On September 12, 2019, you’re invited to a special fundraising event with California Humanities to take a closer look at the connection between the humanities and California’s rich food traditions. While guests and speakers alike mingle, we’ll enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres by Chef Reem Assil of Reem’s California in the beautiful One Kearny Club in San Francisco. Then we’ll hear from featured presenters Nikiko Masumoto of Masumoto Family Farm, and past grantees Steven Wong of LA Heat and California Foodways‘ Lisa Morehouse.
Limited tickets are still available for this event. To give you a little amuse-bouche, check out these stories about California on the Table’s featured guests, and why you’ll want to hear more from each of them on September 12 from 6 to 8 pm.
Make caterer Reem Assil’s famed Lebanese flatbread
“Before she opened her bakery and became a Chronicle Rising Star Chef and James Beard Award nominee, [Reem] Assil gained a following at her farmers’ market stalls. She was a consulting chef at Dyafa in Jack London Square, where her flatbreads and dips were presented in a more high-end setting…Man’oushe, a Lebanese flatbread, is one of the cornerstones of the menu at Reem’s California.”—Recipe: Reem’s Za’atar Man’oushe, San Francisco Chronicle
Listen to California Foodways, your new favorite James Beard Award-nominated radio show
“The Cache Creek Casino is huge, with a 200-room hotel, 10 restaurants and a golf course. On average, the casino brings in 2,000 visitors a night, swelling the valley’s population and traffic. It’s a big production. And it’s funding the Yocha Dehe’s newest production across the highway: the tribe’s own brand of olive oil, Seka Hills, bottled in a state-of-the-art facility. It’s only in its fourth year of production, but over 200 restaurants—including Chez Panisse—use it. And the premium oil sells in specialty shops and upscale farmers markets… It’s the first and only known Native American tribe to grow, mill, and market Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.”— A California Tribe Bets on Olive Oil (Yolo), California Foodways
Learn about the artists who paid homage to ubiquitous Asian and Latino hot sauce
“Though L.A. Heat covered only one floor, the themes it tackles goes beyond mere condiments on the table. By bringing in the disparate voices of illustrators, gallery artists, street artists, and many others, Wong was able to expose the endless layers of culture and the unique blend of grit mingled with optimism that marks Los Angeles.”—Hot Stuff: L.A.’s Cross-Cultural Condiments, KCET
Discover the intersection of farming, performance art, and family history with Nikiko Masumoto
“When Masumoto was in college, she had no intention of moving back home to help with the family farm…But after taking an environmental studies class at the University of California, Berkeley and delving more into her research on Japanese-American history in graduate school, she developed an understanding of the importance of farming and how she could combine it with her interest in performance art and Japanese-American memory.”—Merging Farming and Art, Nikiko Masumoto Keeps Her Family’s Roots Alive, NBC Asian America
