Whet Your Appetite With a Preview of This Weekend’s CRAFT Workshop
A pile of peppers from TheHoodGarden. Making hot sauce is on the itinerary for Sunday’s Summer Series Workshop Day at Eden Hall Campus. (Courtesy of Trina Goggins)
Have you ever wanted to know how to make mouth-watering hot sauce? How to dye with indigo cultivated from your own garden? How to can delicious jams?
On Sunday, Aug. 4, the Center for Regional Agricultural Transformation (CRAFT) will hold its Summer Series Workshop Day on these topics and more at Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus. Facilitated by local growers, farmers, and culinary artisans, the workshop will provide a hands-on opportunity to dive headfirst into regional food.
“We were looking for new and upcoming food producers and growers who wanted to try their hand at workshop facilitation,” said Francis Carter, the director of operations and food systems engagement at CRAFT. “They came out of our robust network we’ve been building over seven years at CRAFT.”
Here’s a taste of what you can expect:
The Wonderful World of Peppers
Trina Goggins started growing in her garden after moving into her house in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. The first year was a “disaster,” she said, but she kept trying.
She was inspired to grow peppers in her search for new types of heat. She started by growing 11, then 20. Last year, Goggins grew 130 varieties of peppers in what she’s dubbed “TheHoodGarden.”
“Peppers have a lot of flavor,” she said. “In the beginning, I was like most people; what you generally see with anything hot—hot sauces or peppers—is challenges. It’s just hot. I don’t want heat for the sake of it being hot, I want flavor.”
With some peppers, she said, you feel a compounding heat in the back of your throat. Others give a sharp bite on the tip of the tongue before dissipating. Goggins tries to layer these types of flavors in her sauces and seasonings, including some for folks who like the taste of peppers but want low heat.
“I think my passion is really teaching and showing people growing, mostly peppers,” she said.
For the August workshop, Goggins plans to let the lesson flow organically, touching on Scoville heat units, peppers’ diverse flavors, their health benefits, and potential culinary uses. The class culminates with making a pineapple hot sauce.
“What I want them to come away with is a comfortability with working with peppers,” she said. “Making the hot sauce is going to be an exercise in straying from a recipe and getting comfortable experimenting.”
Canning Peach Rosemary Jam
Two jars of peach rosemary jam sit next to a toasted English muffin. (Courtesy of Hannah Hitchens)
Hannah Hitchens started simply with blueberry and lemon jams she found in the Bell canning and preservation guides. Then, she got ambitious, testing different regional flavors.
“I like regional foods and fruit, discovering things like pawpaws and groundcherries,” she said, adding that she hopes to make a delicious jam out of those plants someday.
For the Summer Series Workshop, Hitchens will teach attendees how to make peach rosemary jam—one of her favorites. “I feel like it’s a really easy beginner jam, but it’s also unique,” she said. “You’re not going to find it at the store, but it’s such a great thing to have on your shelf.”
Hitchens suggested eating it with crumpets, English muffins, baked goat cheese, brie, or using it as a sweet glaze on savory proteins. She also said it makes a great gift.
While she emphasized the importance of safety when preserving food, Hitchens also said she wanted to present it as a skill just about anyone can learn.
“I want the whole process of preserving food to feel accessible,” she said. “I’m bringing a recipe that sounds fancy, but it’s just five ingredients, and you learn the foundation of how to water bath can.”
At the end, Hitchens hopes people feel empowered to turn their own garden bounty or farmer’s market haul into delicious jams and jellies.
More to Explore
People mingle at the Hilda M. Willis Amphitheater at Eden Hall. (Phil Pavely)
Other parts of the Aug. 4 workshop include a lesson with Justin Lubecki (of Ferment Pittsburgh) on how to grow indigo and use it for dyes, as well as a session hosted by Ebony Lunsford-Evans (also known as FarmerGirl Eb) on food-as-medicine with fire cider.
There will also be a lunch and mixer with AB Kitchen, which is a local catering and food delivery service, and Pop World, both of whom have been involved with CRAFT.
“It’s a great way to open people’s eyes to what is possible” with food, Carter said. “People have been looking for hands-on experiences.”
Find more information about the Summer Series Workshop on craft.chatham.edu/event. Learn more about CRAFT and Eden Hall Campus.