By Cynthia Sass
Photograph by Samantha Durfee

There are dozens of online videos and guides devoted to how to cut, de-seed and eat a pomegranate—and getting schooled is well worth the effort. A recent study, published in Cancer Prevention Research, found that natural substances called ellagitannins found in pomegranates slash the risk of hormone-dependent breast cancer. Scientists say these compounds suppress the production of estrogen, which in turn prevents estrogen-responsive breast cancer cells from flourishing. This potent disease-fighting fruit has also been found to impede the spread of cancer from the prostate to bone—a significant benefit because as prostate cancer, which has no known cure, is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the United States.

By Rachael Narins 
Photography by Jen Britton

Are you one of the naysayers who believe there are no seasons in Los Angeles? Tell that to the luscious tomatoes and ripe golden peaches of summer. Or shout it towards our pervasive June gloom. Tell that to the cabbages, Brussels sprouts and other members of the large, frost-tolerant, cruciferous vegetable family that hit their peak when nights are short.

In other words, we have growing seasons, like anywhere else. We just have better, less chilly versions.
The cabbage, that kale, the pebbly dark greens and elegant bok choy sustain us through winter, no matter how mild or harsh—and are the stalwarts of winter cuisine worldwide. On the Westside, they flourish in our verdant gardens from October to February.

By Cynthia Sass

Brussels sprouts, named for the capital of Belgium, where they originated (hence the s on the end, which is often forgotten), are nutrition dynamos that belong to the cruciferous vegetable family, practically the royal set by nutritionists’ standards.

By Christy Wilhelmi

What’s green or purple and bulbous, with leaves like Sideshow Bob’s hair? It’s our dear friend kohlrabi. This cool-weather favorite is an enigma of sorts, but once you discover it you’ll want to grow and enjoy it every year. Kohlrabi tastes a lot like the stem of broccoli, but the texture steers more toward jicama when raw and potatoes when cooked. It’s a chef ’s creative dream.

By Randy Clemens

While it may not be quite as American as apple pie, cider has strong roots in America’s history. And while it isn’t anywhere near as popular a drink as beer, wine or spirits, more and more artisan producers are joining the cider game in the hopes of changing that.

There was a time when apple cider was the preferred drink of Americans. To be clear, we’re talking about so-called “hard cider” here, apple juice that’s undergone fermentation to convert its sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Early European settlers relied on fermented alcoholic drinks like cider, beer, mead and wine as a safe source of hydration. All too often, water was contaminated with any number of pathogens and was not considered wise to consume.

.By Christy Wilhelmi
Photo by Linzy May Mahoney 

Robinson Road Olive Ranch Revives Ancient Agriculture
Written and Photographed by Felicia Friesema 

Once upon a time, so the story goes, Zeus sought a deity to rule over Attica where the Acropolis would stand, and devised a 
contest: The god who gave mankind its most valuable gift would win. Athena produced an olive tree.

That story is one of many—thousands, really—that pepper a rich agricultural history dating back to 6,000 BC, when it was first discovered that the wild olive, Olea europaea, could be grafted and propagated to produce an oil with myriad uses that spanned from sacred symbolism to healing skin afflictions and digestive disorders to fueling lamps and stoves to providing essential and flavorful nourishment.

This history is lovingly explored in Mort Rosenblum’s book Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit in passionate and exhaustive detail. This is the tome that found its way into the hands of Joyce Lukon in 2007. As a newly minted landowner in Topanga Canyon, Lukon was hoping to turn a hard-scrabble, hilly former nudist colony parcel into a productive farm. Over 800 Arbequina and Arbosana olive trees—Spanish varietals known for their high oil content and mild and buttery flavor profile—now fill the three and a half acre property she has dubbed Robinson Road Olive Ranch, a piquant reminder of the all-but-forgotten days of the agricultural potency of Los Angeles County.

“It was awful. It was a dump,” said Lukon, visibly grimacing at the memory of the property when she bought it in 2004. “It was all weeds and pony walls and bamboo shades. Like somebody was hiding here. 

By Rachael Narins 
Photography by Jen Britton 

Ever since the 1700s, when cattle were first introduced to California by the Spanish, there have been Western cowboys taking the reins as herders and ranchers. We can all conjure an image of that person in our mind’s eye: forever rounding up cattle and spending nights on the trail.
That romantic image may be stuck in our collective conscious, but it’s no secret that this lifestyle and line of work has come into the modern age. It would be a challenge to picture that same person living and working in nearby Orange County—let alone showing up at the farmers market to sell locally raised, grass-fed beef.
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Yet that is exactly what Frank Fitzpatrick of 5 Bar Beef in Silverado is doing.

​For several millennia, earthenware pots were all the rage for fermenting, storing, and transporting beer. Though, as one might expect, these were immensely heavy and could be easily broken, which does not a happy drinker make. But somewhere between 900 and 350 BCE, the design for the modern barrel would come about thanks to the Celts, who were quite skilled at both woodwork and metallurgy.

Besides being less prone to breakage, the wooden vessels could be rolled and stacked, and represented quite an improvement over the old way of clay.  Heating staves of wood and bending them into shape can create a very tight waterproof seal, a trick likely borrowed from shipbuilders when barrels were first dreamt up. The heating took place over a direct flame, resulting in the barrel’s inner surface becoming toasted or even charred by the fire.  For winemakers, this procedure introduced new elements of flavor while improving aging conditions. But in the realm of beer, this wasn’t considered desirable, and the insides of barrels were often coated with a pine resin called pitch, preventing the wood from actually interacting with the beer’s profile.

Distillers found that aging their spirits in the toasted oak would alter the liquor with not just the amber color of the barrel, but also impregnate it with mild hints of vanilla, coconut, and caramel. As the alcohol sat, it pulled these flavor compounds out of the wood as it soaked deeper into the barrel, and the spirit would also mellow over time, becoming less harsh as it developed added complexity. After extended aging, the liquor could be emptied, and the barrel could be reused or repurposed. Often, former bourbon and sherry barrels would make their way to Scotland to serve as a new home for the maturation of Scotch whisky. This happy life cycle would carry on for hundreds of years, but it wouldn’t be until the late 20th century that brewers would experiment with aging their suds in a used spirits barrel.

While some smaller instances may predate it, my research drew me to Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout—originally released at their Chicago brewpub in 1992—as the first commercially available beer aged in a spirits barrel. Homebrewers in the area had reportedly invested in a used bourbon barrel and encouraged Goose Island’s then brewmaster Greg Hall to do the same. Around the same time, Hall was asked to participate in a beer, bourbon, and cigar dinner in South Bend, Indiana and he was fortuitously seated next to Booker Noe, a legendary master distiller at Jim Bean. By the end of the evening, Hall had talked Noe out of six bourbon barrels and set out to make a very special brew to commemorate the brewpub’s 1,000th batch of beer.

By Erin Beasley
Photography by Becky Reams ​

Matthew Kenney’s position in the culinary world today is the type of feel-good outcome one strives for when making decisions based on emotion and kismet. Kenney is charming, enigmatic and possessing of a contagious enthusiasm for health, flavor and quality of life—all attributes he employs to maintain his position in the pulpit of the raw food movement.
A line graph of Kenney’s professional journey would reveal many highs and lows over the course of his nearly 25 years in the kitchen. His initial butter-drenched train- ing at the then-quite-traditional French Culinary Institute in New York laid the technical foundation for his later experimentation with Mediterranean flavors at his own restaurants.

Kenney’s talent with these lighter flavors, paired with his own personal growth toward a more holistic lifestyle, eventually inspired him to apply his classic technique to the world of plant-based cuisine.

By Randy Clemens
Photography by Jen Britton

Home dairy craft, minding the kids and big reality in Altadena
Written & Photographed by Felicia Friesema

Even the name sounds bucolic: Altadena— a shady suburb in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, about 15 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, hugged by the 210 freeway to the west, Pasadena to the south and rugged and rocky slopes of the Angeles National Forest to the north and east.

Chicago millionaires swooped in, in the late 1800s, building stately mansions along Mariposa Street. Frontier adventure author Zane Grey bought and remodeled one of those estates in 1918, which his son then sold to the Rudicel family in 1970. That’s where the history lesson ends and the birth of Los Angeles County’s first new dairy in over a century begins.
Stephen Rudicel and his partner, Gloria Putnam, have transformed the Zane Grey Estate into a modern, community-oriented urban agriculture learning center in the heart of a thriving, homestead-friendly unincorporated town. The main teachers are the goats—unsurprising once you’ve met them—which provide unsolicited lessons in patience, community health, generosity, neighborhood relations, play and, sometimes, death.
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The gateway drug of the homestead set is the now ubiquitous flock of chickens. That was what Rudicel and Putnam had actually intended. After resettling into the Zane Grey Estate (both had been living in Pomona) they began transforming the estate’s grounds—dominated by compacted, clay-heavy soil—into a lush oasis of free-seeding kales, artichokes and wild greens. The chicken coop was intended to be the next step, providing both eggs and a way to recycle some of the garden waste and close an environmental loop. “It was a Christmas gift for Gloria,” admitted Rudicel. “And it’s weird: Usually people start [with chickens] and then, depending on their situation, will graduate to larger livestock. We went at it a little backwards.”

This summer staple is bursting with natural substances that pack a health-protective punch. Watermelon contains dietary fiber for digestive health, and potassium, a mineral that helps keep blood pressure capped.

