Talk and Tasting with Monica Martinez, Don Bugito
Saturday, November 18, 2017, 12:00 pm - 12:45 pm
Stop by the CUESA Classroom for a talk and tasting featuring the bounty of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Please arrive on time if you wish to taste!
Monica Martinez, an artist and designer who immigrated to the US from Mexico City, is one of La Cocina’s current entrepreneurs. Inspired by pre-Hispanic Mexican cuisine, she created an art project building micro farms that people could use to raise insects as a low-input alternative protein source. But she soon realized that there was a lot of education to be done around the ancient practice of entomophagy (eating bugs), and it might be better to help Americans warm up to the idea by first creating delicious food. When she moved to San Francisco, Martinez found herself among 100 attendees at a La Cocina orientation and decided to apply. For several months, she developed her business plan for a bug-based street food business called Don Bugito. Interest in edible insects is on the rise, and with a marketing boost from La Cocina, Don Bugito has helped elevate the trend. Venues like the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market have given Martinez opportunities to introduce her product to a curious but receptive audience.
All demos take place in the CUESA Classroom (under the white tents in front of the Ferry Building) and are free to the public, with recipes and samples for all.