Local First AZ, VE Premium Beef, Tucson Chocolate Factory, Chef Neff

🎙️ This Week on The Tucson Tasty Show – We're serving up a powerhouse episode packed with flavor, insight, and local pride!
We’re joined by Jessica from Local First Arizona, diving into how supporting local isn't just good for the economy—it’s essential for building a thriving, resilient community. 
Then, we satisfy your sweet tooth with Armando from Tucson Chocolate Factory, who shares the story behind his handcrafted confections and what makes Tucson chocolate truly unique.
Special guest co-host Sonora from Vera Earl Premium Beef brings her passion for locally raised, sustainable beef to the mic, and Chef Neff of Conscious Cuisine joins the conversation with his culinary creativity and commitment to wellness-focused food.
💥 Don’t miss this delicious conversation spotlighting Tucson’s incredible food culture, local business love, and why Arizona tastes better when we support our own.
🎧 Tune in on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-tucson-tasty-show--6022348/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Amids the ancient ruins of a forgotten civilization. A mysterious
temple pulsates with an otherworldly energy. The guardian of this taste,
Define Sanctuary, moves forward, a figure shrouded in enigma, in power.
He doesn't just taste food, He summons forgotten flavors and

(00:26):
awakens dormant passions. Behold the Wizard of Food, Wesley Source
and the Tucson Tasty Show.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Welcome back to the Tucson Tasty Show, where Tucson's food
culture comes alive on air. I'm your host, Wesley Source
here with executive Chef Christian Badia, the secret ingredient one
asiastics on joining us today. We have a very special guests.
We have two very special guests today. We have Sonora
of via Oral Premium Beef. Thank you for being here today.

(01:07):
We also have Jessica of Local First. And you're responsible
for a lot of things, but business Tucson, business development is.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
That that's that is what I do. Good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
The primary goal with local First, and let's start with
the big picture. Local First, how does your work support
small business food businesses right here in Tucson.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah? Absolutely, Thank you so much for having me here today.
If you're not familiar with Local First. We're a statewide
organization and we've been working throughout the state of Arizona
since two thousand and three to grow the local economy.
So we do that in a number of ways by
supporting local businesses to make sure they have access to
resources and capital, because we recognize that's one of the
biggest obstacles that local businesses have to overcome. Exciting, yeah,

(01:53):
but we also educate consumers on where to spend their
money and why it matters. We know that it's all
of our local businesses that make our unity unique, fun
and special, and if we don't spend our money and
invest in those, we're not going to have them. Not
only that, we know when you spend locally, you get
three times of the or three times of the three
times the amount you spend at a local business stays

(02:13):
in the community, and that you know, multiplier effect is huge.
And so whenever it comes to working with local businesses,
food and having stable food locally is a huge part
of something that we advocate for both on the grower
side and for restaurants, and so it's something that we've
been working on for a while.

Speaker 5 (02:33):
So along with I mean it sounds like you also
very much invest in local business. What kind of programs
and grants do you actually are able to contribute or
give to local business as well.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
Absolutely, we have a number of programs. I'll focus on
our food programs here today. We have a good Food
Finder at good foodfinderasy dot com that is connected to
just experts in that food area, and that's supposed to
help us bring together local growers throughout southern Arizona. And
what we do is we've provided a map a to

(03:10):
help consumers find where to get locally grown food and
source local.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
But also that's helped us to.

Speaker 4 (03:16):
Grow those farmers and get to know them and figure
out what their needs are and start advocating for them.
And so we've brought in money from the USDA to
help with climates to invest in climate smart crops and
get them thinking a little bit differently maybe about what
they're growing. You know, that's currently on a pause, but
we still have experts in house that are providing technical
assistance there. But on the restaurant side of things, we

(03:37):
actually provide a good number of programs throughout the state.
But here in Tucson we have access to our state
wide Good Food boot Camp, And what that is is
it's a virtual six week boot camp that walks someone
who's interested in opening a business or has recently opened
a food business and learning everything they need to know

(03:58):
outside of the kitchen. How to do their books, do
they have all the licenses, insurance inplace?

Speaker 3 (04:04):
What's their structure? Are they ready?

Speaker 4 (04:06):
We actually bring in experts from each of those different
areas to talk during that six weeks so that we're
helping businesses fill the gaps of what they don't now
before they get in trouble. A lot of people, right,
especially in the food industry, people start working because they
have a love for food. All the rest comes with it, right,

(04:27):
And so we really help work with entrepreneurs to figure
out like what is it you're good at and what
is it you need.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
To hire for?

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Right, So, when somebody's opening a business and they say
everybody loves my food, and you go, okay, so who's everybody?
And they're like, my family, Oh.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
For sure, And it matters. You know who have you fed,
have you talked to people? Have you figured out what
they want? Are you listening when you open? Those things matter?
And sometimes whenever you really love to cook. That business
part comes second, and so we try and make sure
that you know, restaurant owners and food and entrepreneurs have
enough knowledge to make educated decisions and what they know,

(05:07):
and then help connect them to local resources to fill
those gaps, like who do you need to hire and
who do we know locally that can help you a
good accountant, bookkeeping, maybe you just really need to come
up with marketing. You know, We've grown a business coalition.
I have several thousand members throughout the state of Arizona,
and we refer to local businesses, so we help each other,

(05:28):
do business with each other and keep that money locally
here in the community.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
That's that's absolutely awesome.

Speaker 6 (05:33):
I think something I come from a restaurant family, like
not immediately, but like my grandparents had a restaurant for
a very very long time and it's something that we've
always done discussed in our family when we go to
restaurants is or you see restaurants open and then they
close like within six months, and again it's because they
may have a love for food, but they have no
idea what goes into running a business.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
So the fact that you guys offer.

