanted particles from the collected honey, it flows through a series of gradually smaller holes and then a cloth. The strained honey is pumped slowly into barrels, allowed to settle, then poured into jars or bear-shaped squeeze bottles and labeled by hand.

“You’re not cooking it, and you’re not filtering it. And I’m handling it in a way that a large producer packer would tell me is not efficient,” Jeff said.

Energy Bee Farm - Honey bear squeeze bottles (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Honey bear squeeze bottles (Foodzooka)

At the farmers market, a few sticky jars are telltale signs of Energy Bee Farm’s manual packaging process. In the heat of the sun, the honey will expand and seep out from jars that were overfilled. Should you happen to pick up a sticky jar, Jeff may offer you an amusing deal, saying, “All the honey on the outside of the jar is free!”

Honey sold at the farmers markets range from 8-ounce sample sizes to 64-ounce jugs that are typically purchased by restaurants. Energy Bee Farm also sells honey sticks, crystallized honey, honeycombs, bee pollen, bee wax, and royal jelly. Sometimes called “bee milk,” royal jelly is a creamy substance that bees make to feed the larvae and the queen. Royal jelly has gotten buzz as a superfood that helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation, and treat digestive disorders, among many other claims.

Energy Bee Farm - Royal Jelly (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Royal Jelly (Foodzooka)

At age 61, Jeff still eats honey every day and occasionally gets stung when working with the honeycombs. This begs the question: why would someone want to work amongst bees?

“They call it bee fever,” Jeff explained. He caught it at age 9 when his older brother Ron showed him a hive and pointed out the queen. “From the minute he opened the hive, it was absolutely fascinating. A bee stung me on the finger and I thought, ‘That doesn’t hurt that bad. I can deal with this.’”

Whenever Jeff visits the hives, he inspects the conditions of each colony, never forgetting that bees are essentially livestock. He’s careful to leave plenty of honeycombs intact for the bees to feed. When conditions like winter or drought inhibit the growth of flowers with nectar, the bees may need supplemental feedings of sugar to ensure that the colonies can survive. Vigilance is crucial since bees are also susceptible to parasites, diseases, chemicals, and other threats that can kill off thousands at a time and spread to nearby colonies.

“The beekeepers who pay the closest attention to their bees are the ones who are the best beekeepers,” Jeff said.

Energy Bee Farm - Honeycombs (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Honeycombs (Foodzooka)

Underscoring the vital role of bees in California’s agricultural ecosystem, Energy Bee Farm is often called upon to bring their hives to orchards and crops in need of pollination. This work usually doesn’t make any honey since some flowers don’t produce enough nectar or pollen to sustain the bees. “Like apples. You never see apple honey,” Jeff explained. “Every year, thousands of bees get moved into the almonds, and yet you never see almond honey.”

For Energy Bee Farm to secure so many yards for the hives, it has taken decades of networking with property owners, farmers, and even national forest rangers. The hives often yield honey during the hottest months of the year—an uncomfortable situation for beekeepers who are covered from head to toe in protective suits that can add an extra 25 degrees. Puffs of smoke are used to pacify the bees while removing the honeycomb frames, which are exponentially heavier when filled with honey. Needless to say, Jeff has endured his share of heat exhaustion episodes in the course of his workdays.

“It is the most laborious task I ever found in my life,” Jeff said of beekeeping, “and I’ve worked in a lot of other laborious jobs.” Jeff used to do the heavy bee work with his brother while their father managed the farmers markets. Now that Ron has retired, Jeff works the markets while his nephew Dave Sample does the heavy lifting. Dave came into the bee business by marriage to Jeff’s niece Sarah, who is now building a retail line called True Gold Honey.

Energy Bee Farm - Beekeeper Jeff Erb (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Beekeeper Jeff Erb (Foodzooka)

Jeff can be found weekly at the Westchester Farmers Market on Wednesdays and the West Los Angeles Farmers Market on Sundays, which he likes to say is his day off. Quoting his older brother, Jeff declared, “‘If you do what you like, you like what you do.’ And I like what I do.”

You can also find Energy Bee Farm at the following markets: Houghton Park (Mon), Manhattan Beach (Tues), Santa Monica Downtown (Wed), Huntington Park (Wed), Bixby Knolls (Thurs), Downtown Long Beach (Fri), Cerritos (Sat), Torrance (Sat), Buena Park (Sat), Long Beach Marina (Sun), Santa Monica Main St. (Sun), and Encino (Sun).

