Sunday, May 2, 2010

Things You Won't See This Year

I actually should have entitled this "Thing you won't see this year," because it is right now, singular. I missed the boat on dandelion greens. They are now way too acid because the dandelion flowers are in bloom, or so says a woman at the Dupont Circle Sunday farmers market, who carries them when they are in season. So, no dandelion greens and no fried dandelion flowers. Especially no fried dandelion flowers because, one cannot wash them, because they close if you do. So, obviously, no dandelion flowers will be harvested in the District of Columbia, unless some reader (!) comes forward with a source of dog-free, pesticide free dandelions.
This cookbook isn't that ethnic. Or possibly, the late 60s when Hewitt was compiling the recipes, frowned on things that were too ethnic, or too poor, or, as my children would say, too ghetto. I refer to ramps, which are a kind of wild leek, popular in West Virginia, and possibly the mountains of Virginia. I had heard of them, and in fact read about them in the pages of The Washington Post food section. But there ain't no recipes for ramps in The New York Times Heritage Cookbook.
I also want to categorically state that you won't see a post about making snapping turtle soup after killing the snapping turtle. At least, I hope you won't. Lobsters, I can deal with, and in fact, stay tune because in two weeks, I'm going to make 50 lobster rolls for the engagement party of my son and his fiancee. So, we'll see how cooking x number of lobsters, chasing them around the kitchen, etc, goes. But, snapping turtles are an entirely different item. I vividly remember my father killing a snapping turtle by beating it to death with a crowbar. He didn't like them. I believe, but am not sure that he lost a dog to a snapping turtle, or a friend of his did. Also, I'm not sure that even the new local eaters in DC would be willing to try snapping turtle.

1 comment:

  1. Have you ever had ramps? I was disappointed when I tried them - they tasted a lot more like garlic than leeks.As for the snapping turtle, just wait long enough and you can drive over one in the Berkshires.
    My father's method for cooking lobsters was to put them in a big pot of white wine and then gradually raise the heat. He thought it made them more tender - that was the theory at least. Can't prove it by me as I can't stand them, white wine or no.

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