CDFA Secretary Karen Ross (center in photo) met chefs from around the world–and an international sommelier–as they began an agritourism tour of California this week.
The tour is sponsored by California Grown and program partners and is intended to introduce the delegation to producers and culinary experts to develop stronger connections to California foods, wines, and culinary destinations.
The visitors are from Singapore, Dubai, Turkey, South Africa, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and India, and they plan to utilize ingredients they learn about during the tour for recipes to be published in a coffee table-style cookbook that will be used as a protocol gift by US embassies around the world.
The tour is in partnership with the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service as part of “My Food Story with a Fork and the Road,” celebrating the diversity of U.S. food, agriculture, farmers, producers, and cuisine.