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W<\/span>ithin a restaurant space in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday morning a small group gathers for a cooking and juicing demonstration hosted by a noted chef. The whole thing feels very Californian, vegan donuts and coffee are offered as songs by Perfume Genius play within the bright open room which has tables set for an upcoming dinner service and one person is smoking a joint on a back patio. However, as common as this type of cooking pop-up gathering might seem in the San Francisco Bay Area, what is uncommon is the use of the day\u2019s star ingredient, cannabis. The person smoking the joint is chef Payton Curry, the CEO and founder of Flourish, and he is hosting a demonstration that will show attendees how to juice the raw leaves of the plant and make infused oils at home as a part of a weeklong pop-up designed to introduce others to an experience he\u2019s coined as \u201ccannavore dining.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese events are to socialize cannabis,\u201d Curry says. \u201cIt\u2019s for the community, this is a public service event. This is the future of what we call \u2018hashpitality,\u2019 hospitality with hash.\u201d<\/p>\n The events, which include infused dinners and cooking classes, exist within a legal gray area. Although cannabis is now legal for adults in the Golden State to possess, shops to purchase retail marijuana are not set to open until Jan. 1, 2018 and, at least for now, the pop-ups are private gatherings for medical marijuana patients where cannabis products are ingested and sampled, but not sold. Oakland resident Wanda Blake heard about the event from an article a friend sent her way. She\u2019s a recent medical marijuana patient who received her recommendation only a month ago because the acupuncturist she was seeing lost her space, but told Blake that she could receive her services free of charge through wellness activities offered to patients at one of the state\u2019s largest dispensaries, Harborside Health Center.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t had any connection with cannabis in 20 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Blake now uses cannabis topicals, but doesn\u2019t smoke cannabis or consume edibles. She does however, own a catering company called Wanda\u2019s Cooking and is interested in cooking edibles for others who are in need of pain relief. Her friend as Stage 4 cancer and wants to try cannabis to feel relaxed, but not anxious.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t quite figured out how this cooking is going to work without me tasting it,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n Despite not consuming cannabis in other ways, during the course of the demo Blake does try some of the juice made from the leaves of the plant. Cannabis leaves are high in the raw cannabinoid THCA<\/a>, but because the cannabis has not been activated through a process known as decarboxylation, do not result in the feeling of being stoned.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the inflammation in my body I really need that [juice],\u201d she says while cradling a box of leaves Curry has given her to take home.<\/p>\n Curry got his career in the kitchen started as a 14-year-old dishwasher and rose to prominence cooking in some of the top kitchens in the Bay Area including the French Laundry, Ame and Quince. Flourish<\/a>, which offers a line of about 36 infused products including a ranch dressing \u201ccalled Forbidden Valley Ranch just because,\u201d began in Arizona about 10 years ago and expanded to the California cannabis marketplace this spiring. Curry has recently been traveling around the nation welcoming small business to collaborate on his concept, a culinary institute of cannabis that will teach line cooks across America how to dose with infused products beyond as a distillate, a process used concentrate cannabis that utilizes ethanol.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I want is that full-spectrum, full-nutrition real medicine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n To explore his vision, Curry\u2019s brought on Jacob Bird, a 25-year executive chef turned hashmaker. Bird\u2019s Oakland-based company is called Wise Bird Handcrafted Products and Curry can\u2019t say enough about the hash Bird produces which, he says, provides for more nutritious cannabis edibles and blends without sticking or running, resulting to more precise dosing. As a part of the day\u2019s demonstration Bird stretches the hashish<\/a>, a cannabis concentrate made my agitating trichomes covered in THC<\/a> from buds or trim using water and ice, into a thin golden strip.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turns into this Louis Vuitton gold,\u201d Curry says.<\/p>\n While all of Flourish\u2019s current product line is now made from either distillate or CO2<\/a> oils, Curry explains that with Bird\u2019s involvement Flourish can now expand to offer edibles and tinctures made with hashish instead.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a time and a place for just THC and there\u2019s a market for that, that\u2019s why there will always be gummy bears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Distillate is a notoriously strong method of infusion, that strips away most of the plant\u2019s paraffins, fats and lipids.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want something that\u2019s 94 percent THC, I am not social after that,\u201d Bird says, adding that the fats, lipids and paraffins act as binders for the cooking process.