Raspberries have made their appearance at the local farm market. Right now you can get both raspberries and strawberries, but the appearance of one indicates the impending departure of the other. I don't often think of berries as seasonal. They are ubiquitous in supermarkets all the year round. Greenhouse strawberries can be surprisingly good and our acceptance of their near constant availability is hard to avoid. Eating my way through the season of local berries has been enlightening. They are not always perfect and beautiful. They have interesting knobby shapes, occasional splits, and the odd tough bits and bites. They are sometimes incredibly sweet and fragrant, occasionally flabby and watery, succulent, soggy, tender, and unique. Unique is possibly the perfect word because each berry has a personality of it's own. They are not consistent and because of that the very best of them are so much better than any hothouse berry I have ever tasted. We've grown used to uniformity and sometimes we need to remember that without moments of dullness there would be no flashes of genius to bring things into balance.
Years Past
June 18, 2005
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
