Old Havana Sandwich Shop Celebrates Third Anniversary

By now, everyone knows that Durham is the Tastiest Town in the South. Part of that title is due to Durham's true diversity of dining options along with a tight-knit agricultural heritage of connecting farmers to chefs.

Whenever a Durham restaurant finds success, that's a reason to celebrate. Old Havana Sandwich Shop is inviting area residents to Celebrate The Pig on Friday, January 17, from 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm at a special tapas night for the restaurant’s third anniversary. Featuring acorn-fed black Berkshire pigs from Green Button Farm, menu items will include pork “from the ears to the tail and the belly in-between.”

A release by the restaurant has some details about the food and events of the evening:

Dishes such as white bean and tail soup, potted pigs feet, plantains with roasted pork and spicy relish, and mussels in a bacon white wine sauce will encourage diners to try pork in new ways. The menu will also offer a plate of Spanish-style cured lomo and other charcuterie from local charcutier James Naguin who will accept a Good Foods Award the same weekend.

“We’ve made our name with pasture-raised slow-roasted pork,” co-owner Elizabeth Turnbull says. “Now, we’re inviting our customers to celebrate with us and go beyond the traditional plates.” While the menu items may reach beyond the traditional limits of Cuban cuisine, chef Roberto Copa Matos says the dishes will still highlight Cuban flavors.

The event is open to the public. The tapas menu will be served in lieu of the restaurant’s usual menu. The event is heavily pork-centered, but there will be one or two vegetarian options.

For more information on agritourism in Durham and throughout the region, check out TriangleGrown.com.

Seasonal Cookbook to Celebrate Durham

While Durham works to be voted the Tastiest Town in the South, there are people here working on some great food related projects.  A cookbook is one of them.

Durhamites Ali Rudel (This & That Jam) and Elizabeth Turnbull (Old Havana Sandwich Shop) seeks to tell the story of how Durham, a former Tobacco Town, has found redemption in food.

Recipes for Starting Fresh will come primarily from Rudel and Turnbull, but at least one-third of the recipes are expected to come from Durham-based chefs and food artisans as well as the farmers who grew the ingredients.

“Agriculture bore our city, and it’s playing a major role in the revitalization as well,” says Rudel. Featured in such illustrious outlets as The New York Times, Bon Appétit, The Food Network, and Southern Living, Durham is known across the US as a food lover’s paradise. While it’s generally understood that this food culture is possible because of the incredible local ingredients available to the area’s chefs, the farmers have to this point remained mostly behind the scenes. Starting Fresh is bringing those farmers into the spotlight where they belong.

While the cookbook’s creators expect to take advantage of modern tools allowing them to engage their readers through features such as links from the cookbook to online video tutorials, this project is slated to be more than just a cookbook. Starting Fresh will also feature profiles of local farmers and recipe contributors as well as meaningful essays from Durham-area writers and journalists.

Without a doubt, one of the major highlights of Starting Fresh will be the photographs from Durham- based photographer, Annemie Tonken of Megapixie Photography. “When this book isn’t open on your kitchen counter, we want it to be displayed proudly on your coffee table,” Tonken says. Rather than the more standard food photography found in most cookbooks, Tonken's images will center on meaningful portraits of Durham's farmers, chefs, and food artisans, as well as images of the landscape that gives Durham its distinct flavor.

Starting Fresh is slated for publication in 2014 by Light Messages Publishing, a small local publisher specializing in emerging authors. Turnbull, one of the cookbook authors, is also the Senior Editor for the family-run publishing firm. “My family has always loved good food, and we love Durham. So, honestly, this wasn’t a hard pitch to make,” Turnbull says. “From a company perspective, we see this as an opportunity to really put us on the map with area readers and food lovers.”

To document the progress on the cookbook, Rudel and Turnbull have started the Starting Fresh Blog. Throughout the project, Rudel, Turnbull, and Tonken will post recipes, photos, and stories about the challenges and triumphs of taking on such an ambitious project.

Durham has lots of great food events each year. Keep up to date on those with the Durham Event Calendar.  Vote for Durham as the Tastiest Town in the South by visiting this page.