Great Taste Coaster

I’d say 90% of cooking is starting off with good raw ingredients.  Really the rest of cooking is about not screwing up those ingredients.  That being said, all food is best when it’s processed and shipped as little as possible, and local food is where it’s at.  Eating seasonally is great for you because, humans like most animals aren’t designed to eat the same thing all year round.  Seasonal eats forces you to eat things you normally wouldn’t and once you get tired of it, the season ends.  In addition seasonal, local food has more nutrients and better taste.  So enough with the soapbox, here’s what you should be finding and eating now:

• Watercress, I love this stuff and it doesn’t stay around for very long.  It’s best served on soft bread with cream cheese or a soft cheese like wemsleydale.  Trim the crusts on your sandwich and eat with tea in the late afternoon.
• Early spring greens, a lot of growers around here are using poly tunnels.  They are essentially quick and dirty greenhouses, set up over the fields.  I’ve already started getting some mesclun from some local growers.
• Winter Root Vegetables, they’re on their way out, but still good.  Potatoes, parsnips, and beets.
• Lambing season is coming soon.  So get that Easter leg of lamb!