Speaker 6 (05:56):
All of those services for free is pretty or you know,
help with that is amazing.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
So that's been great.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
And their executive's Chef Gabe is just next level and
he's such a charismatic person, but he just knows so
much about it and so many different things. And I
can't wait to get Chef Christian Badilla to collaborate with
him on anything. But we also have something really cool
coming up very soon, and we'll talk about it off air,

(06:23):
but because we have to dial in just the final
details on it yet, but in August, something big is
coming and we're really excited to be able to bring
in Local First as one of our.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
Partners, and I'm excited to hear about it.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
And the other reason that we started the membership program.
And the membership program, you know, it's ten dollars a
month for the public to participate and they get a
secret password once a month where they go into the
different restaurants that are partnered with us and they unlock
secret menu items then they purchase, but for every ten
items they get a twenty five dollars gift card. And

(06:56):
we actually have Brick Box Brewery, Gourmet Girls, Button brew House,
Harvottle Brewing, Mama Luis's REFORMA and more coming very soon.
We're just trying to chase down restaurant owners. Is trying
like trying to chase me down.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
Sometimes understand that let's talk and see who our members
are that I might be able to do a correct
you know, a connection with too. I know that you're
working every day to get in front of them and
they may just be busy, but I don't mind helping
to try.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Wonderful, thank you.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
I did want to mention that boot Camp does have
a cost. It's two hundred and fifty dollars for the
six weeks, which.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Is next to nothing because that's the school right you
go to.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
And I did want to mention I think one of
the things that makes it very strong is the fact
that they're all from Arizona. We're not talking about general
food roles. These are people working in the communities that
they're serving, and so they really have an idea about
that tamorlay cottage rule and all the exceptions and what
you can and can't do, and so I really think
it brings a lot of value to the table. But

(07:59):
we do have good food directory that is free, and
we have our business coalition that we bring memberships too,
and that starts at ninety nine dollars a year. So
we have a couple of different, very accessible services that
we provide to local businesses. We want to make sure
everyone can be a part of what we're doing. That's
how you build a strong local economy.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Absolutely, and tell us a little bit. Okay, so you
have so many really great things going on. Now do
you have to be a member to go to the
local first mixers?

Speaker 3 (08:33):
You know what? We have monthly mixers and you do
not have to be a member. They're free.

Speaker 4 (08:37):
We love to have you join us, and they happen
generally the first Wednesday of the month, and we pop
in at a different local business. It's fun because sometimes
we go into a brewery, sometimes we go into a restaurant.
Sometimes it's a print shop or an upholstry place that
has a really cool story that we want to share.
But what happens is we bring together local community leaders

(08:57):
and owners and we talk about what they're going through
and how we can get through it together. And sometimes
just those conversations are what make the biggest difference for
our local business community.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Absolutely. Now here's the real question. Have you tried viaoral
premium beef I have. It's like next level good, right
it is.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
In fact, I had it made at one of our
events last fall and it was done by Chef Devon
and it was amazing, And then I went out and
bought more.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Was it that the good food for him?

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Was it the good food for him last year?

Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Last fall?

Speaker 2 (09:35):
And that's got did that. Gut dinners are actually coming
up as well, and we do have a wine dinner
coming up. But there's so many amazing food things that
are happening this year, and not just in Tucson. We
also have everything that's happening in Phoenix because Phoenix is
finally getting there that that entire culinary collaboration scene going,
which is really exciting.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
And yeah, the state of Arizona has a lot to
celebrate whenever it comes to food. You know, we we
do Savor here in Tucson and Devour up in Phoenix,
and if you want to see chefs that know how
to cook, those two events really bring it to the table.
And yes, I'm partial, but I enjoyed Savor prior to
working for Local First.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
So and did you know that you can actually order
viral premium beef online at Theepremiumbeef dot Com and they'll
actually drop it off at your front door.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
I didn't know that we do.

Speaker 6 (10:27):
We do. We deliver to Tucson and all the surrounding areas.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
So and their ground beef is even dry aged, like
the entire from from ground beef to the tenderloin is
dry age for twenty one days and it gives it
that really rich umami flavor you're missing from all your
grocery store beef.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
That's amazing. Local and convenient. Yes, I always talk about
how important it is if you're local to be convenient. Also,
local can't suck right, like we have to give them
something they want or also I'm talking to myself and
so like to like. Convenience and having high quality are
the two things that we work with with local businesses
and make sure everybody knows about it. So I look

(11:06):
forward to checking that out number one. But number two,
your local first member, let's make sure that we tell everybody.
I didn't recognize this was a service. Your offerings, We'll
highlight it.

Speaker 6 (11:15):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, we try and make sure that we
do offer those services. And that's probably the number one
question we get from two zonins.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
So where can we find it? And the answer is
on our website and then at your door.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
So that's a Premium Beef dot Com where you can
go down to the If you oh, no, you have
to go down to check out the wineries and go
buy v or the VE Premium Beef store right there
in Sonoita and you'll meet Sonora. Yes, and come visit me.
That's right. This segment was brought to you by via
Premium Beef, Portillo's hot Dogs, to some family food projects Sokka,

(11:49):
and of course local First Arizona. You're listening to the
Tucson Tasty Show. Local food, real stories and the flavors
of southern Arizona. Will be right back after this break.
Stay Tasty, Tucson. Hello, this is Wesley's source with the

(12:10):
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Speaker 7 (12:37):
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in Tucson, no family should have to choose between paying
bills and putting food on the table. That's why we're
here to provide healthy, home cooked meals to families in
need every single week. But we need your help. Just
one dollar can have a huge impact on a family's
nutrition and a child's educational outcome. Together, we can make
sure every child in our community has access to nourishing

(13:00):
food and a brighter future. Visit the Tucsonfamilyfoodproject dot org
to learn more and to make your donation today. Together,
we're not just helping families, We're building a stronger tuson
Ey Tucson.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
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(14:00):
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with your host, Wesley Source. Welcome back to the Tucson
Tasty Show, Tucson's tastiest hour of the week. I'm Wesley's Source,
your host, and here with my co host and culinary
partner in crime, executive chef Christian. But yeah, the secret ingredient, Wesley,

(15:18):
Let's not forget this. Hi to Son, how are you
today's guest? We have another amazing guest in here, and
you're crafting some magic one piece of chocolate at a time.
Please welcome our very special guest from Tucson Chocolate Factory,
a local staple known for small batch treats, dipped in,

(15:41):
dipped delights and melt in your mouth moments.

