Friday – Day 4! Spice Ace, Ferry Building, Venga
Today was jam-packed and full of so many tastes and smells. We began our tastebud adventure at Spice Ace, where we learned about acids and bases in the world of spices. We learned what dishes in which each kind of spice is typically used before we got to spend the rest of our time testing our palates with spices, salts, and sugars from cocoa powders and flower petals to za’atar and mole poblano spice mixes.
With so many spices in our noses and bellies we made our way to the Ferry Building where Acme Bread Company’s Manager, Monica, gave us a tour and story of their bakery, talking about what goes into their bread and what makes it unique. We saw the different type of equipment and ovens used to make the shapes special to Acme and were amazed to hear that bakery workers have jobs to do for all 24 hours in a day!! Next, we soaked up some sun outside by the water while we ate our tasty pumpkin apple muffins from the day before alongside our bread samples from Monica. A lovely, sunny break in the day!
To end our day and camp overall, we traveled over to Venga for the final COOK OFF! After splitting into groups and deciding team names, each team put together their list of ingredients and the cook off was under way!! Pasta was the common denominator for each team, but what they did with each dish was creative, beautifully executed, and delicious. We saw techniques used from the day before and tastes brought from traditions at home which brought big proud smiles to our faces! Your aspiring chefs worked hard to each earn the award in Plating/Aesthetic, Creativity/Innovation, and Use of New Techniques. We were so impressed (but in no way surprised).
We enjoyed sharing a week of incredible food and experiences taught by expert and seasoned chefs in San Francisco with your aspiring chefs. There was lots of learning and plenty of munching 🙂 It was incredible to share these moments with your aspiring chefs and hope that they stay busy, safe and curious in the kitchen at home!