Inside the kitchen of a red, converted warehouse in Humboldt Avenue, two figures stand each with a wooden citrus reamer and a grapefruit in their gloved-hands, squeezing the fruit’s pinkish pulpy juice into a shiny aluminum bowl. It’s not glamorous work, more tedious than anything else, but it’s the kind of work Carlos Gonzales prefers.
In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, add water and yeast mixture and dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until dough pulls off of the bowl. Continue mixing for 5-7 minutes until dough is soft, tacky and gluten window is achieved. Keep in warm place and allow to double in size, approximately 20 minutes.
Add Loose Leaf Red Chico Chai, reduce to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes. Using a kitchen strainer or cheesecloth, strain the liquid into another pot. Add the sugar and molasses and stir with a whisk until completely dissolved. Pour into a mug, top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon.
Chico >> There are no spoons and forks at Inday’s Filipino Food. There aren’t even plates. Visitors have to eat with their hands, or Kamayan-style. It’s a foreign concept for many around here, but that’s the point, says co-owner Ethel (née Cabahit) Geiger, affectionally called “Inday.”. “At first, I had to teach people: flatten your rice, scoop this, put it on top, make a little bowl with your fingers, and shovel it in,” Inday said gesturing the proper technique to eating with your hands.
The bread-making process is complex, finicky and weird, if you believe Tin Roof Bakery and Cafe’s 28-year-old general manager and head baker Jordan Vogel. “You’re taking something that’s dead, adding life to it, then killing it again, and then giving it back to somebody,” Vogel said. “And that becomes a part of them.”.
A graduate from California State University, Chico, he majored in Journalism and completed a photography minor. He designs newspapers for NorCal Design Center, contributes to North State Public Radio and a part-time features writer for the ChicoER.