Slow Food Nation. Volunteering at Slow On The Go with Scott Peacock and Heritage Foods.

You have had a great day volunteering at Slow Food Nation's inventive Slow On the Go when,

you stay the whole day when your shift ends at 2.
you work with Scott Peacock and Heritage Foods!!
you work with some of the best ham around.
you meet and work right alongside the people who raise the Berkshire pigs!
you see and serve and smile at and chat with
     chefs, writers, pastry chefs, restaurant owners, charcuterie makers, and many more who are your heroes and heroines
from all over the map
but no one is more famous than the next anyone

because we're all volunteering and eating and baking and buttering and grilling and
big gusts of wind are taking paper plates dolloped with jam
and one of those bursts of wind
lifted up a full parchment sheet of paper thin sliced meat
and hit you in the face with it. and you laughed, and said thanks to your g-d who has a sense of humour.

you watch biscuits being made and rolled and docked and cut out
for hours and hours, with no break, and you never tire of it.
you know you are serving one of the best plates in all of the Civic Center.
you split apart freshly baked biscuits
made with Fatted Calf fresh rendered lard
and butter them generously with Strauss butter
someone quickly sears thinly sliced American "Serrano"
and you sandwich it between buttered biscuit top and bottom.
two biscuit sandwiches share a plate with fresh Georgia berry jam. (strawberry, blackberry or raspberry)

you see many of your old bosses. you smile at them regardless.
you work fast and furious and you constantly separate garbage so that nothing that does not belong in the SF compost container gets in there.
you wish Slow Food Nation could educate everyone, including all of the vendors, about how most everything can be composted from the event:
plates, napkins, utensils, parchment paper-- basically everything that is not aluminum foil & plastic wrap.

you come home with a tense back and locked knees and fingernails filled with butter and jam and pork fat.

and

even though you are not signed up to volunteer there tomorrow,
{because Sunday morning from 3:30 am - 9:30 am you will be making and rolling and cutting and proofing and frying and glazing donuts},

you say yes

when Scott Peacock asks you so demurely, so politely, so graciously

you could melt,
like lard in his beautiful hands.

See you soon?

Comments

[aran]

that's fantastic shuna... i love when i meet someone that makes me melt like lard... beautifully said.

[Lovebabz]

Ain't love GRAND!

Go on GIRL, you are baddd!

[Tartelette]

Loved your expression! I think I'd have a skip in my step too!

[poppy]

Thank you for posting this. I also volunteered with Heritage Foods this weekend and I've been trying to figure out what was so neat about it. This helped me figure it out. I have some issues with certain aspects of Slow Food, but Saturday I got to appreciate the parts I love. There were a lot of pleases and thank yous even when the pace was hectic (well, hectic for a non-cook like me who hasn't worked in a restaurant for years and years). People waiting in line didn't seem stressed out - they started conversations with strangers and expanded the celebration and community that food can provide. Oh, and explaining San Francisco's composting program to non-locals made me proud.

Eek, long comment. But thanks so much for this post.

[Heather]

That sounds really great! I had an awesome time even though I was only there for a few hours. It was great to meet you! Such a nice coincidence. If SFN happens again, I'll be tempted to volunteer (unless it coincides with Burning Man again, which would suck because I'll be going next year).

That serrano ham at Heritage Foods was totally to die for. At the end of the day, I bought two pounds of it! I've been eating it on everything ever since. My friends bought a large chunk of their coppa, some garlic salami, and a huge half-wheel of cheese that they were wanting to get rid of, too! We're going to have a charcuterie and cheese party this week; I can't wait.

[Crystal]

I had those biscuits (two servings!) on Saturday for lunch and they were indeed to die for. I actually got one order, and then went and stood in line again to get another. Yum -- good work!