Speaker 9 (15:45):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
I got it all out and your chocolate. If you're
in Tucson and you're listening. Everybody knows Tucson Chocolate Factory.
You've come across the brand because it's almost everywhere anywhere,
every everywhere I hang out anyways. But tell us a
little bit about what made you start making chocolate. And

(16:09):
you don't just you don't just temper the chocolate and
throw it into a candy bart like you're doing like
top to bottom.

Speaker 10 (16:15):
Yeah, so we make the Yeah, it all started during COVID.
I mean so during COVID, I was working from home
and had a lot of time on my hands, and
that Christmas, my wife and I decided to make turtles
just for fun, and I just fell in love with
the process of the caramel making and the dipping and chocolate.
And for me, what it was is just taking a

(16:36):
raw ingredient and transforming.

Speaker 9 (16:38):
It from you know, just a pile.

Speaker 10 (16:40):
Of sugar into caramel and then the chocolate and just
it all came together. And so from there, it just
kind of grew from there, and I began to look
into how to make chocolate as well, and that was
even more interesting because it actually brought some cocoa beans.
So they come like this when they're raw, and you
can transform them from that to I mean these, you know,

(17:03):
you can temper it.

Speaker 9 (17:04):
So it's just.

Speaker 10 (17:05):
That transformation from the raw ingredient to basically almost like
jewels is just for me. Was I became obsessed with it?

Speaker 2 (17:15):
And so are they raw or have they already been fermented?
Have they been roasted?

Speaker 10 (17:20):
It's a lot like coffee. So the cacao beans, they
actually come from a fruit and what they do is
they ferment them for a few days, for about a week,
and when I get them, they're raw, so they've already
been fermented.

Speaker 9 (17:32):
I roast them and then grind them and it takes.

Speaker 10 (17:36):
About four days. But then we make chocolate bars.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
Is there secrets to this fermentation process because that as
soon as you said ferment, I'm like, go on.

Speaker 10 (17:46):
It's they use I believe, like vinegar. It's I'm not
that part of the process. I haven't tried fermenting the beans,
to be honest.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, because those those are fermenting. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
Yeah, there's there's like this little like icy funk to
it that I'm just it's very intriguing, like it it
tickled my brain.

Speaker 9 (18:04):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
It's so to activate all those different flavors that you're
getting the fermentation process is like key, but then the
roasting process and how you're roasting it is like next level,
like for for anybody that's making it. And that's why
I'm I'm super impressed. I was really hoping that you
fermented those beans as well, but I know that it's

(18:26):
a one heck of a process, so I get it.
But you're roasting them, which means that you know you've
got all you've got all those all that equipment, or
you're you really got to dial it. And you said
it takes four days to roast it.

Speaker 10 (18:40):
It takes up not it takes about a day for
us to roast the beans, but then you end up
grinding them, and so you have to separate the husk
from the part that's inside of the cacali basically, and
then that's what you grind with sugar whatever the recipe
is in a grinder and that takes about three days.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
And that's dials in all that flavor that makes it
that milk chocolatey flavor. And or me, you know, I like,
I like the most bitter chocolate on the planet. So
you know, when Tina's buying me a candy bar, she's
not buying me a candy bar. She's just buying me
like a press cocoa bar on sweetened yep. And but

(19:19):
but that flavor is is amazing and it's incredible that
you're putting that much work into every single one of
these bars. Like I have a great amount of respect
for that that process. So when somebody says my candy
bar is X amount, but I'm doing everything from the
roasting of the beans to making the the cocoa and

(19:41):
then and then making the chocolate and tempering and everything,
like I don't care how much it costs, take my money.

Speaker 10 (19:48):
It's funny and it's crazy how much flavor you can
get from different cocao. So Mexican cacao versus Bolivian cacao,
they have completely different flavor profiles. It's a lot like
coffee in that sense as well. So it's that's what's
interesting to me too, is the you know, the fermented
rock of Calvin can just take on.

Speaker 5 (20:08):
So I might end up missing after I say this,
but I'm not a big chocolate fan.

Speaker 6 (20:15):
There.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
It is people when it comes when it comes to
coffee itself, or I'm okay, why do you take no?
But I actually I use it a lot in cooking.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
I use it like you know obviously in so actually
I would love for us to uh trade information, Like
I want to use some of your beans from for
a mola recipe, make twos on chocolate mole. Maybe you
can use it one of your chocolate bars. Actually, if yeah,
if we get if we get that kinky.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
But speaking of what what is it that early putting
putting the the molay in his chocolate? Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 5 (21:00):
But yeah, the quality of coco and the craftsmanship behind it,
the how much does it make a difference? You know,
is it like when you purchase coffee that's you know,
three dollars a pound compared to something that's like Sometown
one of my favorites, which is like fifteen dollars a
pound or whatever.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
How essential is uh is? The quality?

Speaker 9 (21:22):
It makes all the difference. So there's depends too on
how it's grown.

Speaker 10 (21:26):
There's a lot of a lot of care that goes
into the whole, the farming that goes into it. If
it's a fairly traded you know, cookout or coffee for
that matter, there's a sustainably source, sustainably source, there's all
those different pieces. So all of that does The quality
comes from a lot of that as well, because when

(21:47):
you know the farm is paying attention to that sort
of thing, the quality shines through. And there's genetics that
come into play as well, so consistency and flavor when
the cookout or the coffee is being observe to make
sure that everything is being consistent.