Energy Bee Farm - Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)
Energy Bee Farm – Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)

For more information, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the farmers market schedule for  Energy Bee Farm and follow them on Instagram.

Posted on by

Squadros Hint At The Many Sides Of East Side Eats LA

East Side Eats LA - Foodzooka Splat Feature

East Side Eats LA is out to corner the market with savory squared bundles that are part empanada, part samosa, and uniquely named “Squadros.”  These hybrid meal pockets packed with farm fresh fillings are a new creation from East Side Eats LA co-owners and chefs, Jose Vazquez and Shruti Patel.

“The entire idea behind Squadros is that it’s a complete fusion of Latin and Indian cuisine,” said Shruti. “I’m Indian and he’s Latin, so we combined our two favorite things to eat—samosas and empanadas—and came up with something on our own.”

East Side Eats LA - Fried Squadros (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – Fried Squadros (Foodzooka)

Squadros are made with zesty fillings of chorizo, chicken, or vegetables wrapped in a thin layer of pastry and formed into sensibly squarish shapes before taking a dip in the fryer. The result is a baffling balance of light crispness, satisfying heft, and bold flavors.

“As soon as people try it, they dig it,” Jose said. “It’s something completely new that no one else is doing.”

East Side Eats LA currently serves Squadros dishes at the City Hall Farmers Market (Thursdays) in downtown LA and the Torrance Farmers Market (Tuesdays). Every plate comes with three Squadros, each over three inches wide, cut in halves and splashed with flavorful housemade sauces, ensuring that you’re in for a full-fledged meal: fork required.

East Side Eats LA - Squadros=Samosas+Empanadas (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – Squadros=Samosas+Empanadas (Foodzooka)

On the El Loco plate, Squadros are filled with housemade chorizo and potato, enhanced by Latin-skewed flavors of adobo aioli, crema Mexicana and a sprinkling of queso fresco. The Para Los Birds plate has Squadros stuffed with spiced organic ground chicken breast akin to Indian keema, drizzled with crema Mexicana and a rich, tangy blueberry barbecue sauce inspired by the flavors of tamarind chutney.  El Classico is the most Indian-influenced Squadros plate, packed with seasonal organic vegetables and topped with the blueberry barbecue and a mint-cilantro aioli. “We also add a tajin yogurt because there’s so much yogurt in Indian food.” said Shruti.

A pico de gallo mix of freshly diced cucumbers and tomatoes adds color to both the chicken and vegetable plates, and all Squadros dishes are garnished with cilantro and accompanied by a side of cabbage slaw. The fresh vegetables, herbs, and produce used to make Squadros are often sourced directly from other vendors in attendance at the same farmers markets, including C&L Farms, Blessed Farms, Thao Farms, and JCK Farms.

East Side Eats LA - El Classico Squadros (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – El Classico Squadros (Foodzooka)

As a fusion refreshment, East Side Eats offers a jamaica (hah-MY-kah) agua fresca made with hibiscus flowers and Indian black tea, which adds a caffeine kick for midday lunch crowds at the market. Its deep red cloudy color comes from using fresh blossoms, giving it a fruitier depth of flavor that stands apart from the bright pink versions made with dried and processed flowers. East Side Eats gets these hibiscus flowers and several other specialty ingredients for Squadros from small local vendors at traditional Mexican markets in East Los Angeles.

“A lot of our vendors come from East LA so that we’re always giving back to the community,” Shruti explained.

East Side Eats LA - Jamaica Black Tea (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – Jamaica Black Tea (Foodzooka)

For catering gigs and pop-up events, Shruti and Jose use East LA panaderias, tortillerias, goods from Homeboy Bakery, and small shops based in El Mercadito de La Primera. They also volunteer their time at the LA Kitchen culinary job training center, the East Los Angeles Women’s Center, the Downtown Women’s Center, and the St. Joseph Center.

With Jose hailing from Boyle Heights and Shruti growing up in Diamond Bar, both chefs are personally tied to the Eastern area. They first met as classmates at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena and worked together in boutique catering before building separate careers at noteworthy fine dining restaurants and high-end catering houses on the Westside. All the while, they continued to cross paths and cook up culinary schemes, taking inspiration from their Eastside upbringings until they finally teamed up full-time on East Side Eats LA in January.

