Posted by Jen Maiser, May 1, 2008 at 2:15 PM
"Spring is so fleeting."
I thought this to myself this weekend as I came back from the San Rafael Farmers' Market. I live in San Francisco, so let's be honest: it's not like I just survived through a long, hard winter. Not as long and hard as some of you have. Through the shortest days, we still have lettuces and citrus, year-round markets, and quite a variety of fruits and vegetables. But even the heartiest locavores among us get a little weary of butternut squash and stored apples and canned tomatoes.
Enter spring.
The first signs of spring came about a month ago with the grand entrance of Delta asparagus from the Sacramento area. And now, we are in the midst of spring abundance complete with fava beans, artichokes, spring lettuces and strawberries. There is something about springtime to me that is extra special.
While we see the arrival of some crops that will stick around for many months—strawberries, for instance—many last just mere weeks. Spring is a series of short bursts of flavor. Miss a couple of weeks at the market, and entire crops will have passed you by.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 14, 2007 at 6:35 PM
First it was watermelons; now our strawberries aren't safe from anthropomorphization. One day Randy found a mad face staring at him after biting into a strawberry. What's the next step in strawberry evolution?
Posted by Ed Levine, June 11, 2007 at 1:00 PM
In New York City, at least, the local strawberries at the farmers' markets are absolutely delicious this year, sweet as candy. I have heard the same is true about the berries in California this year. So how do Serious Eaters like to eat their strawberries?
Last night at Esca, they told me they had local Tri-Star strawberries for dessert macerated in pork with a side of zabaglione cream. I asked for my strawberries plain, and they were so good it was scary.
That said, the thing I love to do with strawberries is put a little bit of high-quality balsamic vinegar on them, add a few grinds of fresh black pepper roman-style, and then top the whole affair with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.
Photograph from Mewtate on Flickr
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 24, 2007 at 6:30 PM
Makes me wish I still lived somewhere with strawberries in the backyard.
Posted by Meg Hourihan, April 2, 2007 at 1:11 PM
With all the jam and jelly talk today, of course my thoughts turned to my experiences making strawberry jam with my grandmother. Less than three months 'till the berries will be ready for picking again. And that means more jamming, and more family memories. I can't wait!
