California Local Foods

Growing seasons are long and multiple in California, but produce items still have their seasons.

The Golden State is awash in food festivals from big splashy fairs to smaller community events. Find a festival near you or featuring your favorite California ingredient:

• Artichoke Festival (Castroville, California)
• Avocado Festival (Carpinteria, California)
• California's Artisan Cheese Festival (Petaluma, California)
• Gilroy Garlic Festival (Gilroy, California)
• Lambtown, USA (Dixon, California)
• Mendocino Crab & Wine Days (Mendocino, California)

Eat like the locals eat in California with these great recipes for classic California dishes:

• California Roll
• Cioppino (Seafood Stew)
• Cobb Salad
• Cream of Artichoke Soup
• Meyer Lemon Marmalade
• Pan-Fried Abalone
• Santa Maria Barbecue

California has plenty of community supported agriculture programs to choose from.

There are several sustainable, locally focused ranchers and livestock farms in California.

• Clark Summit Farms in Tomales Bay raises pastured beef, pork, chickens, eggs, and sometimes geese
• Marin Sun Farms provides beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, and eggs to the San Francisco Bay Area

Once upon a time, abalone was so plentiful on the California coast that beach-goers would simply pluck them off rocks at low tide and cook them up over bonfires. Such a defenseless condition, combined with richly flavored meat that always strikes me as a cross between scallops and foie gras, led to a threatened population. Wild abalone harvest is now strictly regulated, and limited to recreational diving only. Luckily, some intrepid souls raise farmed abalone. No matter what kind you have, see how to clean it and how to cook it.

Dungeness crabs crawl along the shore from Central California on north to Alaska and are a seasonal favorite, especially in Northern California. The crab season usually opens in mid-November in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Dungeness crab is a traditional part of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas Eve crab-picking dinners.

You need almond orchards to get green almonds, and California grows a whole hell of a lot of almonds. Look for delectable green almonds at farmers markets and some specialty markets in April and, depending on the year, into early June sometimes.