“With our kind of background in this industry, we’ve been very fortunate to travel the world. As we get older, all we want to do is get back and make sure that our roots are known,” Jose said. “Foodwise, it seems that we’re very forgotten on the Eastside. And we want to bring to light that we do it just as well on the East side as the West.”

East Side Eats LA (courtesy) - Concha ice cream sandwiches
East Side Eats LA (courtesy) – Concha ice cream sandwiches

While your first taste of East Side Eats may be from a Squadros stand at the farmers market, that’s only a small glimpse into their culinary capabilities. Given their combined resumes, Shruti and Jose shine at customizing both casual and formal menus for catered events, ranging from small in-home parties to large, illustrious celebrations such as the Oscars and Golden Globes. Drawing from this breadth of experience, they’re able to take a meticulous yet creative approach to any catering request.

“We like drawing people in based on Squadros and then introducing them to the idea that we do many more things,” Shruti said.

East Side Eats LA (courtesy) - Carrot rice pudding chickpea cakes with curry chicken salad
East Side Eats LA (courtesy) – Carrot rice pudding chickpea cakes with curry chicken salad

In an extreme demonstration of this versatility, Jose and Shruti competed as a team on the Cooking Channel show Farmers’ Market Flip, where they scrambled to impress judges with impromptu dishes made from available farmers market ingredients. They ultimately won the episode with an improvised dish of kettle-corn-crusted chicken tenders and a citrus salad.

“We try to pride ourselves on being a jack of all trades. On our off time, we’re cooking new things, and we’re trying new things to continually build our knowledge of what food can be and how to pair things together,” Jose said. “It’s always fun to be able to offer what the clients want. We can make it happen at the end of the day.”

East Side Eats LA - Chefs Jose Vazquez and Shruti Patel (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – Chefs Jose Vazquez and Shruti Patel (Foodzooka)

Shruti and Jose also collaborate on a pop-up series, Rangoli Food Through Color, which specializes in Indian-influenced cuisine. Between the farmers markets, catering events, and pop-ups, the mounting schedule for Jose and Shruti is a testament to their unfettered enthusiasm for making food. “In our culinary class, our teachers told us, ‘You guys are going to make a name for yourselves,’” Shruti recalled. “And that’s been something that we’ve always taken with us.”

“The most important thing to us when we cook together, is the fact that I know she’ll always stand alongside me, and I’ll always stand alongside her,” Jose added.

East Side Eats LA - City Hall Farmers Market (Foodzooka)
East Side Eats LA – City Hall Farmers Market (Foodzooka)

For updates and more info, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the East Side Eats LA website and follow them on social media.  

Posted on by

Fried Out Dishes Out Fries…With A Side Of Burgers

Fried Out - Foodzooka Splat Feature

When a side of french fries commands more cravings than most main entrees, it may be up for a promotion. Fried Out has set out to give fries an upgrade from finger food to forkworthy meal, topped with specialty sauces and locally sourced ingredients.

“Many of our fries are entree inspired and include fresh produce and homemade sauces, which provides the feeling of eating a wholesome, home cooked meal,” said Fried Out owner Priscilla Jaramillo.

Fried Out (courtesy) - Fries with beef
Fried Out (courtesy) – Fries with beef

By using freshly cut organic potatoes fried in non-GMO rice bran oil, Priscilla’s artisan approach puts a more mindful perspective on fries as a comfort food, leaning on the natural flavors and inherent nutrients of quality ingredients.

“Customers are surprised to find how well balanced a plate of fried potatoes can be in terms of flavor and nutrition,” she said. “Good ingredients can certainly make all the difference!”

The potatoes are cut to a thickness of about half an inch and cooked until the fries attain a light fluffiness inside their crispy golden edges. Each seasoned bite releases a mouthful of silky starch and steam, without the greasiness or heaviness you’d expect from a plateful of fried potatoes.

Fried Out (courtesy) - Artisanal fries
Fried Out (courtesy) – Artisanal fries

The Lomo Saltado speaks to the beefed up nourishment Fried Out seeks to provide. It features ribeye steak, red onions, and grape tomatoes tossed in a hot wok along with garlic, ginger and soy sauce. A scoop of spicy aji verde also melds into the mix. Altogether, these ingredients combine into a singular characteristic flavor that soaks into a bed of fries. In the vegan version of this stir-fried marvel, plump portabella mushrooms replace the steak.

