Aroma Cucina

Greenmarket

Saturday morning I made a trip to Union Square's Greenmarket. All sorts of things are in season: ramps, purslane, wild asparagus.  I even bought some tomatoes from this forlorn looking boy. He was out working with his family, and trying keep his game face on, but you could see it was taking its toll.  It was hot, hot by 9:30 am, so I was feeling sorry for him.
The freshness of the produce made one woman dizzy with joy. She was literally twirling in ecstasy over some strawberries. They were good, but didn't send me twirling!  Another man, a very large man, kept yelling, "Where are the cookies? Where are the cookies?"  He literally ran up to the asparagus man, pushed us aside and yelled into the poor man's face. I've heard of having the munchies, but this was pretty extreme.
Ghandi was looking particularly spiffy all surrounded by lush greens and flowers.
Dinner on Saturday included some very sweet steamers. Probably the only ones I'll eat this summer, so I'm glad they were so good.  The Greenmarket on the first weekend in June, is a fine place to be!

Ray of Hope

                                                               

All this bad news. Pick a category: world politics, gun control, food issues. Everywhere you turn, you feel so beaten up, so overwhelmed by the bad ‘ju-ju’ that surrounds us. Rancho Gordo, in his excellent blog, and on eGullet, has been leading a discussion about farmer’s markets and Slow Food. No, it’s not a warm fuzzy discussion; it’s an examination of what’s going on with the founder of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini.  Over the course of the past few years, different people have been complaining about the high handedness, the elitism that Mr. Petrini is fostering. It’s a thought provoking discussion, and worth reading.
So where is the ray of hope? Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo was talking about the future, about young people starting gardens, talking about eating local and sustainable, supporting farmer’s markets. Well, here’s my good news: my 21 year old son and his girlfriend have planted a garden, and it’s growing. When I asked Curtis what he wanted to grow in the garden, he said with a big smile, “Everything!”  He and Lauren talk about where their food comes from, what they eat and they care very much about the environment.  That’s the warm fuzzy news, this generation is waking up and beginning to fight the fight.

Market Day in Umbertide

It was a cool and drizzly morning, but that wasn’t going to stop us from going to the market.  It’s early in the growing season, and even though Italy has had a bout of unseasonably warm weather, it didn’t mean that tomatoes were in season.  But we did come home with beautiful, purple baby artichokes, fava beans, sweet peas, lettuces, the last of the blood oranges, and some cheese and pancetta.
My favorite cheese guy and my fish guy weren’t there today, but I consoled myself with some gorgeous little fishies and fresh shrimp from Sicily, that we fried up for lunch. . These vendors travel from town to town, and in the slow season, they take some well-deserved time off. Hopefully, in another few weeks, all the usual suspects will have returned to Umbertide.