​One cup also provides more than a quarter of your daily needs for immune-supporting vitamins A and C. Vitamin A also maintains healthy skin, which gives watermelon some credence as a beauty food. And, it’s also one of the best sources of lycopene, an antioxidant linked to a reduced risk of prostate and cervical cancer, as well as heart disease.

In fact, watermelon’s heart-protective benefits are quite remarkable. In an animal study, rats with high cholesterol were given either water or watermelon juice. After eight weeks, the watermelon group had significantly lower cholesterol levels, and experienced weight and fat loss without any loss of lean muscle tissue.

By Christy Wilhelmi

Tomatoes may be the quintessential summer fruit, but when it comes to summer parties, picnics and barbecues, nothing beats sweet corn. Corn is part of our land’s heritage and it is a staple ingredient for outdoor fare during hot weather. Slather it with butter, or eat it straight off the grill, corn’s perfectly ripe sweetness is second to none. Growing corn is easy. The only challenging part is timing the harvest. There is a short window within which to harvest the ears before the sugars turn to starch, but let’s back up for a minute and start with a few pointers on growing this majestic crop.
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PLANT IN RICH SOIL
Corn is a heavy feeder, meaning it needs plenty of organic matter and nutrients to feed upon as it grows. Amend your soil with compost and plant seeds 12 to 15 inches apart and one inch deep. Soak them overnight first.

By Christy Wilhelmi
Photography by Jen Britton

More and more, people in Los Angeles have embraced selfreliance by growing their own food. A beginner typically starts off by growing transplants from the nursery, but as their gardening addiction persists, they shift to growing from seed. Why? Simply put, the selection is staggering.
If you ask David King, garden master at the Learning Garden at Venice High, the same question, he’ll give you more information about seeds, seed-saving and food politics in five minutes than you can get from the news any day. This Kansas-native, country boy inspires excitement, outrage and occasional civil disobedience when he takes the stage to talk about seeds. In 2012, he founded the Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA) to help spread the word about seed saving, and hopes to further the cause on a national level.

By Cynthia Sass
​Photograph by Jen Britton

This delectable springtime treasure can claim some serious nutritional bragging rights. One cup of raw asparagus provides at least 10% of your daily needs for over a dozen key nutrients, including vitamin A and folate. A tennis-ball-sized portion of fresh asparagus packs 20% of your daily target for vitamin A, which makes it a smart choice for bolstering your immune system. Your body relies on vitamin A to make white blood cells, which fight off harmful bacteria. This vital nutrient also helps to form the mucous membranes of your eyes, respiratory tract and digestive system, which act as protective barriers to keep germs out of your body.​

​The folate found in asparagus, nearly 20% of your daily needs per cup, may also help to keep your brain sharp and memory in tact. A study by Tufts University, which followed over 300 men for three years, found that those with high blood homocysteine levels showed memory loss, but the gents who ate foods rich in folate, which directly lowers homocysteine levels, maintained their memories. Research has also found that folate-deficient older adults are nearly three and a half times more likely to develop dementia.

By Randy Clemens

By Randy Clemens
Illustration by Derek Mast

By Cynthia Sass
Photograph by Carole Topalian

White foods have a reputation for being devoid of nutrients, but this pallid veggie proves that theory dead wrong. Cauliflower, a cabbage relative, is a nutritional force of nature, loaded with key nutrients, as well as natural substances that fight heart disease and cancer, the nation’s top two killers.
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Cauliflower provides vitamin K, which helps maintain strong bones and allows blood to clot—you can stop your own bleeding if you cut yourself while chopping. It also contains folate, which prevents changes to DNA that may lead to cancer, as well as potassium, a mineral that supports muscle maintenance, heart function and lowers blood pressure. Finally, it’s an excellent source of vitamin C, which serves double duty as both an anti-aging, disease fighting antioxidant, and an essential vitamin required for healing and immunity.

​By Cynthia Sass

By Randy Clemens
​Illustration by Cambria Griffith

Backward Beekeepers swarm L.A., enjoy the sweet rewards and save our food supply
Written & Photographed by Felicia Friesema

It’s a hot morning as we climb the back hillside of a beautiful Griffith Park-adjacent home. Kirk Anderson, one of the founders of the Backwards Beekeepers, is leading a group of seven budding beekeepers fully clad in white bee suits and hoods. The mood is anticipatory tinged with a little primal fear. We’re completely protected by screens and thick canvas and in some cases heavy leather gloves, but still the tiny bee—correction: bees, thousands of them—still scare us into complete silence as we ascend to the hives. That fear is part of what has kept beekeeping illegal in many areas of Los Angeles.

By Randy Clemens
Photography by Tyler Graham