WASHINGTON 鈥� Move over, kale. There鈥檚 a new leafy green rising to fame in the food world 鈥� but you won鈥檛 be able to find it at your local grocery store. You鈥檒l need to know a guy.
Around the country, more chefs and home cooks are incorporating cannabis into their cooking 鈥� and we鈥檙e not just talking about brownies.
The reports that 鈥渃ooking with cannabis is emerging as a legitimate and very lucrative culinary pursuit.鈥� Skilled cooks are leaving jobs at respected restaurants to experiment with innovative ways to infuse marijuana into dishes that one might expect from a five-star restaurant, and major publishing houses are exploring cookbook projects.
The trend is hitting the nation鈥檚 capital, too. Al Goldberg, founder of the D.C.-based food incubator , is gearing up to host the city鈥檚 first pot-inspired food festival, called . It鈥檚 an event that鈥檚 poised to be the highlight of the season.
Goldberg says the festival caters to Washingtonians鈥� growing interest in food and budding curiosity surrounding pot.
鈥淲ith Initiative 71 and the new legalization of home use of marijuana, now is the right time. There鈥檚 been a lot of interest and a lot of questions. People are very curious about different ways that they can ingest marijuana,鈥� Goldberg said.
And demonstrations from the experts will teach just that.
Throughout the day, co-creator Matthew Doherty will lead classes on how to make cannabutter and THC tinctures, which can be used in cocktails and icings.
鈥淭here are a lot of different extraction techniques and that鈥檚 something we鈥檙e going to cover. It鈥檚 a far cry from just crushing up bud and putting it into Duncan Hines brownie mix,鈥� Goldberg says.
Some of D.C.鈥檚 best chefs, including Tarver King from and Mathew Ramsey of fame, will be on-hand to whip up dishes sure to satisfy even the fiercest case of the munchies.
Ramsey is not green when it comes to cooking with cannabis. He uses the drug to make everything from grilled cheese, to a THC-infused smoked olive oil and even charcuterie. He recently featured his Munchbox burger 鈥� a double-patty concoction that utilizes marijuana-infused beef fat 鈥� on his website.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun because it鈥檚 not just brownies any more. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, I have nothing against brownies, but you鈥檙e seeing savory applications,鈥� he said. 鈥淏asically, where there鈥檚 a will, there鈥檚 a way.鈥�
The plant鈥檚 strong, earthy taste pairs well with more foods than one might think, Ramsey said.
鈥淚t plays well with basil, it plays well with mint, it plays well with any of those things, and honestly the earthy element goes really nice with grilled stuff,” he said.
Ramsey will demo his Munchbox burger at Blazed and Glazed, but will leave out the marijuana. In fact, all of the food available at the festival will be weed-free, including bites from Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken, Sloppy Mama鈥檚 Barbeque and The Fry Brothers. However, beer, music and Saturday morning cartoons will be aplenty.
Goldberg says as the stigma continues to ease, you鈥檒l likely see more marijuana in the local culinary community.
鈥淚 think the idea about this event is knowing that now that marijuana is becoming mainstream, we wanted to give a nod to it being mainstream,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e said no tie-dye, no really bad reggae covers, and it鈥檚 because we didn鈥檛 want to do the stereotypical stoner-hippie sort of event 鈥� We wanted to say, 鈥楲ook, this is a sophisticated event that鈥檚 bringing people together who want to focus on food that also appreciate using marijuana.鈥欌��
