Category: Food

NOFA winter conference fosters community

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire (NOFA-NH) will host its 22nd annual Winter Conference on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. The event will include panel discussions, workshop sessions, awards and a keynote address by off-grid homesteader Philip Ackerman-Leist.

“As one of the founding chapters of the Northeast Organic Farming Association dating back to the early 1970s, NOFA-NH began with the hope of bringing together the organic community and building traction for the important work of sustainable agriculture in our state and region,” said event coordinator Kyle Jacoby. “The conference has taken on many shapes and sizes over the years, but some things remain the same. Every conference is filled with impactful workshops, local organizations and businesses, delicious food, a keynote address, and community bonding.”

According to Jacoby, the Winter Conference helps to foster the Granite State’s organic farming and gardening community, allowing participants to share knowledge, get energized, and support local, sustainable, healthy food.

“Every event is a place to continue learning and understanding organic practices, have discussions about our local food networks, connect with others in the community to discuss how to work together, recognize members of the community who are doing valuable work, and build enthusiasm for the work ahead,” Jacoby said.

NOFA-NH’s Winter Conference typically welcomes 200 to 300 people from throughout New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, Jacoby said. “This includes farmers, gardeners, nonprofit management, food distributors, politicians, students, educators and more. Members of this entire community convene at the Winter Conference because of the workshops that are offered, networking opportunities, and the chance to engage in important dialogue about the future of food in our state.”

Workshop topics will include growing techniques, business strategies, food systems, crop management, best practices for high tunnel construction, making tea from your garden, creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable food system in New Hampshire, policy and regulatory tools for small food producers, perfecting greenhouse tomatoes, and more. Sessions are geared toward farmers, gardeners, nonprofit professionals, educators, and community members interested in local food, sustainable agriculture, and cultivating community.

“The conference is also a perfect opportunity to learn new skills, develop important connections with local organizations and businesses, and recognize members of our community and the work they are doing,” Jacoby said.

This year’s keynote speaker is Philip Ackerman-Leist, author of A Precautionary Tale: How One Small Town Banned Pesticides, Preserved its Food Heritage, and Inspired a Movement and Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable, and Secure Food Systems.

“Philip has an incredible history of the past four decades exploring what it means to have a sustainable and equitable food system,” Jacoby said. “We are excited to hear the stories from his experiences with policy efforts for pesticide-free communities, ‘aha!’ moments in educational systems, innovative shifts in local supply chains, lessons in agritourism, and increased financial support for ecological stewardship.” Ackerman-Leist’s address will highlight some of his experiences collecting stories of food systems across the U.S. and abroad.

Involved with NOFA-NH for two years, Jacoby acknowledges the dedicated team, passionate volunteers, members, and supporters who work together toward a more local, just and sustainable food system.

“It is a joy to work with these people and celebrate the successes of our work,” Jacoby said. “You can see how gratifying that is at the Winter Conference when we present awards to members of our community to recognize the amazing work they are doing and have done. We certainly have challenges ahead but also so much to be proud of and grateful for.”

NOFA-NH annual Winter Conference
When: Saturday, Feb. 10
Where: Southern New Hampshire University, 2500 N. River Road, Manchester; check-in at dining center, workshops at Robert Frost Hall
Tickets: available on a sliding scale ranging from $20 (keynote only) to $125.
More: www.nofanh.org

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Learn about wine for fun or profit

Wine on Main is not only a cozy storefront where shoppers can acquire locally created artisanal crafts or boutique bottles of wine from New Hampshire and beyond. It’s also a place where people can quench their thirst for knowledge about wine.

Wine on Main, at 9 N. Main St. in downtown Concord, is owned by Emma Stetson. “My job is to pick the best wine for the customers at the store,” Stetson said.

Two courses from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust will be hosted here later this month. WSET, which sets industry standards for wine and spirits across the globe, selected Wine on Main as an official location for its Level I & II certification courses.

“There are only a handful of those around the world, so it is exciting that they are coming to Concord,” Stetson said. “They want to make sure we are following all the rules since this is an industry standard certificate.”

Stetson said “the WSET was invaluable” in deepening her understanding of wine.

The Level I course takes two evenings to complete and will run Tuesday, Feb. 20, and Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m.; the cost is $399 per person. Level II will take place over that weekend of Saturday, Feb. 24, and Sunday, Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and costs $899 per person. Wine enthusiasts who participate in Level II will have an option to take the exam at another time if needed. Both tests, for levels I and II, are multiple choice.

“If people want to do the two courses together, there is a discount,” Stetson said. Participants may skip Level I and go straight to Level II as well. Group discounts apply too.

This is not the first time these courses have been offered at Wine on Main. The inaugural classes held last August were an enormous success with a 100 percent passing rate for both levels.

“A lot of people who took the Level I course were customers who were interested in learning more,” Stetson said.

She said the course “is not just a fun wine class that you take with your friends on a Tuesday night” — Wine on Main has many of those, such as a recent wine-pairing collaboration with New Hampshire Doughnut Co. But participants regardless of their level of wine knowledge should expect a good time. This course “caters to wine enthusiasts who want to know more,” as well as those in the wine business, “to put on their resume.” With WSET courses, participants “walk away with a certificate that is internationally recognized.”