Speaker 9 (22:03):
The quality and the consistency that that's where you get
a lot of that. The flavor comes through.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
So let's talk about holidays. How early should people be
ordering chocolates for like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, and
you know Father's Day might be coming up soon. Just
saying give us like two weeks.

Speaker 10 (22:27):
We can do custom orders, but we have them in
stock at the at our shop over at Bellis Gelato.

Speaker 9 (22:33):
So we're on, we're sharing, we're sharing.

Speaker 10 (22:34):
A space with Bellis Gelato. We love Elizabeth and she's fantastic.

Speaker 6 (22:38):
Yeah, okay, Wave, but what what does what does custom
orders consist of?

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Too?

Speaker 9 (22:42):
Like?

Speaker 6 (22:42):
How crazy are we getting here?

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Can we do a five pound Dubai bar like this baby?

Speaker 9 (22:47):
That might take a month for us to pull that off.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
Let's do its biggest Dubayo bar ever created right here
on the Tucson Tasty Show. You get the reward, I
get all the I get it. I get the exclusive
Augustus glube. Save some room for later, I apologize. Okay,
So how do people get do the custom orders? How

(23:12):
can we find you and and get a hold of you.

Speaker 10 (23:15):
We're online Tucson Chocolate Factory dot com. That's the best
way to get a hold of us and place custom orders,
or by email as well, Hello at Tucson Chocolate Factory
dot com, or just stop in at the shop.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
Awesome.

Speaker 5 (23:30):
Yeah, I'm really serious. I would love to collaborate with
you guys, make me a chocolate believer. But no, yeah,
let's let's definitely, like, I don't know, throw some ideas together.

Speaker 9 (23:41):
Yeah for sure.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
I never much dabbled into desserts. I always stick to
hot Sideline, you know, that entire kitchen aspect.

Speaker 10 (23:51):
But I though sounds great that'd be a Mulley bar
or just Molley like making molle.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Well.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
I actually I do make my own fermented uh like
dry mola powder, like dry mola rub, and there's like
eighteen different ingredients in it. But I think it'll be
very complimentary with the chocolates. Maybe like a Dubai chocolate
filled with I also make like a black cherry molet.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
So cherry Okay, Yeah, I don't know. Just yeah, you know, collaboration,
that's that's why don't you have any of that in
the studio right now, Let's let's talk about that line,
right seriously. Yeah, I got kicked out twice today from
the studio.

Speaker 6 (24:32):
I do have a question. So you just you piqued
my interest with your story.

Speaker 5 (24:36):
What did you do?

Speaker 6 (24:37):
What was your job before, like when you were stuck
at home at COVID that then you kind of change directions.
Did you come from a food background or is this
like a labor of love that came out of left field?

Speaker 10 (24:47):
I mean I've always cooked, But what I was doing
before is I was a financial analyst, so it was
a lot.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
Of left field.

Speaker 9 (24:53):
A computer. Yeah, after enough spreadsheets, you just.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Kind of ye, that brings up the next, you know,
the next thing. You know, with when it comes to baking,
when it comes to a lot of the confectionery stuff,
you have to have all of that mathematic dialed in
otherwise you're so you have to be mathematically inclined, right, Yeah.

Speaker 10 (25:11):
I'm watching all the percentages and yeah, yeah, that's.

Speaker 9 (25:14):
Part of it.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
I could never make chocolate. I am not a b
I can wholeheartedly I'm not a baker, but that's the yea, No.

Speaker 9 (25:22):
We would have a mess on our head.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Have you ever thought about doing like drinking chocolate with
Bello's gelato. That's a good idea, all right there. It
is so and it's one thing that I wish that
we had more of in the United States. It's not
something that we just have access to. Everybody's like, hey,
well you want some drinking chocolate, here's your hot chocolate.
And it's like, no, it's supposed to be thick. It's
almost like a pudding, but it's warm, and it's like

(25:46):
hot chocolate. But you're drinking a candy bar essentially, and
it's not it's not a lot. It's a small amount,
and it's really amazing with paired with coffee or gelato
or something like that. You know, but that would be awesome.

Speaker 9 (25:57):
Look but instead of coffee.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
Or more like oh yeah, well, we're unfortunately out of time.
But you can go to the tastyshow dot com and
become a member and you'll get inside information. You'll get
behind the scenes stuff because we're gonna ask that question
that Christian wants to ask. Here off fine, but this

(26:22):
segment was brought to you by vira Ol, Premium Beef,
Pertillos hot Dogs, Local First, Soka, and Tucson Family Food Project.
Don't forget to to areas day, through the break and
stay tasty Tucson. Hello, this is Wesley's source with the

(26:43):
Twucson Tasty Show. With every tasty bite from the Premiumbeef
dot Com, you get premium beef flavor from the amazing
ground beef to the melt in your mouth Ribbi Steaks.
Every ounce is exceptionally aged for more than twenty one days,
giving vera or old Premium beef ex optional premium beef flavor.
Order online at ve Premiumbeef dot Com. Again, that's ve

(27:06):
premiumbef dot Com. Hi.

Speaker 7 (27:11):
I'm Stephen Kodoroblis, founder of the Tucson Familyfood Project. Here
in Tucson, no family should have to choose between paying
bills and putting food.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
On the table.

Speaker 7 (27:19):
That's why we're here to provide healthy, home cooked meals
to families in need every single week. But we need
your help. Just one dollar can have a huge impact
on a family's nutrition and a child's educational outcome. Together,
we can make sure every child in our community has
access to nourishing food and a brighter future. Visit the
Tucsonfamilyfoodproject dot org to learn more and to make your

(27:39):
donation today. Together, we're not just helping families, We're building
a stronger tuson Ey Tucson.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Ready to spice up your dining experience, Join the Tucson
Tasty Show Supporter membership and unlock exclusive access to secret
menu items from our partner restaurants. These one of a
kind dishes aren't just regular menu items crafted just for
our members. It's your backstage pass to Tucson's best kept
culinary secrets. Sign up today at the Tastyshow dot com

(28:07):
and discover what you've been missing. Stay Tasty Tucson.

Speaker 8 (28:10):
Spark Project Collective the world's first tattoo, body piercing and
metaphysical nonprofit. We're here to inspire, uplift and give back
the Tucson. We're meaningful tattoos and unique piercings, massage therapy,
soundbed sessions, metaphysical readers, and classes for spiritual growth. Spark
Project Collective helps you express your authentic self while giving
back to your community. Rent our event space. It's perfect

(28:33):
for your next gathering or your workshop. Visits sparkproject Collective
dot com to learn more and discover where creativity and
connection meet.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
How would you like the perfect, lush green yard that
your entire neighborhood will env but without all the sweating
and weekend work. Of course you do, and I have
the solution for you. Big Bully Turf is the answer.
Founded by Carla after her own horrible urf experience, this
woman owned company is chaining the game with effortless flow
by Carla. The cleanest, coolest turf available, No mowing, no wantering,

(29:06):
just beautiful green yard that's safe for your family and pets.
Right now get twenty five percent off, but act fast
ends April thirtieth. Some starch is applying customers only. Is
a big belief off dot com and tell me you heard
about their business on the Tucson Tasty Show. Welcome to
the Tucson Tasties Show, brought to you by SOKA Southern
Arizona Art and Cultural Alliance dedicated creating, preserving and advancing

(29:28):
the arts. And now it's time for more tasty bites
with your host Wesley. Source Welcome back to the Tucson
Tasty Show, Tucson's only food talk radio hour that's bringing
you flavor behind the scenes. I'm your host, Wesley Source
and here with my co host, executive chef Christian Fidilla. Hello, Hello,

(29:52):
and this one's really close to our hearts and we're
going to talk about a really cool event that's coming
up very soon. You got to get tickets at the
tastyshow dot com go to events and it's the Arizona
Wine Dinner. Now, we're officially announcing one of the most
exciting collaborations yet and that's the Tuosun Tasty Show and

(30:12):
partners present a wine dinner at the Arizona Wine Collective.
This happens Saturday, June eighth, right inside Arizona Wine Collective.
Sunday Sunday Sunday June eighth, Sunday, Sunday Sunday. Thank you
for that. It is Sunday, June eighth. I don't know
what year it is, so where am I I was

(30:33):
on my twenty twenty four calendar. You know it's twenty
twenty five. My bad. It is a Sunday, June eighth.
It's going to start at five PM and there are
discounts for if you if you have the membership as well,
you save quite a bit. And we're very, very excited.
So the Arizona ingredients in a Sonorian style is a

(30:57):
unique Arizona grown very unique with Arizona grown grapes. So
do you want to talk about the menu or are collaborators? First,
let's actually just mix them together. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (31:13):
I'm actually very excited with this collaboration because again this
is a very Arizona Sonorian based influence and you know,
part of the flavor profiles that we look for in
Sonarian cuisine. And also we're pairing with Arizona wines, So
I mean, what better partners you have for this dinner?

Speaker 2 (31:36):
Absolutely? Yeah, and those flavors. You know, Arizona wine always
surprises me and in a good way because it's always
really amazing. And you can taste the difference from year
to year or vintage divension depending on who you're talking
talking to, and in how it was crafted, how the

(31:59):
grapes were actually you know how much water they got,
and so you can taste the difference in the years,
which is you know our weather, right, and this this
menu is definitely a representation of that as well, and
scratching the plate with Chef Pablo. Yeah, my boys, Chef
Pablo is gonna be throwing down with me there, so

(32:19):
bringing the fire all right along with you. Yep. Yeah,
it stoked on that, so that the carpaccio is kicking
kicking off the event.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
And it's gonna be it's gonna be a lot of
it's gonna be a lot of really great flavors. How
did you come up with this? Uh, this menu item?

Speaker 5 (32:36):
So to start off in the first dish, gallabasita carpaccio.
Galabasitas is a dish that you know, us Mexicans always
grew up eating. But I just wanted to crank it
up a notch, make it a little more high end.
I do think that you guys have tried this dish
before at the Flying V. Yes, yes, And what do

(32:58):
you think when it rolled out?

Speaker 2 (33:00):
I thought it was pasta And then I've been into
it and I was like, oh, this is so much more. Yeah,
it's so good.

Speaker 6 (33:06):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
And with with all the sauces and and you you're
not only adding color uh and texture with the ash?

Speaker 6 (33:14):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Why are you so obsessed with ash?

Speaker 5 (33:17):
I because I like burning stuff. Wesley, Okay, that's it. No,
I think ash is very underrated. I think there's a
there's a lot of aroma, a lot of flavor profile.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
When I burn something, it's inedible. When you burn something,
it's like it adds so much flavor and so incredible.
So that's why it's like, that's why I'm asking.

Speaker 5 (33:36):
It's like, yeah, it's like, you know, cooking on a
fire grill compared to like cast iron on the stove. Sure,
you know, you get that char you get that caramelization,
but you'd be surprised. Like a lot of people ask me,
They're like, doesn't it just taste burnt or bitter? And
I'm like, no, that means you over burnt it.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
You know.

Speaker 5 (33:57):
And there is such a thing like to create ash
with with these flavor profiles, you can overburn things and
then you start getting that bitter that like ugh.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
You know. So when I burned that chicken on the
grill when I was hanging out with I should have
grounded up into because that chicken it was so amazing
and everything, because that was actually Michael Lafonte creation that
he put together and then there was some extra ones,
so we threw him on the grill and we forgot

(34:27):
about him until the next morning because it was a
barbecue competition and they're like, yeah, this is what's left,
and it was like, I'll still try to eat it.
It's so good, perfect anyway. So yeah, but it's not
that it's something that's styled in a flavor profile that
a lot of people just aren't are. It's a technique

(34:49):
that is a very advanced technique. It's what you're saying.

Speaker 5 (34:52):
I don't know if I would say advance, I would
say like, it's definitely a very uncommon technique.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah, awesome, And then you so moving into the next
the next course here with the aged duck tartar. Yep.
So this is a dish.

Speaker 5 (35:09):
I've been actually very excited and I've been thinking about
this dish.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
I've been thinking about her for about a year ready.

Speaker 5 (35:17):
And it's just something I've wanted to actually just put
together already, and it's just like kind of showed off.
I'm very good with duck. For some reason, I just
ended up being able to handle duck breast, duck thighs,
duck liver, duck hearts, all this fun stuff. So in

(35:39):
this one, we're actually incorporating h duck breasts, cured flaw
and grilled duck hearts in a tartar, and with sticking
with a theme that I'm going with on this menu,
we're doing an oja santa aoli to give it that
little bit of a deeper flavor of a nissee and

(36:00):
to cut through it, we're doing a hibiscus gas streak
and a pickled coriander stem which actually, you know, one
thing I started playing with.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Was the cilantro stems.

Speaker 5 (36:12):
Everybody tosses them out, but I mean that's most of
your flavor profile, and you know it makes a great gartner,
So why not pickle them?

Speaker 1 (36:19):
You know?

Speaker 2 (36:21):
Yum? And then so this next one is hamachi crudo.
Did I say that right? See? Wonderful. I'm working on it.
So tell me a little bit about this one. Actually,
I just realized that you added a whisper of creamy ai.

(36:42):
I was trying to make the ali sound better than Actually,
can I just keep talking like this and go for it?
So this no hamachi crudo.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
So I very much enjoy uh mariscos. Mariscos is like
one of my favorite things. Obviously this isn't euso dish,
but going with kind of the spirit of crudo dishes.
One of my sorry, one of my favorite flavor profiles

(37:12):
is uh truffle and hob and arrow. It just it's
it's very unique and actually I think I had it
at obon the first time where I was just like,
like my brain started doing this thing. I'm like, I
can't figure out what's going on right now, but I
like it. So yeah, just taking that altering a little bit,
adding a little more fat with the Aoli pickled elements.

(37:36):
A lot of people don't know this, but I love
pickling stuff. I used to have like a pickle library.
I had like twenty two different types of pickles, and yes,
the pickle Project I used to call it. So yeah,
it adds just brightness, it adds a different flavor profile

(37:57):
and it it actually one of my favorite thing about
it is or sorry pickles. It aids in digestion, so
it actually like you feel full, but you don't feel
like overloaded, you know, and you just feel content if
you will.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
All right, So moving into the next one. All right,
let's go to the next one. That's as far as
I'm gonna go. File A. I got a bone, so.

Speaker 5 (38:27):
I'm actually excited to announce we are gonna use Vera
Earl beef. We just shook hands and made the promises already,
so the deal is in yes, So yeah, file cabon,
we are gonna use beef tenderloin from Vera Earl and
al carbone just basically means to the carbon, which goes

(38:48):
again with ash, so you do get that kind of
ranch style feeling like whenever you're camping and stuff like
that over like a mesquite grill. But we obviously are
not going to be able to use them skie grill,
so replicating this, we're going back to.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
The ashes where we'll be using just.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
Charred vegetable ash uh to give that flavor profile of
cooked over the grill. But we are going to start
playing with baccanoa and adding a little bit of baccanoa
in a sansabaracha sauce to give it that smoky flavor
as well along with the the spiciness, you know, and

(39:32):
of course pikama a little pickle tikama on there, you know,
for for color and decoration and stuff. And yeah, it's
a pretty straightforward dish, but it's definitely going to be
a good last finishing dish and with a lot of
flavor profile awesome.

Speaker 6 (39:47):
I think I think you guys use the right word
there with bold, Like it sounds like there's a lot
of bold flavors involved in it. Oh yeah, you know
that sounds very exciting.

Speaker 5 (39:55):
Yeah, and the cornhust oil as well, you know, to
add that acidity, sorry, to add that fat, that that
smoke as well. It's yeah, it's just gonna be perfectly
well rounded.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
And then we're gonna have Chef Suka Shuka from Sugar
Sweets Sugar Sweets with the goat cheese goat cheese cheesecake,
which is a tangy, smooth goat cheese cheesecake topped with
rich salted yep and then coconut and cheese. It's gonna

(40:28):
be amazing. Definitely go to the Tasty Show dot com
hit events and check it out. Seats are limited, we
only have we only have a certain amount of seats
and we're already quarter the way there, so definitely definitely
check it out.

Speaker 9 (40:42):
And then.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Yeah, we'll be right back after this break with more flavors,
more stories, and more reasons to stay tasty. Tucson. Hello,
this is Wesley's source with the Tucson Tasty Show. With
every tasty bite from Vepremiumbeef dot Com, you get premiumbefflavor

(41:05):
from the amazing ground beef to the melt in your
mouth Ribi steaks. Every ounce is exceptionally aged for more
than twenty one days, giving vera or ol Premium Beef
exceptional premium beef flavor. Order online at Vepremiumbeef dot com. Again,
that's ve Premiumbef dot Com. Hi.

