{"id":466429,"date":"2026-09-17T05:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466429\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T05:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:44:11","slug":"2026-delta-heritage-forum-in-brentwood-nov-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466429\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Delta Heritage Forum in Brentwood Nov. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Theme: \u201cDelta as Culinary Journey\u201d
\nPresented by Delta Protection Commission
\nSponsored by the Contra Costa County Historical Society<\/p>\n

By Kira O\u2019Donnell, National Heritage Area Information Officer, Delta Protection Commission<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a California state agency<\/p>\n

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (September 16, 2026) \u2013 The California Delta\u2019s culinary riches will be celebrated this fall.<\/p>\n

On November 5, the annual Delta Heritage Forum<\/a> presents \u201cDelta as Culinary Journey,\u201d a full-day event presenting a kaleidoscope of food-related cultural stories centered in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta<\/a>, both historic and modern.<\/p>\n

The\u202fForum is an event dedicated to celebrating Delta stories, nurturing collaboration, and inspiring new thinking and initiatives in the Delta heritage community.\u202fThis year the Forum is sponsored by the Contra Costa County Historical Society.<\/a><\/p>\n

This will be the first time the event focuses on food-centric pioneering innovations and multicultural contributions, as well as the agricultural bounty of the region.<\/p>\n

Darrell Corti, president of Corti Brothers in Sacramento, will deliver the opening talk: \u201cDelta as Food Source and Inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other notable speakers include Austin Stevenot<\/a>, a Northern Sierra Mewuk cultural practitioner who will discuss the foodways of the\u202fOriginal People who flourished in the\u202fSacramento-San Joaquin Delta; and Dr. Karen Leonard of UC Irvine,<\/a> who will present the\u202fhistory and food traditions of the Punjabi-Mexican community,\u202fa unique cultural fusion of early 20th-century immigrants in California\u2019s\u202fDelta and\u202fCentral Valley\u202fregions.<\/p>\n

The Forum runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Brentwood Community Center<\/a>. Participants will be well-fed \u2013 the event includes morning coffee and pastries, a full lunch and a vintage cake tasting.<\/p>\n

Opening and Welcome: Diane Burgis, Chair, Delta Protection Commission<\/p>\n

Delta as Food Source and Inspiration: Darrell Corti, President, Corti Brothers<\/p>\n

Foodways of the Delta\u2019s Original Inhabitants<\/p>\n

Austin Stevenot is a Northern Sierra Mewuk cultural practitioner, enrolled member of the California Valley Miwok Tribe, and Director of Tribal Engagement for River Partners. He discusses the foodways of the Original People who flourished in the California Delta.<\/p>\n

Rich Collins \u2013 California Endive, Rio Vista<\/p>\n

A pioneer in Belgian-style endive production in the Delta, Rich Collins defied the skeptics who claimed this European vegetable couldn\u2019t be successfully farmed in the United States.<\/p>\n

Ken Beer \u2013 President and owner of The Fishery, Galt<\/p>\n

In partnership with Dr. Serge Doroshov, known as the \u201cfather of sturgeon aquaculture,\u201d Ken Beer pioneered commercial sturgeon and caviar production in the Delta region.<\/p>\n

Family Farming in the Delta \u2013 Looking Back, Looking Forward<\/p>\n

Steve Heringer is a fifth-generation Delta farmer. Since 1868, the Heringer family has grown pears, row crops such as corn, sugar beets, tomatoes, and more recently, wine grapes. Mr. Heringer speaks of the past, present and future of family farming in the Delta from a multi-generational perspective.<\/p>\n

Roti Quesadilla? Punjabi-Mexican Culture in the Delta<\/p>\n

Dr. Karen Leonard of UC Irvine discusses the historic Punjabi-Mexican American community, a unique cultural (and culinary) fusion of early 20th-century immigrants in California\u2019s Delta and Central Valley regions.
\nLocal culinary arts educator Nena Rasul describes the Punjabi\/Mexican food traditions of her family.<\/p>\n

Sweet Success + a Vintage Cake Tasting<\/p>\n

Barbara Pagni Denton, author of the memoir\/cookbook shares a vivid narrative of Crockett, a C&H Sugar company town, as it evolved in the 20th century.<\/p>\n

A collection of vintage cakes, whose recipes are shared in Denton\u2019s book, will be served.<\/p>\n

The History of Locke\u2019s Chinese Demonstration Garden<\/p>\n

Stuart Walthall, Chair of the Locke Foundation, discusses the profound role the community garden played in the life of Locke\u2019s Chinese residents. He describes the legacy town\u2019s present-day demonstration garden, which showcases vegetables, fruits and herbs grown by the original Chinese residents of Locke.<\/p>\n

Closing remarks: Elizabeth Patterson, Chair, National Heritage Area Advisory Committee<\/p>\n

The full event schedule is here<\/a> and the speaker bios are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $55 (plus an Eventbrite fee) and\u202fare available here<\/a>.\u00a0Tickets cover all food costs and seating is limited.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Delta Heritage Forum or the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area, contact Kira O\u2019Donnell, NHA information officer, kira.odonnell@delta.ca.gov<\/a>, (530) 650-6362.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Theme: \u201cDelta as Culinary Journey\u201d Presented by Delta Protection Commission Sponsored by the Contra Costa County Historical Society…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-466429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}