“When I was 17, I tried lomo saltado for the first time and instantly fell in love with the food and Peruvian culture,” Priscilla said. “One of my best friends is a chef from Lima who taught me how to prepare the dish.”

Fried Out - Lomo Saltado (Foodzooka)
Fried Out – Lomo Saltado (Foodzooka)

Taking a distinctly different direction are the Maple Bacon Sweet Potato fries. These seasoned sweet potatoes are treated to a glaze of maple syrup and topped with chewy applewood smoked bacon and garlic aioli. “I am a big fan of sweet and savory combinations,” said Priscilla, declaring it as one of her favorites.

For the White Cheddar Truffle fries, Priscilla’s gluten-free cheese sauce uses raw white cheddar and a high quality imported truffle oil. Other dish varieties include Avocado Fries topped with guacamole and chimichurri sauce, Bacon Garlic with parmesan and chimichurri sauce, and Garlic Parmesan with chimichurri sauce. Vegan Cheese Fries are also available with soy-free vegan cheese sauce.

Fried Out (courtesy) - Avocado Fries
Fried Out (courtesy) – Avocado Fries

And where there are fries, there must be burgers, right? Though burgers are a fairly recent addition to the menu, they were a logical extension of the Fried Out lineup, with more housemade fixings. The Garlic Burger borrows the chimichurri sauce from the fries, with a kick of garlic spread and marinated tomatoes. The Truffle Burger shares the white cheddar sauce with a truffle aioli, cooked onions, and arugula. The Firehouse Burger comes with firehouse jack cheese and green chile sauce with spicy aioli. The Classic Burger has cheddar cheese and caramelized onions on a layer of butter lettuce.

“I have a lot of experience making burgers, and I wanted to offer a quality burger using locally sourced grassfed beef,” said Priscilla. Fried Out uses 100% organic beef from Novy Ranches, a family-owned operation in Northern California.

Fried Out also makes a Vegan Cheese Burger from a house recipe, which includes oats and power greens without soy or gluten. The accompanying cheese sauce uses vegan ingredients from the Follow Your Heart market located in Canoga Park.

Fried Out - Vegan Cheese Burger (Foodzooka)
Fried Out – Vegan Cheese Burger (Foodzooka)

You can try any or all of these dishes by visiting the Fried Out food stand on Sundays at the Melrose Trading Post. And if the outdoor setting makes you thirsty, you’ll also find several fresh lemonade choices, all made in-house from seasonal ingredients. Some of the flavors include blood orange, mint limeade strawberry, and lavender lemonade made with flowers picked from Priscilla’s own lavender plants.

At special events and pop-ups, you might find other items that aren’t on the regular Fried Out menu, such as fried ice cream, which gives a frozen scoop a quick dip in the fryer with the protection of a doughy outer layer. A vegan version of the dessert uses donuts from Donut Friend.

Fried Out - Melrose Trading Post booth (Foodzooka)
Fried Out – Melrose Trading Post booth (Foodzooka)

In addition to their regular Sunday spot at the Melrose Trading Post in the Fairfax High School parking lot, Fried Out offers catering and has continued to appear at events throughout Southern California for over two years. Also, stay tuned for a regular pop-up location in the works. Click their Foodzooka profile below to follow updates on the Fried Out website and on social media.

Posted on by

Bulle Bakery Kneads To Bring Swedish Buns To LA

Bulle Bakery - Foodzooka Splat Feature

In characteristic Swedish style, the bulle is a pastry that seems almost complex in its simplicity. For Bulle Bakery, the art lies in creating a distinctive doughy texture with an addictive balance of mild sweetness and spice.

Usually shaped in braids or rolls, these pastries are an inseparable part of the daily coffee break in Sweden known as “fika.” In the afternoon, a bulle is ritually consumed with a strong cup of Swedish coffee.

“Almost every office in Sweden does this. People do it on the weekends, too, with friends and family,” says Sarah Reich, a Swedish native who started Bulle Bakery with her husband Ezra.

Bulle Bakery - Cinnamon Bullar (Elina Sundqvist)
Bulle Bakery – Cinnamon Bullar (Elina Sundqvist)

In their quest to introduce bulle to the US, the couple began catering out of a commercial kitchen in Marina del Rey in December. They were immediately slammed with Christmas orders from the local Swedish population.

