Every year, through Taste, I get to be involved in one of my favorite events of the year, CUESA's Annual Sunday Supper which helps raise money for CUESA (generally known as the farmer’s market at the Ferry Building.) Each year, some of San Francisco’s top talents donate food, their time and above all their love, to support an organization that helps us chefs do what we do best with the highest quality of product.
From Farmer...
I recall what the farmer’s market used to be like before I moved to NYC in 2003, back 
when it was just a dirt parking lot, not too far from where the Ferry Building is now. Even then, it was a marvel to behold in comparison to New York’s "green" market, which could never compare with everything that California has to provide. Working at Daniel in New York, when I would ask of organi c and sustainable fruits, they would for the most part roll their eyes, thinking “tree hugger”, a mentality even New Yorkers are slowly moving away from, thankfully. When I first returned to San Francisco in a trip in 2005, I was in awe of the new Ferry Building and the Saturday Market. In fact I think I nearly had an overload su
rge of serotonin burst through my system. This feeling still persists when I go to the Saturday Market, especially early morning before the crowds rush in. During the summer I especially like Lucero Farms' strawberries, Zuckerman’s Blueberries, Blossom Bluff’s Persian Plums, the organic lavender, and one of my favorites, Tory Farms' which produces the tastiest stone fruit and grapes. I recall a morning in late June when Tory, with a grin on his face, cut a piece of his first harvest of white peaches for me, and our Chef Chris, was when I thought “summer is here”. The natural sugar content of the peach was like chewin
g on a honeycomb. One piece turned into eating two peaches in a row, as it dripped across my chin, all over my shirt, which is always a good sign of great stone fruit.
Tory Farm’s is owned by Tory and his wife Rebecca, who will never let me leave before giving me a bag of their favorite fruits to take home, on the house. I don’t know about being a tree hugger, but I want to hug these guys every time I see them! 
These people love their fruits like their kids. In fact, there have been times he’s made me convince him that I would do his fruit justice, in requesting them before their “prime”. I’d like to think, with our dish at the Sunday Supper, we’ve done them more than proud.
...to Sunday Super Dessert
My good friend and assistant Carol helped in producing and plating our final dish, which was “Slow Cooked Tory Farm’s Flavor Treat Pluots, Japanese Genoise, Pluot Confit and White Ale Sauce”.
We sous-vide the pluots with a hint of Tahitian Vanilla and Green Cardamom for 3 days, before cooking them in a slow water bath at 75c for 12 minutes. At this point they had just a hint of fragrance, and were firm yet tender. The white ale from Hitachino Nest, which we used in our ice cream base, and “sauce” which was a light custard foam which we served right over the cooked pluots. This beer is one of my new obsessions. It has such a delicate and gentle flavor, that lends itself to plums and pluots beautifully, which are very common in Japanese cooking. The light genoise we made with a Japanese Pastry Flour from Japan Town that lends a 
soft almost cloud like texture to the cake. These were then soaked in a secret sauce, coated with California pistachios, and filled with our house made pluot confit. All these we served on a bed of Santa Rosa Plum Sauce.
I gather from the standing ovation from our guests that they were all pleased with their meals, which is always a gratifying feeling. But it’s hard to go wrong when you work with such beautiful ingredients, and live in a city that appreciates good food and its journey to their plate. CUESA also works to educate and promote sustainability in agriculture which, from what I can see, has come a long way in the last decade. If you weren’t there this year, please come join us in 2010!
