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Northern California is America's Culinary Mecca

The San Francisco Bay Area is the epicenter at the heart of Northern California’s food universe. It is a magical place where food, drink and history all come together. It was here that a hearty band of explorers (well, it was actually Liz and me) came together at the Buena Vista Café on Irish Coffee Day but more about that later.

Native Americans, Spanish explorers, Russian trappers and Mexican settlers all brought their own food heritage to California's table. Widely dispersed across Nor Cal, these different cuisines had little interaction and no fusion. Things might have progressed very slowly if it we not for James Marshall who was building a sawmill for John Sutter. That’s right, January 24, 1848, is when Marshall found some bits of shiny metal and soon his discovery sparked the California Gold Rush.

The world rushed in and in the early 1850s, the Bay Area was filled with, mostly, young men seeking their fortune. Not just Americans but gold fever drew 49ers from Peru, Hawaii, Australia, China, Europe and just about everywhere else.

The new arrivals needed places to eat, drink and enjoy diversions. Remember I mentioned they were mostly young men? Well there weren’t many women available so the Argonauts flocked to saloons and houses of ill repute. It was a question of supply and demand and bars and brothels sprung up everywhere.

Suddenly the customers had lots of choices and innovative businessmen and women needed an edge, pretty girls just weren’t enough. They found this “added value” in their kitchens. The free lunch became that added attraction – California food fusion exploded across the region.

When gold seeking Americans arrived they found themselves in a new world filled with many pleasures, both carnal and culinary. They were released from the old (East Coast) idea that food was a basic of survival, just nourishment, nothing more. Now in this new place filled with new ideas and a diversity of people, eating became a pleasurable experience necessary to nourish both body and soul.

Surveys show that eating out is America's No. 1 hobby and San Francisco is the nation's No. 1 restaurant town, ahead of New York City or New Orleans.

Northern California has given a long and tasty list of food and drink treasures to the world. Here are just a few:

• Cioppino
• Sourdough Bread
• Pisco Punch
• Eggo Waffles
• Popsicles
• The Mai Tai
• Green Goddess Salad Dressing
• It’s Its
• The Martini
• Steam Beer
• Hangtown Fry
• Chicken Tetrazzini
• Crab Louis
• Joe’s Special
• Irish Coffee

Speaking of Irish Coffee, another one of San Francisco’s gifts to the world, Liz and I ventured up to the famous Buena Vista Café to celebrate and found a new organization, the Historical Eating and Drinking Society. The HEAD Society will bring together food history, some local wanderlust and a chance to explore, eat and drink.

Irish Coffee Day - July 28th