Speaker 7 (41:26):
I'm Stephen Kodoroblis, founder of the Tucson Familyfood Project. Here
in Tucson, no family should have to choose between paying
bills and putting food on the table. That's why we're
here to provide healthy, home cooked meals to families in
need every single week. But we need your help. Just
one dollar can have a huge impact on a family's
nutrition and a child's educational outcome. Together, we can make
sure every child in our community has access to nourishing

(41:49):
food and a brighter future. Visit the Tucsonfamilyfoodproject dot org
to learn more and to make your donation today. Together,
we're not just helping families, We're building a stronger Tuson.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
Hey, Tucson, ready to spice up your dining experience. Join
the Tucson Tasty Show Supporter membership and unlock exclusive access
to secret menu items from our partner restaurants. These one
of a kind dishes aren't just regular menu items, crafted
just for our members. It's your backstage pass to Tucson's
best kept culinary secrets. Sign up today at the Tastyshow

(42:21):
dot com and discover what you've been missing. Stay tasty. Tucson.

Speaker 8 (42:25):
Spark Project Collective the world's first tattoo, body piercing and
metaphysical nonprofit. We're here to inspire, uplift, and give back
the Tucson We're meaningful tattoos and unique piercings, massage therapy,
soundbed sessions, metaphysical readers, and classes for spiritual growth. Spark
Project Collective helps you express your authentic self while giving
back to your community. Rent our event space It's perfect

(42:48):
for your next gathering, or you can workshop visits Sparkproject
Collective dot com to learn more and discover where creativity
and connection meet.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
How would you like the perfect love green yard that
your entire neighborhood will envy, but without all the sweating
and weekend work. Of course, you do and I have
the solution for you. Big Bully Turf is the answer.
Founded by Carla after her own horrible turf experience, This
woman owned company is changing the game with the effortless
flow by Carla. The cleanest, coolest turf available, no mowing,

(43:20):
no watering, just beautiful green yard that's safe for your
family and pets. Right now, get twenty five percent off,
but act fast ends April thirtieth. Some searches applying customers
only is a big beliefof dot com and tell me
you heard about their business on the Tucson Tasty Show.

(43:42):
Welcome back to the Tucson Tasty Show. I'm your host,
Wesley Source here with executive chef Christian Vidia as we
wrap up another flavor filled episode from chocolate to wine,
to Viro Premium beef and local First Arizona. A huge
thank you to all of our friends and everyone that
joined us today on the Tucson Tasty Show. Don't forget

(44:02):
that the dinner for Arizona Wine Collective is happening Saturday
or Sunday, June eighth, and if you want in head
to the Tastyshow dot com and hit the events and
get your tickets because tickets are limited. Now we have
a very special drop in guest. Thank you so much
for being here with us today. Chef Carrie Neff, and

(44:27):
let's talk Ari. If you could just talk really quickly,
tell everybody who's listening who you are so that they
can understand why we're so excited to talk to you today.

Speaker 11 (44:39):
Well, I appreciate you being excited, but also thank you
very much for inviting me. But I'm Chef Neff. I've
been around and doing this for God. My entire life
started out when I was fifteen years old. I am
the co founder of Conscious Food Solutions. I am the chef,
author of Conscious Food, Conscious Cuisine, and creator of that
food style Conscious Cuisine.

Speaker 5 (45:00):
Can you actually go into I'm actually I have heard
of your book. Oh cool, Yeah, that's it's quite an honor.
Can you dive into a little bit what conscious cuisine
means to you?

Speaker 11 (45:10):
Yeah, Conscious cuisine is really being more conscious and more
mindful of where we get our food, How is the
produce right? What is not only is flavor and what
seasons came in it's in right now, but it's also
as a nutritional attributes. It's you know, and and great
food can also be good for you, right, and so
that that being and also indulgent food and being consciously

(45:32):
aware of when and how I'm and how much of
that I'm going to have. So so back in the day,
I mean, I'm a old fart man, it was a
big deal to in order to go out and get
McDonalds and going out to for a fast food. Right now,
it's it's it's ambiguous. You can have it all the time.
And so being making a conscious decision is saying that
I'm going to have that burger, I'm going to have

(45:53):
that fry and then up it up to a elevated
to a better quality one, okay, all right, and and
then but having it periodically as a treat rather than
daily as a habit.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
As as one of the daily courses, if you will. Exactly.

Speaker 5 (46:11):
Yeah, no, that's actually uh. I love that we're doing
this segment because just earlier we were talking about you know,
we had we did have chocolate bars for breakfast. Yes,
we consciously had chocolate for breakfast. But we're also talking
about just agriculture and Arizona and you know, kind of

(46:32):
regrowing that for lack of better words, where we can
find more nutritious dense foods that are locally grown and
sustainable as well.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
So yeah, absolutely, And tell us how did you How
did you become a chef? What was that that spark
that said I need to do this. This is my life.

Speaker 11 (46:54):
When I think back on it, I really think it
kind of found me because in high school he had
also a vocational trade school, and then my high school,
my friends were getting into the other trades and going
into all the mechanics. I didn't want to get dirty,
but I also knew that the foods class I was
going to eat every day and it was going to
be rocked with beautiful girls. And so I went in
there and I ate, and I flirted and I got

(47:16):
my first d ever. Okay, and look again, my mom
didn't play any games. I looked up and my mom
was walking down the hall to go talk to my teacher,
and my teacher said, if he just puts a little effort,
there is no way he can pass its class. And
so I put the effort. I started doing things, and
it was like, you mean, if I put pecans in

(47:39):
the chocolate chip cookies and shape it differently, I get
extra credit. It means, in other words, if I draw
out the lines is being embraced. So then I took
every foods class available. Right then, I took the vocational
foods classes for food service management a college high school,
excuse me, a college course while I was in school.
And then I and so from fifteen years old, that's

(48:02):
all I did because it was the theme that gave
me this instant gratification of being innovative and creative and
fun and I can do my own thing. And I'm
extremely excited now after my entire career has come to
this point, I'm now looking going back to teach and
get into a high school and hopefully inspire the next generation.

(48:26):
But less so, I want to do something a little different.
I don't want to be missus McConnell and teach a
home ch or a new high school foods class. I
want to talk about being mindful consumer, a mindful eater,
a conscious eater, being aware of what agriculture is and
regenaive agriculture, bringing in the next generation of young and

(48:48):
the next generation of awareness of food its purpose and
its value for our national security and for health and
wealth for our families.

