What a cool adventure. I tell you, I love finding beautiful stones. It's one of my hobbies and lucky for me, my wife is the same.
Locally I've found jade, quartz and obsidian. But, I fully intend to go to the Sierra sometime soon and explore around the volcanoes, to see if we find a real treasure.
I have to say; that food looks middle eastern to me... I would have never imagined.