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You’d think walnuts are nothing new, but have you seen red walnuts? Also known as Livermore Walnuts, they have the same light tan meat we’re used to but covered in a cabernet colored skin. While the trees they grow on look the same as any other,  the Livermore Walnut trees take a full eight to 10 years to produce its first harvest – it takes only two years for most other varieties. For that reason, they’re pretty rare. It’s believed that the largest continuous acreage of Red Walnuts in California is only five acres.

You’ll find these gorgeous, mild-flavored walnuts at the Terra Bella Ranch stall at several local farmers markets although they are actually grown in Modesto by 4^th- generation farmer Jake Wenger, a friend of Terra Bella Ranch owners Nicolina and Jeff Alves. To keep the skin impeccable, the nuts are hand cracked, so they are pricey at $10 a pound. But they have a dramatic impact on salads and cheese plates, and in pestos, breads, cookies, and desserts. Terra Bella Ranch has stalls at the Little Italy Mercato, Temecula Farmers Market, and Vista Farmers Market on Saturdays, and at the Hillcrest, La Jolla, and Leucadia farmers markets on Sunday.

 

One of my favorite activities during the holidays is making tamales with my friend Angela and her family. Tamale making is truly labor intensive so the results are treasured all the more. Now, Angela’s family makes very traditional pork tamales so it was a kick to discover the wide range of possibilities for tamale flavorings at the “Gourmet Tamales” stand at the Adams Ave. farmers market. Owned by Eduardo Diaz of Valdivia Farms (which raises some of the best heirloom tomatoes in San Diego), Gourmet Tamales are lard and gluten free. Some are vegetarian, some are vegan, others have meat, and they even make dessert versions – as well as vibrant fresh salsas that you can enjoy with any of the tamales.

 

The choices are difficult. Do I go with a pork loin with roasted green chiles, a chicken with red mole, or a tinga – spicy chicken with chipotle? Perhaps vegetarian would be better. There’s feta cheese, corn, and jalapeno; chile and cheese (known as Rajas), or spinach, feta cheese and tomatillo. Oh, but vegan sounds good, too – spicy black bean, spinach zucchini, or potato and cilantro are all options.

 

I went with the sweet white corn and scallions. Whole kernels of corn popped out of the deliciously creamy masa. All are packaged in threes and come frozen, so you can either steam them or zap them in the microwave to heat them. I also bought their tomatillo salsa, which was spicy and full of zesty flavor.

 

Next time, it’s dessert tamales. I think I’ll go for orange mango or perhaps pumpkin spice.  

 

Gourmet Tamales has stalls at numerous farmers markets in San Diego and Orange Counties. You can also call 760-402-0805 to order them directly from their Oceanside facility.

 

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life (De Capo/Life Long) is the latest entrant in the category of Eastern medicine cookbooks for Western audiences, joining favorites of mine such as Su-Mei Yu’s The Elements of Life and Nina Simonds’s A Spoonful of Ginger. This new book by Yuan Wang and Warren Sheir, who are on the faculty of San Diego’s Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, and Mika Ono, a San Diego writer, offers a basic introduction to the relationship between food, health, and Chinese medicine. As they explain, in Asia  food is medicine and a good diet is a path to healing. But instead of advocating solely for Chinese medicine, they embrace a holistic approach that meshes East and West.

 

Many of the foods they introduce in the context of Chinese medicine already are part of many Americans’s daily lives—garlic, ginger, pears, mushrooms, walnuts, and cinnamon. Some, like ginko, fritillaria, and kudzu root, are less familiar but still accessible at our local Asian markets or online. Following a fascinating introduction  to the precepts of Chinese medicine, they list “100 Healthful Asian Ingredients” and then much of the rest of the book is devoted to recipes from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean traditions—many of which are very easy to prepare and sound delicious. For general nutrition, try Soba Noodles with Miso-Sesame Sauce, which incorporates cucumber, nori seaweed, tahini, ginger, carrot, and green onion. Or soothe a dry throat with baked ginger-honey pears. You’ll learn how to make “bone-building stock” as well as dumpling wrappers, and “Get-Up-And-Go Garlic Sauce” with powdered kudzu.

 

The back of the book has a glossary of common traditional Chinese medicine terms, lists of recipes for common health concerns, a conversion chart, suggested ingredient substititions, and resources. Altogether, this is a wonderfully useful book, well written, and with recipes that even a believer in conventional Western medicine would want to try.

 

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir, and Mika Ono

De Capo/Life Long, $19.95

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