<\/p>\n Bird and Curry met through social media. When they first met in person they smoked each other\u2019s joints and, although there are many unique strains, discovered they both had the same taste in cannabis centering around Blackberry Diesel and Blackberry Kush. The day\u2019s demonstration involves juicing the raw leaves of Blackberry Diesel using a blender, water and ice. Juicing,<\/a> Curry says, represents a maximization of resources and allows small farmers the ability to create a revenue stream with a product that would typically be discarded.<\/p>\n As Curry chops the leaves and places them, stems and all, in the blender he describes to attendees how THCA is \u201cthe training wheels to your emotions,\u201d that result in a sense of euphoria or wellness. Juicing cannabis, he says, neutralizes the PH levels in the stomach and creates a bioavailability that allows nutrients to process more efficiently.<\/p>\n \u201cIt positively influences your stomach environment,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get better gas millage.\u201d<\/p>\n This soothing affect in the gut makes juicing cannabis leaves a great option for those suffering from gastrointestinal disorders. During the demonstration Curry says the best way to juice is with manual juicer like the type used for wheatgrass. However, also like wheatgrass, cannabis leaves can taste bitter when done in this fashion so he uses a regular blender to introduce newcomers to the taste.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to drink it right away,\u201d he says as the small crowd of about eight people takes notes. \u201cThe phytonutrients will die within minutes due to light and exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n Once everyone has sampled the juice, Curry moves on to showing how to create cannabis oils. And, as a longtime chef, he has an excellent way of describing decarboxylation, or removing the carbon from cannabis buds using heat. He tells the room to think of it like dehydrating, or taking parsley and turning it into dried parsley, an act that makes it more potent by removing the water.<\/p>\n While most home edibles chefs, Curry included, initially start to make cannabis butters and oils using a crockpot this process is viable, but not ideal. When using a crockpot the smells of cannabis will permeate the room, which means home cooks are vaporizing off of some of the terpenes<\/a>. Terpenes, which are found in cannabis and other plants, can be understood in the same way as essential oils \u2014 they play a large role in the taste, smell and effects of cannabis.<\/p>\n Crockpots, Curry says, \u201caggressively violate terpene structures,\u201d so instead, he decarboxilates cannabis by placing it in a sealed mason jar in the preheated oven. Ovens vary, but he typically works within 235-245 degrees for 35-50 minutes. After that process is complete, cooks can pour on the fat they\u2019d like to work with (olive, coconut oil or clarified butter) and dunk the jar (or jars) in hot water for about an hour at about 185-195 degrees to stabilize the infusion.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just like canning, forget the peaches,\u201d Blake says.<\/p>\n After this process is over the oil can be strained through a cheese cloth or basket strainer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plant is green so it\u2019s OK if your cannabutter is a little bit green,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n Ricky Serbin, a homegrower in Cloverdale, attended the Cannavore dining<\/a> pop-up to learn more about what to do with his product.<\/p>\n \u201cI cook, but I want to learn from a pro,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m going to explore and I\u2019m definitely going to juice everyday because it\u2019s that time of year. It\u2019s time to start trimming, [juice] every morning for breakfast right? I\u2019ll just go to the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n For Serbin, the event was a great way to meet likeminded cannabis enthusiasts and try new things. He took his first dab at the juicing class and also attended the infused dinner held a night prior.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s strong, great,\u201d he said when asked what he thought of the experience of trying a dab. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to change from my joint smoking though. I\u2019m thrilled to meet people like me. My partner doesn\u2019t smoke or touch [cannabis] so it\u2019s nice to meet others who do.\u201d<\/p>\n Curry is planning to host more pop-ups in San Francisco this September.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, would you be interested in a cannabis cooking class?<\/p>\n The post Pop-Up Shows Home Cooks How to Work With Cannabis<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A private event demonstrates how to juice cannabis leaves and create oil infusions. Within a restaurant space in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday morning a small group gathers for a cooking and juicing demonstration hosted by a noted chef. The whole thing feels very Californian, vegan donuts and coffee areContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":18709,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,1245,111,1246,1247,1165],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18710,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18708\/revisions\/18710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/flourish@2x.jpg\")
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\nRead More: Pop-Up Shows Home Cooks How to Work With Cannabis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"