I recently did a presentation at UC Davis. They had a great conference on Latino cooking and I was lucky enough to be a part of it. Napa's own Pica Pica restaurant provided the incredible lunch and my fellow speakers were Ken Albala and Leopoldo Lopez Gil.

When I grow up, I want to be Ken Albala. He's a great teacher, nice guy and he does a wonderful presentation without any help from Powerpoint or photos. He spent a lot of time explaining the migration of food, using Mexico and the Yucatan as examples. I can listen to him talk all day!

I did a presentation on the different ingredients we grow, import and market.

All the way from Caracas came Leopoldo Lopez Gil. He's a restrauneur and promoter of his native Venezuelan cuisine. His chldren have found incredible success with their Pica Pica restaurants (in Napa and San Francisco) and he shared his fascinating story.