This Week's Events

Monday — the Monday Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square.
Tuesday Cinque Terre is hosting a special tasting dinner sponsored by The Rogers Collection which will feature Tunisian products from Moulins Mahjoub.
Wednesday — the midweek Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square and there will be a Wine Wise class at The Wine Bar.
ThursdayDon and Samantha Lindgren from Rabelais will be appearing on Martha Stewart Radio, Victoria Mansion is hosting a tasting of Allagash Victoria Ale, and the second biweekly Cultivating Community Twilight Dinner will take place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth.
Saturday — the weekend Farmers Market is taking place in Deering Oaks Park and SmuttFest 2010, 25 Smuttynose Brewing beers along with a chance to meet the “owners, brewers and general lackys”, is being held at Novare Res.
A Taste of Next Week — Evangeline, Devenish Wine and Share Our Strength are teaming up to organize the Discover the Tastes of France open house and dinner on July 14 at Evangeline. The event will raise funds to help fight childhood hunger in Maine. For more details see this post on ILovePortlandMaine.com.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

This Week’s Events

Monday — the Monday Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square.

Tuesday Cinque Terre is hosting a special tasting dinner sponsored by The Rogers Collection which will feature Tunisian products from Moulins Mahjoub.

Wednesday — the midweek Farmers Market is taking place in Monument Square and there will be a Wine Wise class at The Wine Bar.

ThursdayDon and Samantha Lindgren from Rabelais will be appearing on Martha Stewart Radio, Victoria Mansion is hosting a tasting of Allagash Victoria Ale, and the second biweekly Cultivating Community Twilight Dinner will take place at their farm in Cape Elizabeth.

Saturday — the weekend Farmers Market is taking place in Deering Oaks Park and SmuttFest 2010, 25 Smuttynose Brewing beers along with a chance to meet the “owners, brewers and general lackys”, is being held at Novare Res.

A Taste of Next Week — Evangeline, Devenish Wine and Share Our Strength are teaming up to organize the Discover the Tastes of France open house and dinner on July 14 at Evangeline. The event will raise funds to help fight childhood hunger in Maine. For more details see this post on ILovePortlandMaine.com.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.

Whoopie Pie Awards

According to a report in the Portland Daily Sun, a pair of Portland businesses won awards at last week’s Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Anania’s won in the Best Traditional Whoopie Pie and Cranberry Island Kitchen won in the Most Original category. (The Sun article isn’t available online yet).
PortlandTown has published a beautiful set of photos of the bakers at Cranberry Island at  work and some additional details on the bakery and the competition.
Photo Credit: Michael Barriault

Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox

Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.

Michelle & Steve Corry on Fox

Michelle & Steve Corry appeared on Fox’s Good Morning Maine show Wednesday morning to talk about their restaurant Five Fifty-Five and a new cookbook, Fresh from Maine that the restaurant is appearing in (along with Bar Lola, Caiola’s Cinque Terre, Fore Street, Hugo’s, Old Port Sea Grill, etc) . Fresh from Maine is authored by Michael Sanders and illustrated by Portland photographer Russell French.

SoPo Eats

There have been some new additions to the dining scene in South Portland:

  • Cambridge Coffee Bar and Bakehouse is just across the bridge on Broadway where the Freaky Bean used to be located. It’s owned by Vicki Cambridge who explained to Mainebiz that she, “learned to cook from her grandmother, says she has ‘gained a baking reputation in the community, and having a shop of my own was a logical next step.’ “
  • A new Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Hanoi is giving SoPo pho-fans a way to satisfy their cravings without having to leave their hometown. Where is Jenner’s Mind writes that the pho “certainly rivals the pho at both Thanh Thanh and Saigon”
  • Willard Scoops opened last year and is getting praise for “raises the bar for gourmet ice cream in the Portland area”. Portland Eats writes that he especially “like how some of the ice creams at Willard Scoops use salt to good effect, such as in the chocolate sea salt ice cream and the salt caramel and salt caramel nut ice creams”
  • There’s even someone who’s started raising hops in South Portland.

Immigrant Kitchens: Congolese Bean and Rice

Lindsay Sterling has published the details of another ethnic cooking adventure on her blog Immigrant Kitchens. This time around she’s learning how to make Congolese Bean and Rice (intro, photos, recipe) from Constance Kabaziga of Kinshasa, Congo.

I met Constance Kabaziga at the checkout at Mittapheap world market. She was buying frozen cassava root and dried beans, and I really wanted to know what she was going to do them. “You look like a good cook,” I ventured. She smiled, laughing, but couldn’t return any English. A bilingual young man walked in. I hid my nerves and asked him to translate: “Would she ever teach me how to cook?” Three days later I was in Constance’s small apartment kitchen, watching her slice red onion and green peppers…

Maine Lobstering & the Lobster Roll

The Boston Globe has published an article on how lobstermen in Maine and elsewhere in New England are experimenting with alternative ways to market their catch.

In Maine, there are 5,800 commercial lobstermen, many of whom are trying new marketing ideas. “Some go roadside and sell locally,’’ says Patrice McCarron, executive director of the 1,200-member Maine Lobstermen’s Association in Kennebunk. “There are people on Craigslist. Some sell on the Internet.’’

And in a state-by-state round-up of the 50 fattiest foods in the nation, Health magazine selected the lobster roll to represent Maine’s contribution. The funny thing is that rather than pick the roll from Red’s or Haraseeket Lunch & Lobster or Portland Lobster Company to base their dietary evaluation on, they reported the fat levels of lobster rolls from D’Angelo’s and Pap Gino’s.