Much like the Pinot vines that took root here in the 1970s and beyond, Oregon has become a budding location for the rare truffle. The annual Oregon Truffle Festival, January 24-26 in Eugene, is a weekend of culinary events dedicated to this rare, buried treasure, and draws guests from around the world.
Oregon is home to an old school charcuterie revival.
Portland chef Leather Storrs and his rooftop garden
The Oregon Olive Mill in Dayton, Oregon produces olive oil from Oregon-grown olives.
The humble Oregon pear rarely gets its due. The subtle fruit is often overshadowed by the flashy berry or its more popular cousin, the apple. Since pears come late in the growing season, they may get ignored by canners vying for that last box of tomatoes or kids stampeding for the pumpkin patch.
Sam and Cathy Pennington encountered a series of strange messages when they moved from Colorado to Oregon in 1994. “We kept seeing all these signs that said, ‘blackberry removal,” Cathy Pennington says. “We found it really perplexing. Why would anyone want to remove blackberries?”
It’s 4 a.m. The aroma of fresh bread comes from flaming ovens. Buttery croissants are rolled, cut and shaped by hand at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland. An hour later, the sweet smell of fresh baguette dough wafts past four bakers in jeans, t-shirts and aprons, their heads down, their floured hands dividing and shaping smooth, long loaves. The oven door clanks as the bread goes in.
Charlie Douglass faces supreme temptation daily. Nearly every morning he has a rendezvous with an enrober, a machine that releases a sensual wave of shining liquid chocolate over row after row of truffle centers.
Kevin Zielinski’s eyes light up as he names the apple varieties he tends at his Willamette Valley orchard, just outside of Salem. Champagne Rienette. Douce Moën. Muscadet de Lense. St. Martine. The sinuous vowels and soft consonants even sound delicious. Eventually, they become fluid when Zielinski transforms these French heirloom apples into a traditional sparkling hard cider that leaves many searching for words.
