Edibles

Cannabis Cooking Emerging as a Sophisticated Culinary Art, Source: http://blog.weedweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/41257_151260471550854_151260188217549_445558_1512935_n.jpgCannabis is working its way into many mainstream aspects of our culture, and now culinary cannabis is starting to take hold as a legitimate culinary art. Colorado has issued 160 edible cannabis licenses, and well trained line cooks are pursuing lucrative careers creating food and drinks infused with weed.

In Seattle, Washington, a new bakery is scheduled to open up and cater to affluent cannabis users with sophisticated palates. In food meccas such as New York, high-end chefs are dreaming up new dishes incorporating cannabis, and chefs in Denmark have been modernizing meals while incorporating cannabis. In the fall, the company Inkshare plans to publish a cookbook entitled, “Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis”.

“Cuisine is a product of people who cook and the ideologies they bring into the kitchen and what they are able to do with the instruments they have on hand,” said Adam Gomolin, one of Inkshare’s founders.

“It really won’t be long until it becomes part of haute cuisine and part of respectable culinary culture, instead of just an illegal doobie in the backyard,” says Ken Albala, director of the food studies program at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco.

However, despite the innovation of these culinary dreamers, some people might be opposed to cannabis in cooking because, well, it doesn’t taste the best. It could also cause problems for individuals who aren’t used to getting high off edibles, but I’m sure with time, skilled cooks will become experts in dosing their diners.

But even though cannabis isn’t the best flavor, it may come to be appreciated with certain pairings of food, like a nice wine. I mean alcohol doesn’t taste very good either (in my opinion), but people still come to appreciate the taste of some liquors paired with certain dishes. Ruth Reichl, the former editor of Gourmet magazine and a former New York Times restaurant critic, speculates that someone may create a new strain that is specifically excellent for edibles. “I am sure someone is going to grow some that is actually delicious and we’ll all learn about it,” she said.

Efforts to sophisticate the field of edible cannabis creations include “The Stoner’s Cookbook,” a popular website featuring edible recipes that has more than five million page hits a month. Matt Gray, the chief executive of “The Stoner’s Cookbook” website, estimates that the legal cannabis industry will be worth $10.2 billion in five years and he predicts that edible dishes could be as much as 40 percent of that.