“I got the idea for the business just from craving bulle myself,” said Ezra, a well-traveled New Yorker who has visited Sweden many times. He notes that most cafes there offer several varieties of bulle. Though Swedish furniture megastore IKEA sells a frosted covered cinnamon roll, they’re just not the same for bulle purists.

“I think you can tell that ours are made from scratch with really good ingredients,” said Sarah.

Bulle Bakery (courtesy) - Cinnamon and Cardamom Bullar
Bulle Bakery (courtesy) – Cinnamon and Cardamom Bullar

For the Reichs, artisanal entrepreneurship sprang from their commitment to bake bullar the right way. While Sarah had been making them since childhood, entering into the LA food industry took some research. They wanted to find local, high quality ingredients—such as the flour, butter, and yeast—that were as similar as possible to those found in Europe. Only the pearl sugar and the vanilla sugar are imported Swedish products that they buy from a local source.

Achieving the look is the easy part, according to Ezra. But to truly nail the thing that defines the bun, the dough must be thick and stretchy. Part of the solution was to dedicate four hours to the entire process, much of that time spent letting the yeast repeatedly sit and rise.

“So many Swedish people immediately try to know the secret,” said Ezra, who will only reveal that it took several months of experimentation to finalize the recipe.

Bulle Bakery (courtesy) - Cardamom Bullar
Bulle Bakery (courtesy) – Cardamom Bullar

The ultimate test was the approval of the local Swedish community. Bulle Bakery does private orders for many companies and individuals including weekly shipments to the Hollywood offices of Absolut Elyx Vodka, a Swedish company. And on Fridays and Saturdays, Bulle Bakery sells a few batches from home furnishings boutique Huset on Abbot Kinney Blvd., which sees a steady stream of tourists from Scandinavia.

“They’ve actually said ours tastes better,” said Ezra.

Bulle Bakery (courtesy) - Available at Huset in Venice
Bulle Bakery (courtesy) – Available at Huset in Venice

Customers trying the buns for the first time say they prefer the bulle over a cinnamon roll because it’s not as sugary, and they appreciate the mixture of savory and sweet flavors, especially in the cardamom bulle. The soft chewiness of the pastry also feels more substantial as a snack.

“It will make you satisfied, like you just had a bagel,” Ezra said.

Bulle Bakery offers two main flavors: cardamom and cinnamon. They also make a vanilla, and in accordance with Swedish Christmas tradition, they offer a saffron bun during the holidays. The bullar are priced at $5 each, and minimum orders of 10 buns can be placed by emailing Bulle Bakery or calling 310-227-2099. Orders can be picked up in Marina del Rey or delivered to your location for a fee.

Bulle Bakery - Saffron bullar (Foodzooka)
Bulle Bakery – Saffron bullar (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates on Bulle Bakery, click the Foodzooka profile below to find their website and follow them on social media.

Posted on by

Better Try The Butter From Achadinha Cheese Co.

Achadinha Cheese Company - Foodzooka Splat Feature

This may sound cheesy, but something tasty is spreading across local farmers markets. In recent months, Achadinha Cheese Company has been churning out a blend of butter that begs the question posed on their sandwich board, “Who doesn’t ❤ butter?”

Achadinha’s handmade cultured butter is a blend of cow and goat milk—a combination that achieves a velvety richness of flavor so unique that you may be tempted to eat it by itself.

Achadinha Cheese Company - Farmers market butter display (Foodzooka)
Achadinha Cheese Company – Farmers market butter display (Foodzooka)

“Our butter has taken off quite well, but it’s the most labor-intensive thing we have,” said Donna Pacheco, who runs the dairy farm with her husband Jim and their four grown children in Petaluma, California.

The Pachecos are the third and fourth generations to carry on the family’s dairy farming tradition, which began with Jim’s grandfathers in the Achadinha area of the Portuguese Azores. Jim’s parents settled the ranch in Petaluma in 1969.

Achadinha Cheese Company makes most of its dairy products with a signature mixture of cow and goat milk, and much of the work is done by hand. Donna explains that the creaminess of the blend comes from the cows and the flavor comes from the goats.

Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) - Dairy goats
Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) – Dairy goats

“I honestly believe it’s about what they’re eating and how they are treated,” she said.

