Regional cuisine is a touchstone of just about any culture, and here in the West, we’ve got more than our fair share of extraordinary edible inventions. Alta Journal’s Issue 30 looks at the wonders of California, including delicious and local fast food burgers and classic cioppino. What other food icons originated in the Golden State? Alta contributor Tamara Palmer and Brock Keeling, food and restaurant reporter for the Orange County Register, join Alta Live to reveal their picks for the food wonders of California. Join us for an especially mouthwatering episode—bring your snacks and share your favorites!

About the guests:

Brock Keeling writes about the food and restaurant industry for the Orange County Register. He has also covered design, LGBTQ issues, and urbanism for various publications. His work has been featured in Eater, the San Francisco Chronicle, Curbed, Alta Journal, and New York magazine. He has held editorial roles at Curbed and 7x7 magazine. Keeling is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz.

Tamara Palmer is an author, ghostwriter, and DJ from San Francisco. She publishes California Eating, a newsletter, website, and small-batch print zine.

Here are some notable quotes from today’s event:

  • On California agriculture: “California agriculture is incomparable. We grow nearly three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts. Roughly 1.8 billion pounds of strawberries are grown here in the Golden State. We also grow garlic, avocados, vegetables, almonds, pistachios, dairy, and grapes. We’re a huge ag culture. Farmworkers, who are often exploited, don’t get their due, so I wanted to put all that out there.” —Keeling
  • On California’s farmers’ markets: “The first permanent farmers’ market in California, which still exists, is the original farmers’ market in Los Angeles, which was founded in 1934. And then one of the first weekly farmers’ markets, that also still exists, is the Alemany Farmers Market up here in San Francisco, which is still by far one of the best for fresh produce. You get a sense of what grows here and the possibilities for somebody who enjoys cooking and who enjoys eating healthy.” —Palmer
  • On online chefs: “There are chefs on YouTube who are chefs in their own right. Everything from Basics with Babish and Alison Roman to sort of shock food like mukbangs or those insane bad recipes—which I’m sure some of you have seen that are intentionally bad. YouTube in particular has allowed so many chefs who aren’t on the Food Network, who don’t have a voice, to become stars in their own right, and they’ve become teachers to people.” —Keeling
  • On California food clichés: “The first thing that came to mind was avocado toast. And to be honest, I love avocados, and I love toast, and I’m not mad at avocado toast, but I don’t understand the culture of craving an avocado toast and the $20 avocado toast topped with gold leaf and caviar—I just don’t. Avocado toast to me is like, ‘Oh, I only have an avocado and a piece of bread in the house, so that’s what I have to eat.’” —Palmer

Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.