Discover and explore an entirely different culinary universe through the lens of fine teas with Eric Gower and Ikushin Dana Velden.
Eric and Dana lead Breakaway Cooking with Tea, a Tassajara retreat, from May 31 – June 3. A few words on the unique experience from Eric are below.
“Leading workshops at Tassajara is both inspiring and intensely pleasurable; I look forward to them all year. The atmosphere at Tassajara is magical in lots of ways, but one of its most powerful attributes has to do with the ability to extend our everyday ability to focus while there. When unfamiliar information is presented, people tend to absorb it much more readily; people who attend are almost always ready and willing to open themselves to new ways of thinking and doing.
A long weekend at Tassajara also gives the precious gift of unhurried, free-flowing time. There is of course a loose schedule, but there’s not much that’s pressing on our attention, no fires to put out, no daily pressures from the contemporary world competing fiercely for our limited attention. And when our attention is relieved of that bombardment of things coming inside us, something interesting happens: we listen and observe a little more closely, we relax yet remain alert. This is an especially great environment in which to learn. The retreat is all about tastes. We’ll cook dishes, for sure, but they will be examples of how to make them, to be shared among the participants in bite-sized portions.
I’m excited about this new workshop — most people think of tea as a simple drink that tastes good, sometimes provides a caffeine boost, or, in the case of herbal teas, sometimes soothes and comforts, but we’re going to explore this very, very old beverage in new ways. We’ll of course be sipping it as we go, but we’ll also infuse teas into bubbly water, make desserts with tea, create savory toppings with tea, make tea-infused salts to be used to create lightning-fast and tasty, interesting meals, all prepared with care and mindfulness. And joy, too.”
Join Eric and Dana as they explore new culinary frontiers during their extended weekend retreat. Visit the Tassajara website for more information and to sign up.
