There have been many food celebrations since my last post. My husband and I enjoyed local tropical treats while traveling around Dominican Republic at the end of May. Always a pleasure to visit with family and friends while we are there and those same wonderful family and friends share with us with all the fresh foods of the region.
We are truly fortunate to be able to sit in the shade of a mango tree while being served a breakfast of just collected eggs, mashed plantain from the field behind the house, and cherry juice from the tree next to the plantain! There is also nothing like a warm cup of coffee with milk from the family cows. Being lovers of food we didn't miss an opportunity to enjoy a pre-breakfast snack of the smallest mangos I've ever seen with a taste that was out of this world. There was also the after breakfast snack of a candied cashew fruit. Wow...
The whole trip just reminded us of how you cannot compare fresh-picked and locally grown flavor with the picked-green and dressed up for market tropical that we see back home. It's also hard to beat the home delivery, even in the capital, what could be easier! If you have the good fortune to travel south, make sure to leave the resorts and check out the neighborhood fruit markets. You will not be sorry you did.
Timing was great since we returned home at the start of cherry and strawberry season. Motivated to continue enjoying fruits and vegetables in season, we started with my brother-in-laws slightly tart cherry tree (yummy, thank you!), moved on to Carver Hill Orchard in Stow, MA for some Rainier cherries that made some delicious juice and a little dessert topping. Final stop to date was strawberry picking at Spring Hill Farm, just at the end of the season when the berries are tiny and full of sun-warmed flavor.
June also brought the start of our 3rd CSA season right on time. Oh, the pesto with garlic scapes... mmm. When you get your fruits and vegetables fresh, you definitely have to work on them right away. They are not filled with the "keep a long, long time on the kitchen shelf" genes that are packed into a lot of what we are used to seeing in the produce aisle. It is amazing how quickly we got away from the farms in the name of "modernization and convenience".
My vote goes for the "Give the local farmer a try" school of thought. There is so much food variety that we aren't even aware of since the standard store brands get so much publicity. Each year we are surprised to find a new vegetable and discover a new flavor combination. If you are just getting started, give a friend a call and try something new together or ask someone who you see buying a vegetable that is new for you what they do with it. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Here in Massachusetts we have many small farmers with farm stand signs along the road or a U-pick sign. It was really nice to see families sharing some fun while strawberry picking this past weekend. Small children, parents, grandparents and even teenagers all seemed to be enjoying themselves. How about that?
