-I attended day one of the Design Art and Technology Symposium in Winston Salem, I really had no idea what it was about but it was hosted downtown in a new art center and was just $35 for the weekend. So of I went, it has a wonderful panel of expert speakers talking about the Triad and how the area has largely been dependent on tobacco, textures and tobacco doing type jobs. In future we need to look forward to thinking jobs, creative work and sustainable work. The food for thought it talking about local restaurants, food products and creating work along with design. It started of a little slow to be honest and I was starving I hadn't had lunch. But 2.30pm came around we were treated to the Mash Up, it was a wonderful collaboration between local chefs and refugees from Iraq, Ethiopia, Nepal and Vietnam. The chefs wonderfully embraced their partner and eagerly learned about their cuisine and created dishes using the Stokes county North Carolina sweet potato.
The conference hall, the event is a collaboration between Winston Salem State university, University of North Carolina and The Center for Innovation.
This was a presentation by the
Saura Pride sweet potatoes who worked with farmers and community kitchens to produce products such as purple sweet potato puree, pies and purple sweet potato butter to sell to get folks more familiar with the locally grown potato.
Chefs with their partners
Spicy cassava stew with boiled sweet potato inspired by Vietnam
Southern purple sweet potato pie
Iraqi inspired purple sweet potato baklava with cheese wow this one was so good!
Ethiopian inspired purple sweet potato chicken soup, this chef was particularly impressed by his partners knife skills, I told him he needs this soup on his menu!
Nepali purple sweet potato samosas
one of the chefs
A while back I made a leek and potato soup with these potatoes, if you find some what will you do with yours?
Didn't get to stay all day but hope to catch the World food in the Triad session tomorrow what fun!