The courses are taught by Master of Wine and New Hampshire native Lindsay Pomeroy, who also taught the courses at Wine on Main in August. There are only around 400 people in the world able to claim the Master of Wine title.

Pomeroy, a lifelong teacher who started a wine education company called Wine Smarties in San Diego in 2006, welcomes students of any level of expertise to Wine on Main this February. “Some of my best students are not even in the industry. Level I is very fun,” she said. The course “gives you a perspective, grounding, and a foundation,” she said, noting “you can’t be a great wine taster without any knowledge.” Pomeroy exudes joy about helping anyone willing to sign up “to be able to unlock and explain the wine. It is a fun puzzle.”

Stetson, a Level II & III WSET certificate holder herself, explained that those signed up for the Level I course “learn how to taste the wine and you learn how to describe the wine. You learn about the grapes, and you learn about the region.” The Level II course is longer and builds on Level I. Participants learn to decipher wine labels and select the best wine for the occasion. Level II delves into “more specific regions and more atypical grapes and wines,” Stetson said. The registration deadlines are Feb. 3 for the Level I class and Feb. 9 for Level II.

Wine and Spirit Education Trust classes
Wine on Main, 9 N. Main St., Concord
Level I

Tuesday, Feb. 20, and Wednesday, Feb. 21, 6 to 9 p.m.
$399 per person; $340 group rate
Level II

Saturday, Feb. 24, and Sunday, Feb. 25, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
$899 per person; $801 4+ group rate

More info: wineonmainnh.com, winesmarties.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Classes create pairings for dinner and dessert

Other than red roses, nothing says “valentine” more than chocolate and wine, and LaBelle Winery will capitalize on this tantalizing pairing with two classes in February, available at LaBelle’s Derry and Amherst locations. Classes will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. and admission for each session is $40.

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing is described as a special wine pairing event for lovers of decadent chocolate desserts.

“This is one of my favorite classes,” said LaBelle Winery Sommelier Marie King. “We pair four delicious wines with four specially made desserts made with white, milk, dark and spiced chocolates made by our amazing pastry chef, Sara Mercier.” The wine menu for the evening will include White Chocolate Mousse paired withLaBelle Cranberry; Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme paired withLaBelle Americus; Dark Chocolate Brownie paired withLaBelle Dry Blueberry; and Chocolate Cayenne Truffle paired withLaBelle Petit Verdot.

“I like to keep the class informal, fun, and have guests leave with a little more knowledge about wine and how to pair it,” King said.

Cooking with Wine & Chocolate, facilitated by Amy LaBelle and Executive Chef Justin Bernatchez, is an entertaining interactive cooking class demonstration. Guests will have the opportunity to sample fried chicken with chocolate BBQ sauce, steak with The Winemaker’s Kitchen Cocoa BBQ Spice Blend, Mexican mole sauce, and Chocolate Decadence Dessert — each paired with a LaBelle wine.

One of the surprising things people learn about cooking with chocolate is that it can be used to make savory dishes.

“Think of Mexican mole sauce,” King said. “The sweetness is an underlying note to the savory spicy notes of the dishes. Cocoa powder and dark chocolate, which are most often used for cooking, are actually quite bitter. The sweetness we equate with chocolate is from the sugar, milk and flavorings added to the bitter cocoa.”

What makes wine and chocolate compatible?

“Everything is better when paired well,” according to King. “We like to say that pairing wine and food well elevates the enjoyment of both. Finding what is compatible or contrasting between the wine and chocolate makes for fantastic pairings that neither the food or wine can create separately.”

Although many people tend to think that red is the only wine that can be paired with chocolate, King disagrees: “It does not have to be red wine with chocolate. It especially does not work well with white or ruby chocolate. Fruit or dessert wines are also fun to pair with chocolates.”

“Milk chocolate is sweeter, has less of a perception of tannins and is creamier on the palate. Dark chocolate is more bitter; you can perceive the tannins more easily and [it’s] less creamy on the palate. You might be able to pair both with a wine that is fruit-driven but also tannic, but one chocolate will generally pair better than the other depending on which characteristic dominates,” King said.

Which wines are best paired with white chocolate? “We like to use our Cranberry and Cranberry Riesling, but I have also had success with Seyval, riesling and Shimmer. If the white chocolate has citrus notes, it makes it even easier,” King said.

King noted that rosés have “more tannins than the average white and more acidity than the average red.”

“I am a sparkling girl, so I always try to find foods to pair with sparkling wines,” she said. “Our Tempest sparkling wine is great with milk chocolate as it has raspberry notes and the bubbles help to cleanse the palate from the buttery texture.”

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing
Wednesday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst
$40

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing
Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry
$40

Cooking with Wine & Chocolates
Thursday, Feb. 15
LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst
$40

Cooking with Wine & Chocolates
Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry
$40

For more info or to register, visit labellewinery.com/public-winery-events

Featured photo: Wines paired with chocolates. Courtesy photo.