Early spring has arrived in the Sonoma Valley and Northern California. The first taste of spring wherever you live is asparagus. When the first shoots of asparagus appear, you can be assured the ground has thawed and the temperatures are going up, even if every so slightly. This is the third week that asparagus has
Napa cabbage and carrots Napa cabbage or wong bok is a sweet-tasting hearted-type of Chinese cabbage. It is barrel-shaped, with tightly-wrapped leaves and a dense heart. Napa cabbage can be steamed, boiled, quickly stir-fried, or eaten raw. Napa cabbage has a light, sweet taste and is tender. It is the best storing of Chinese cabbages
Michihili cabbage salad with corn and chives Michihili is a semi-heading, upright, cylindrical-shaped Chinese cabbage. Michihili is delicate, crisp and lightly sweet. It is often used in cooking as a vehicle for the flavors of other foods. There are other semi-heading Chinese cabbages. Each of these is wrapped with long leaves that form a tapering
Garlic roasted Garlic is one of the most common vegetables used for flavoring other foods. It is also one of the best-tasting cooked vegetables. Garlic Flavor A whole garlic clove sautéed in oil will have a sweet, delicate flavor. A whole garlic clove cooked slowly will have a mellow, nutty flavor. Cut garlic—raw or cooked—will
Shallots have a sweet, delicate flavor and aroma. They are more subtle than onion and less pungent than garlic. Shallots can be served raw or cooked. Shallots are most often used as a condiment to enhance the flavor of other foods, but they can be cooked alone as a vegetable. Fresh green shallots with the
Celeriac can be served cooked or raw. Celeriac combines the sweet taste of the mildest celery with the light peppery zip of parsley. Celeriac—which is also known as celery root, celery knobs, and turnip-rooted celery—is a cool-weather vegetable that comes to harvest between late fall and early spring. How to Choose Celeriac Select large, smooth
Salad with steamed fava beans tomatoes and red onion. The fava bean—which is also known as the broad bean, English bean, Windsor bean, and horsebean–can be eaten fresh or dried. As fava beans mature, their flavor grows increasingly starchy and strong. The smallest beans—less than the size of a small fingernail—are the sweetest. The outer
Asparagus has an intense rich flavor that is nearly impossible to describe. It is a universally favored vegetable that has been coming to the table for thousands of years. It is said that Julius Caesar simply like to eat asparagus with melted butter. Here are some suggestions for how you can serve asparagus: • Thinly
Chestnuts can be roasted, boiled, grilled, braised, puréed, preserved, and candied. You can add shelled and peeled chestnuts finely diced or chopped to soups, stuffings, and salads. The rich, sweet taste of chestnuts is a good match for savory dishes such as game and poultry. The chestnut harvest runs from autumn through early spring. There
Fresh radish salad with chives served on a lettuce leaf Radishes are commonly eaten raw but they are also quite delicious cooked in butter. Radishes can taste mild and sweet or peppery and pungent. Common round and oblong radishes can be bright pink to crimson red, purple, and white. Daikon radishes –common in Asian cooking–are
