Maine Food & Beverage Education Center (MFBEC) is excited to announce its first-ever Maine Night Market, taking place on August 31, 2024, from 5 PM to 9 PM at the Maine Tasting Center campus in Wiscasset. This vibrant event will shine a spotlight on Maine’s AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) food and beverage producers along with businesses that produce traditional Asian foods and ingredients, showcasing the diversity and richness of Maine’s culinary landscape.
Visitors to the Maine Night Market will experience an outdoor, farmers’ market-style event with vendors offering a wide array of delicious food and drink products – including local favorites like Knead & Nosh, Maine Garum Company, Concepta’s Studio, Heiwa Tofu and Red Kettle Kimchi. In addition to sampling and purchasing locally-produced goods, attendees will enjoy a specially curated menu of snacks and beverages in the Tasting Room, like hurricane popcorn featuring Fairwinds Farm popcorn and Smithereen Farm seaweed sprinkle, and saag paneer featuring Mumbai to Maine Saag Simmer Sauce and paneer from Abraham’s Goat Farm and Creamery. In the Learning Center, cooking demonstrations and educational sessions led by featured producers will happen throughout the evening, providing deeper insights into AAPI cuisine.
The idea for the Maine Night Market originated with one of MFBEC’s newest team members, Caroline Chung, who serves as the nonprofit’s Industry Relations Coordinator. Caroline, a Korean-American who grew up in Northern Virginia near one of the largest Koreatowns in the country, has found it challenging to connect with her cultural roots since moving to Maine. Through her work at MFBEC and her own personal research, she discovered a growing community of AAPI food producers in the state, some of whom she found to share her feelings of cultural separation. “This event is about more than just food,” says Caroline. “It’s about bringing people together, starting conversations, and creating a sense of belonging. I wanted to create a space where we could celebrate our heritage and share the stories behind the amazing food traditions we bring to Maine.” Caroline’s vision is to use this event as a way to build community amongst Mainers of various AAPI ethnicities and backgrounds, but also to invite the wider public to enjoy traditional AAPI foods and learn more about the people who make them.
This event is free and open to the public – tickets are not required – and offers a unique opportunity to support and learn about the diverse voices in Maine’s food community. Learn more at www.mainetastingcenter.com/mainenightmarket
Maine Food & Beverage Education Center (MFBEC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Maine’s small food and drink producers through education. MFBEC operates out of the Maine Tasting Center campus in Wiscasset, where members of the public can attend classes and special events, taste food and drink from Maine producers, and explore exhibits about Maine food industries. MFBEC uses the tools of public education and tourism to drive economic benefit to our state’s small producers and to promote participation in local food systems.
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Jeff Mao Demonstration1 & 2: Jeff Mao, owner of Knead & Nosh and a popular cooking class instructor at Maine Tasting Center, will be hosting demonstrations at the Maine Night Market event on August 31.
Conceptas Studio Product: Concepta’s Studio, a new company out of Waldo, ME, will have their South African Indian spice blends and rubs at the Maine Night Market event on August 31.
Maine Night Market Graphic: The inaugural Maine Night Market event will take place at Maine Tasting Center in Wiscasset on August 31 from 5 – 9 PM with free admission and parking.
