At Maine Fare this year, attendees will get a chance to see firsthand the best ways to incorporate local ingredients into their meals. On Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13, chefs and other local food and wine professionals will teach cooking classes on a wide variety of topics and spanning the entire food and drink spectrum. Classes are generally two hours long, for details visit www.mainefare.com.

Maine Fare's cooking classes this year include: risotto 'many ways' with Chef Josh Hixson of Brevetto, vegetarian late summer cuisine with Mary Lake of the Blackberry Inn, Maine seafood with Chef Michael Salmon of the Hartstone Inn, Mediterranean cuisine at the Belmont Inn with food writer and cookbook author Nancy Harmon Jenkins, fresh pizza with Annemarie Ahearn at the Salt Water Farm, Breakfast in the Barn of the Cellardoor Winery with Chef Melissa Kelly of Primo, and how to butcher a whole hog with Peter Sueltenfuss of Fore Street restaurant in Portland.

Maine Fare is a weekend that investigates the past, present and future of Maine's foods. From September 11-13, attendees will have the chance to attend an opening gala tasting event, visit Maine Fare Marketplace, attend panel discussions, author signings, and dinners at Camden's Knox Mill and other nearby locations. Sponsors of Maine Fare 2009 include Brewster Point Land Company, Cellardoor Winery, and Down East magazine. Other partners include Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine, MaineToday.com, WCLZ 98.9 FM, The Free Press weekly, and the Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce.