Ruby Eats Real

Finally, as if you've all been waiting for it, my LONG overdue post about the most amazing food festival of the everything: Eat Real. All the commentary is going to boil down to "here are the amazing things I saw and ate."

(c) Eat Real and/or Robyn Johnson 2009

(c) Eat Real and/or Robyn Johnson 2009

This was the second annual Eat Real Festival, which is held in Oakland and is an offshoot of the Slow Food movement that focuses on local, sustainable street food. My lovely, talented, workaholic friend Robyn is one of the people whose sweat, blood, and tears goes into making it a reality, so I get an insider's perspective on the whole ordeal, minus the insider's stress and hard work. Last summer I was able to tag along on several expeditions to seek out delicious street food, justifying my presence by being willing to have photographs of me posted on Eat Real's site as a model consumer. I'm generous like that. And, um, one of the events required mustaches. First time in the Mission when the hombres didn't hit on us, but the dykes did. And that one drunk guy, who was all "nice beard!"

Anyway, this time around, I wasn't in California to take advantage of the fun food adventures (although I got lots of texts about them – a not-so-subtle ruse to convince me to move back), I did "help" by tweeting the event, averaging about one tweet every hour, when I stopped eating and remembered my job. So I'll put those in this post, so you can get an idea how big a slacker I was being. Also I managed to used the wrong tag for most of the time. Sorry, Robyn.

So mostly I was stuffing my face and wandering around with all the lovely people who showed up for the beautiful weather, exhibitions, and delicious food.

And beer.

Get ready Oakland, it's the last day of #erf2010 and word is there's still some beer left from yesterday. Help us drink all those taps dry! Sun Aug 29 13:06:28 2010 via mobile web

The happiest dogs are the ones hanging out near the Eat Real Ranch. they just love learning about urban goat farming! #erf2010 Sat Aug 28 19:03:10 2010 via mobile web

There was a moment of calm and linelessness up by the Creme Brulee Cart and Raw Daddy Foods. An oddly successful combination! #erf2010

Just learned that the massive pans used by Gerard's Paella are called paella - that's where the name comes from! #erf2010 Sat Aug 28 20:16:51 2010 via mobile web

The paella was by far the most photographed and discussed thing at Eat Real. (And rightly so! Do you see the rake? They need to RAKE the paella.) After the first day, I went home and told my dad about it. The next day I got a call from him, that went something like this: 
"hey hon, i just got to Eat Real."
"oh! great! where are you? I'll come find you!"
"actually, all I want to know is the way to the paella tent."

 When I finally found him, he'd gotten both kinds of paella (and some sliced mango) and was quite contentedly consuming it all. 

One of the best parts of my time at Eat Real was finally getting to try Black Pig Meat Company's bacon, which I'd heard legendary things about. The things I heard were under-exaggerated. The bacon smell aroused my senses, and the friendly people cooking it up noticed my photographic excitement and helpfully stuck a huge pan out the tent window. And then they sold us a BLT. And then I was completely sold on their bacon. 

 Seriously, that was some good stuff. I wonder if they'd ship it to Philadelphia?

The lunch lines have formed, but they're moving quickly and there's so many fantastic choices! Eat well and keep it Real! #erfest2010 Sun Aug 29 16:14:02 2010 via mobile web

 And, hey, it's Oakland. The people were almost as awesome as the food!

And that was Eat Real. 

Most of the goats are in the pen, but one just tried to join the throngs of Eat Realers. He just wants some tacos! #erf2010 Sat Aug 28 19:47:11 2010 via mobile web 

In addition to all the wonderful vendors and lovely people and cute animals and yummy foodstuffs, there were some demonstrations. The ones I attended all involved large slabs of meat. If you aren't into that, pretend this post ended here, and just listen to Carne Cruda, whose lovely performance was the only one I managed to catch:

• Oakland's Tight by Carne Cruda

Stand in the very short beer line and listen to Carne Cruda wax poetic on Oakland's tightness. #erfest2010 Sun Aug 29 16:36:12 2010 via mobile web 

 

For the rest of you, here's some sweet butchery action:

♥ saw ♥

 This was the steer butchery competition. I want one of those bones! For soups! This lady told me so:

All the competitions were announced by the lovely Eat Real founder, Anya Fernald, who this photograph does not do justice to. She's beautiful, smart, and has lots of advice on how to purchase, process, and prepare lots of different meats. And other things. But particularly meats.

On red pork: "For some reason America decided to like its pork white. Probably around the same time it started to like suburbs." #erf2010 Sun Aug 29 18:13:49 2010 via Twitter for BlackBerry®  

 

Pig butchers share a jar of moonshine before the competition! #erf2010 Sun Aug 29 18:06:00 2010 via Twitter for BlackBerry® 

 

 "Anytime someone's using a ham, I am a happy man." -Max Stepanian, pig butchery judge. #erf2010 Sun Aug 29 18:35:43 2010 via mobile web  

  
(Max is the guy on the right, with the thick curly hair pumping his fist at the sight of the big piece of pork.)

 That's Dave the Butcher, with my new favorite kitchen utensil – the meat saw. Once the pig butchery contest was over, the butchers carried the pork belly to another stage and taught everyone how to make bacon. Except that they'd already had some moonshine at the beginning of the butchery segment, and they were drinking beer during the presentation, so by the end, all the bacon-making directions were rather vague and tangential. Which only made the entire thing better, really.

"Bacon fat is not bad for you...I don't think." -Dave the Butcher #erf2010 Sun Aug 29 19:31:53 2010 via mobile web

Eat Real's main stage mascot – a stuffed chicken.

And that was Eat Real 2010. I'll be back next year. And maybe before then.