Award-winning Denver chef Jarod “Roilty” Farina crafts gourmet infused dinners

By John Garvey

In 2012, I made a terrifying descent from South Arapaho Peak (elevation 13,400 feet) while tripping hard on a pot brownie, and I came to understand our shared, precious existence in ways that can be explained but scarcely grasped.

This is not how you’re supposed to do weed edibles. But it does illustrate the potential for both transcendence and miscalculation that comes with indulging in cannabis-infused foods.

Jarod “Roilty” Farina

Our culinary options have expanded far beyond gummies and brownies since recreational cannabis was legalized here a decade ago. Not only are cannabis edibles more varied and consistent, but you can now enjoy catered fine-dining experiences with cannabis-infused foods.

High-brow fine dining

Jarod “Roilty” Farina, a.k.a., the Michelin Stoner, is a preeminent, award-winning Denver cannabis chef who describes himself as “a French-style chef with an Italian and Asian flair.” Farina is driven by his long-running, parallel loves of cuisine and cannabis. Among other accolades, he’s won the 2011 Secret Cup in Los Angeles (an underground competition that was a career breakthrough for Farina) and The High Times Top Cannabis Chef. He’s been featured on several high-profile cooking shows including Bravo’s “Southern Charm,” “Chopped 420 and Thrillist “Send Foods.” His company, Dine with Roilty, offers multi-course in-home catered meals.

“You know, I’m a worldly person,” Farina says. “I eat at all the Michelin star restaurants I can ... and I bring different elements from those dinners back to my dinners.”

No wonder you can tell right away he loves his job.

Chefs specializing in cannabis-infused meals can calculate and tailor each guest’s dose to their wishes, so abstainers and stoners can enjoy the same five-course meal side-by-side and get exactly what they want. That’s because the cannabis isn’t cooked in; it’s used as a finishing agent.

“We can accommodate each and every person and give them their own personal experience,” Farina says. “And the way that we do that is I make a highly infused olive oil on-site with cannabis that they provide.”

That infused olive oil is added to the degree desired by each guest before serving.

So here’s a question: Is my pasta carbonara going to taste like weed? Sadly (for me), happily (for most), Farina’s answer is no:

“When you’re cooking with cannabis, terpenes [the organic compounds that give cannabis its flavor] are cooked off very easily. So unless you’re doing a small-batch infusion, it’s not going to be something you notice.”

DIY basics

There are two reasons you can’t just put cannabis on a salad. First, it won’t make you high unless it’s been heated to 220-245 Fahrenheit. This causes a chemical reaction called decarboxylation that turns THCA into THC. Without getting into the chemistry, the “A” prevents you from getting high. But it doesn’t like those scorching temperatures, so once the thermometer surpasses 220 degrees or so, it goes off to Alaska to visit relatives.

Cannabis is also inedible. Sorry. So in addition to heating it up, you have to extract the cannabinoids by binding them to a fat like butter, coconut oil or olive oil. You can add decarboxylated cannabis to any edible fat at a low simmer, strain it, and if you’ve done everything right, you’ll end up with most of the cannabinoids you started out with. Articles and tutorials on how to do this abound, including Roilty’s own tutorial, which you can purchase for $10 — about the cost of a gram.

Chef Roilty says what you use is up to you. “It really depends on what your final usage is. If you’re a baker, you might want to go with butter or coconut oil. ... Butter is the go-to, right? It’s what everybody thinks of first. Butter holds many forms, though. When it’s cold, it’s hard and you’ve gotta soften it.

“So for me, on the fly, oils are my favorite because they’re always in a liquid form. They’re easy to use, and easy to apply.”

A number of Chef Roilty’s favorite recipes, including Ooey Gooey Cereal Bars and Glazed Honey Garlic Salmon, are available on his website.

Common mistakes

One of the two most common mistakes Farina sees people make is cooking off the cannabinoids, which are comparatively delicate and don’t stand up to higher temperatures.

“You want to use it as a final touch,” he advises. “If you do want to infuse your whole recipe, you’d want to put it in the sauce.

“So say you’re making a batch of mac and cheese for instance. … You wouldn’t put the infusion into it while you’re hot. You’d wait till you take it off the heat, mix it in properly, and then serve it.

“… If it’s ever boiling, it’s too hot.”

The second mistake people make is dosing incorrectly, which comes down to either bad math, no math or impatience. Cannabis edibles can take around two hours to achieve their full effect, so if you eat too much too soon because you think they’re weak, you’re actually going to get as blazed as a Cajun chicken sandwich.

Pass the sauce!

It’s been a long journey from the world’s first batch of pot brownies to five-course catered meals with cannabis-infused oils. With legalization, we’ve traded naughtiness for culinary quality and diversity. While I have some nostalgia for the former, I am glad that we can relax into an experience that is lighthearted, yet worldly.

I think for my 40th birthday this presents a pleasant alternative to contemplating my mortality 1,500 feet above timberline.

John Garvey is the Chief Storytelling Officer at Garvington Creative, bringing together business impact and belly laughs through story-driven marketing. GarvingtonCreative.com