Speaker 6 (49:00):
That's awesome, speechless, Yeah, right, I wish classes like that
were available where I had been in high school. I mean,
that's just we didn't even.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Have like a home med class that I know of.

Speaker 6 (49:08):
But that's yeah, I know that, I know it sounds bad,
but the fact that you're taking so many different things
in wrapping and like you said, you're not just doing
a traditional cooking caass or a traditional home ned class.
The fact that you're educating and I think that's something
that you know from my company and I know you
guys we've talked about this on the Tasty Show as well,
like knowing where your food comes from and it all
goes back to that it's not it doesn't just come

(49:29):
from the grocery store, and understanding that is absolutely amazing.
I feel like this was just like the culmination of
everything we've talked about today, Like we started with local
first that talks about, you know, helping support local businesses
and agriculture, and then hearing what you're looking to do,
where you've come from and what you're looking to do
with your future.

Speaker 11 (49:44):
Yeah, when I leave here, I'm going over to South Point.
I just joined their their south Point in high school
to be to create a I guess conscious cooking class
or wellness class for the first time the next school year.
And so there's last weeks I've been creating the curriculum,
which I've never done before, just create a curriculum. But

(50:05):
it came to me is that I'm not going to
teach you how to cook in a semester. I mean,
and so what you got a food handler's class certificate?
But can I help you become more mindful?

Speaker 2 (50:16):
Right?

Speaker 11 (50:16):
Can I help you understand how I can feed myself
when I go to college? Okay? But also can I
be a better consumer? And do I can I become
when I become an adult whatever profession? Can I help
drive Regina to agriculture? And here's the reasons why can
I help dry food as medicine? Here's the reason why

(50:36):
can I help change the trajectory of my family members?
The way I created a conscious cuisine, it was a
good and bad thing. I was Admiral vall we may.
I created this cuisine to be a partner with mindfulness.
But I also lost my dad to a heart attack. Right,
But now I can become more consciously aware of how
I can change families lives. So that's what it is

(50:57):
all about.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Absolutely outstanding. Yeah, cell point is definitely going to be
richer for it, and I'm jealous. Just like you said,
I didn't have that option. I think home ch was
like a requirement and then it went away like the
year prior, and I was like, Okay, I'm good, but

(51:21):
you know, and I enjoy cooking at home a lot.
Our family does have the family meal every night where
we sit at the table and we try to tolerate
each other's company, but it's all around good food. So
and I'm kidding, of course, we have great conversation and
a great time, but you know, it's it's it's a

(51:42):
huge part of what our community is it and it
should be done a lot more because that's what that's
what brings our family together a huge part.

Speaker 11 (51:51):
And like my last gig, I was traveling ninety percent
of the time. I refuse to eat Mexican food if
I wasn't in Arizona, California.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
That's because it's the best Exki food in America. It
really is.

Speaker 11 (52:02):
But that's my point is that I can't dime out
on this guy's taco because it ain't right, man, Yea,
you know what I mean. So so I wait until
I get home, and then when I get home, when
I pull up the Menadito's, I know I'm gonna wait
forty five minutes or an hour and a half. But
I also know what I'm gonna get, Yes.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Really really good food. Yeah, absolutely, And you know, and
we're getting some really amazing stuff here in Tucson, and
that you know, you get Portillo's hot dogs. And the
thing that I love I love about Portillo's hot Dogs
is even though it's fast food, they have control over
every ingredient that goes into their food top to bottom,

(52:38):
from their beef to their hot dogs. They're making those
and you know, it's and it's it's.

Speaker 11 (52:45):
It makes a difference.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
It's a huge difference. So and we do coffee with
the two Sons Tasty show from Partillo's sometimes and we
do cake with coffee, but their cake is made fresh daily.
But but you know, and is there one thing that
you can say to aspiring chefs that are just getting

(53:08):
into the industry that you wish that you had known?

Speaker 11 (53:11):
Yes, the importance of nutrition is just as important as flavor, right,
And so what I grew up with was really how
the layer of flavors with the presentation was it was
no mention of nutrition at all right, and so understanding
really why this is good. It's kind of like food

(53:32):
science and baking and pastry, right, but when we look
at the savory foods and other foods, but just the
ingredient component of why this particular nutrient is not only
providing this great this great food is providing this great flavor,
but also this nutrient as well. And so you know,
the mixed berries and the pomegranate and the iia to

(53:53):
help information.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
It's important, yeah, absolutely, and it's good. Last question we
have about a then it left, but what is one
thing everybody should have in their kitchen at home?

Speaker 11 (54:06):
Oh god, I mean other than the basic guidance of
the chef knife and all those things. I mean, you
need a French knife, all right, knife? Okay, yeah, you
need a French knife. I mean with that one knife,
you can do everything with the.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Proper knife etiquette, right, making sure that you're sharpening it
on a regular basis.

Speaker 11 (54:23):
And let me set back, because everyone should have a knife,
but not everyone has a cast iron skillt And so
I would say the one thing is to make sure
that you have a cast iron skilled get a good one,
and then basically pass it off to the next generation
and the next generation. I already my mom is eighty nine.
I've already taken all of her guests iron skills. I'm

(54:45):
not waiting on the wheel and then looking for my
other four brothers. I want mine now.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Well, thank you so much for hopping into the show
with us, and we're super excited to have you here.
We definitely have to have you back. Yeah, so especially
once you get your Sunnyside program up and running. I
definitely would love to chat with you about all of that.

Speaker 11 (55:05):
Yeah, and I'm working on a new book, so hopefully
i'll have that out. It won't be any time zones,
so probably about six or eight months. How have you
ready for you?

Speaker 1 (55:14):
Hello?

Speaker 2 (55:14):
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