Both livestock are benefiting from a diet of brewers grains supplied by two breweries in the region. This spent mash of barley adds subtle flavors to the milk, and the fermentation aids the animals in digestion.

“Our girls don’t eat corn,” Donna said. The goats are fed alfalfa and graze openly on the 230-acre property situated in the prized wine growing region of Sonoma County. Moist air from the Pacific Ocean naturally irrigates the farm.

Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) - Dairy farm
Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) – Dairy farm

Achadinha has had some success getting their butter into restaurants in Northern California. But according to Donna, the farmers markets are the best venue for sales. The chance to sample the flavors often wins over customers, even those who don’t normally like the taste of goat milk products.

“The first time I had goat cheese, I swore I’d never eat it again,” admits Donna. She went on to reveal that some goat cheeses seem less palatable for a reason. Goat milk spoils faster than cow milk, so the longer it’s allowed to sit, the more it develops a tangy flavor.

How does Achadinha work around this? By milking their goats on the property and aiming to turn it into butter or cheese within a few days.

“It’s just a matter of doing it the right way,” Donna said.

Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) - Cheesemaking
Achadinha Cheese Company (courtesy) – Cheesemaking

The butter is completed with kefir, healthy bacteria and sea salt. The bacteria is added to enhance the butteriness and make it more digestible, even for those who are lactose intolerant. The butter also contains no stabilizers or preservatives.

When you buy a batch of butter, Donna recommends transferring it to a ceramic or glass container before storing it in the fridge where it should last for three weeks.

“Cooking with our butter will kill the culture,” she said. “We recommend spreading it on bread, crackers, rolls, tortillas and muffins.”

Achadihna Cheese Company - Cultured Butter (Foodzooka)
Achadihna Cheese Company – Cultured Butter (Foodzooka)

At Achadinha’s farmers market stands, you can also buy the kefir that goes into the butter. The draining process for their kefir gives it a thicker consistency than other drinkable yogurts.

Of course, Achadinha Cheese Company is best known for award-winning farmstead cheeses, most of which are also goat and cow milk hybrids. Broncha and Capricious are two varieties that are exclusively made by Achadinha. They also offer goat cheese, fresh feta, and a selection of flavored curds. Many of their cheeses can be ordered by phone or email and shipped to you.

Achadinha Cheese Company - Broncha Cheese (Foodzooka)
Achadinha Cheese Company – Broncha Cheese (Foodzooka)

In the Los Angeles area, look for Achadinha Cheese Company at farmer markets in Santa Monica (Wednesdays and Sundays), Venice Beach (Fridays), Echo Park (Fridays), Old Town Newhall (Saturdays), Silver Lake (Tuesdays and Saturdays), Hollywood (Sundays), Mar Vista (Sundays), and Culver City (Tuesdays).

Achadinha Cheese Company - Santa Monica Farmers Market (Foodzooka)
Achadinha Cheese Company – Santa Monica Farmers Market (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the Achadinha Cheese Co. website, and follow them on social media.

Posted on by

For Dami’s Famous Foods, It’s Always Chili In LA

Dami's Famous Foods - Foodzooka Splat Feature

When the temperature swings in Los Angeles have you debating if you’re craving soup or summer barbecue, the answer is probably chili.

“Chili is a year-round food that warms your heart and comforts your soul,” said Damien Pierre, owner of Dami’s Famous Foods. “With all the transplants from all over the United States, LA is a chili town.”

As a self-taught cook who prefers to be called a “food connoisseur,” Damien offers his take on the classic comfort food every weekend at the Brentwood Farmers Market (Sundays). When you visit the booth for Dami’s Famous Foods, he’ll greet you with a smile and ladle in hand, happy to serve a sampling of his chili and cornbread.

Dami's Famous Foods - Damien Pierre at Marina Del Rey Farmers Market (courtesy)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Damien Pierre at Marina Del Rey Farmers Market (courtesy)

His three chili varieties include vegetarian, turkey, and spicy bison; all with a bean-to-meat ratio that heavily favors the protein. The texture is chunky enough to feel satisfying, but smooth enough to work as a topping on burgers, hot dogs, or omelets. Every variety has a spicy heat that won’t set your mouth on fire, but makes each bite more addictive.

