One of the real draws for me in establishing myself as a regular market goer are the relationships I make with vendors and other regulars. I walked into today’s Pasadena market and was touched by the repeated inquiries into my health and well being (I haven’t been to the market in over a month), and then the sincere interest and even joy when I told them about my visit to France. Thanks to everyone who said hello and paused amidst the mist and wet to chat it up this morning. Made for a very pleasant market day.
And mist it did. A right solid marine layer swooped in around 6AM and covered the valley with heavy misty drizzle. Not enough for an umbrella. But too much to not be covered at all, which I wasn’t. I walked out with damp hair, but a bag full of spring goodness. Shall we commence with the imagery? Yes, let’s.
We’re stupidly lucky in the southland. While spring is the artichoke’s true prime season, we can really get them year round (thank you, Lompoc!). Despite this, there is something more hearty, more flavorful, and more meaty about a true spring artichoke. I like mine plain with mayo (or this). The more ‘refined’ might prefer butter. Either way, I like them whole and steamed and generally unadulterated.
Just pretty. I’m not a cauli fan no matter what color they are. Nothing wrong with them. I just don’t mesh well with them. I have yet to find a good repeat recipe for them that demands to be made. Anyone who wants to convert me is welcome to try. I’d really like to like these.
She just gets better with her displays every time I see her. We chatted for a good long while about Paris and Europe in general and I remarked how much her table resembled some of the other market tables I saw in France. It was an open door for her to show me her incredible heads of frisée, or curly endive (it has many names actually).
I had a lot of frisée in France, my favorite was with a sweet mustard dressing and a side of smoked duck breast. So of course I bought some. Memories are so seductive.
Spring done sprung, yo. Green everything was everywhere. The above is green garlic, which is a component of one of the soup recipes from Russ Parsons in this week’s LA Times Food section.
Big, beautiful, smelly, green red onions.
Small, delicate, aromatic spring green scallions.
Not green. But very pretty and springy none the less. Cole slaw. Mmm. Or a really steamy clean cabbage soup…
…with turnips. There are still a mess of really gorgeous winter root veggies out there – carrots especially. I think turnips are under appreciated though. The depth of flavor they add to dishes makes them a must have.
Cane! Sugar! It’s funny that those that have it, rarely display it up front. Walker Farms had these propped up against a tree well behind the truck and trays. I love sugar cane. Again, another seductive memory, this time from childhood. Nature’s best lollipop.
And then I decided it was time to towel of the camera and myself and go grab a cappuccino from Europane.