“My style of cuisine came from my background. I’m Caribbean-American. Caribbean cuisine has a lot of spices, herbs, and flavor,” Damien said. “We like things spicy.”

Dami's Famous Foods - Turkey chili (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Turkey chili (Foodzooka)

To pair with your choice of chili, Dami’s Famous Foods offers three kinds of cornbread: buttermilk, bacon jalapeno, and sweet corn. All are comfortingly moist and buttery with the kind of crumbly firmness that lets you wipe up the last licks of chili from your bowl.

Dami's Famous Foods - Cornbread (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Cornbread (Foodzooka)

Part of the secret to the chili’s tomato base is Damien’s own brand of barbecue sauce, made with natural ingredients. He also sells this separately at the markets in bottles labeled as Dami’s Famous BBQ Sauce.

“The inspiration for my barbecue sauce was my grandmother, Cyrilla Pierre. She believed in all of my food creations and taught me a lot about cooking and food as a whole,” he said. “She was the first person who tried my barbecue sauce the first time I ever made it from scratch. She loved it!”

Damien describes his sauce as Kansas City meets Memphis style barbecue, resulting in a flavor profile that’s thick and sweet, but also tangy. He considers his BBQ sauce to be a more versatile condiment than people realize, with some fans raving that it even goes great with sardines.

Dami's Famous Foods - Dami's BBQ Sauce and chili (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Dami’s BBQ Sauce and chili (Foodzooka)

“Don’t limit your food exploration with barbecue sauce to just grilling. There’s so much out there that you can do with a great barbecue sauce.”

If you can’t make it to the Westside farmers markets, Dami’s Famous Foods also has chili and cornbread on the catering menu. As for other new offerings from his recipe box that may be in the making, Damien says,”…Stay tuned, you never know what I will do next.”

He learned the basics of cooking from his relatives while growing up in Brooklyn, New York and Port Charlotte, Florida. Stewed peas and dumplings, and baked macaroni and cheese with salted codfish were among his favorites as a child.

Drawing from his love of making food, Damien recently released an book of his own health conscious recipes titled Eat Good, Feel Good, available on Amazon.

“I want to be known for always making great tasting food and consistent products that are ahead of the curve,” he said.

Dami's Famous Foods - Catering banner (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Catering banner (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find Dami’s website and follow him on social media.

Posted on by

Drop The Guilt When You Pick Up Iggy Chips

Iggy Chips - Foodzooka Splat Feature

Calling all crunchavores with New Year’s resolutions: If your body is telling you to ditch the greasy party chips, then consider switching to some crunchy wonders from Iggy Chips.

These dehydrated fruits and vegetables achieve their crisp and crunchiness without being fried in oil, which means fewer calories. Some, such as the zucchini chips, only have 25 per bag.  “It takes more calories to open the bag,” quipped Daniel Bernstein, owner of Iggy Chips.

Iggy Chips - Zucchini Meeny Miney Moe (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – Zucchini Meeny Miney Moe (Foodzooka)

Iggy Chips are dried in a home kitchen without preservatives and come in nearly a dozen produce and flavor varieties with more in the making—all vegan and gluten-free. Some versions use natural seasonings which add pizzazz to even reputedly bland vegetables. Bernstein specializes in crunchifying foods not found from other local and national dehydrators, such as cauliflower, black eyed peas, and watermelon.

“It’s almost like a magician’s trick,” said Bernstein, of turning the juice-soaked watermelon into crispy snack flakes. “It does not want to be in this form.”

Iggy Chips - What A Melon flavors (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – What A Melon flavors (Foodzooka)

Bernstein sells bags of Iggy Chips at the Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach farmers markets, the Rainbow Acres Natural Foods market in Marina Del Rey, the Follow Your Heart market in Canoga Park, and online at Etsy.

Sometimes a low calorie vegan snack can be a hard sell, which is why Bernstein makes his stall impossibly hard to miss at farmers markets, with the help of his sun-loving iguana mascot. Iggy and his team of bespectacled and wide-eyed plush iguanas thoroughly surround the booth, making direct eye contact with passersby.

Children are easily drawn to his stall to check out the lizards, and parents buy the snacks to put in their kids’ lunchboxes. Bernstein hopes his green-skinned spokesmen will someday propel his product to large markets, or at the very least, encourage people to eat healthier food.

Iggy Chips - Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the Iggy Chips website and follow them on social media.