NEW SEASONS

 

     There's a natural health food and local produce purveyor that pre-dates Whole Foods Market and still exists in the Portland, Ore. to date who got its start around the time artisanal buying ethos-counterculture agribusiness-save the planet Trader Joe's was established in the early 70s, and the name of that cool store is New Seasons. My permaculture farmer/neighbor/weekly supplier of my greens and herbs, and handcrafted edible flowers tea, reminded me of my days in Portland when he'd mention this morning at his set up on Market St. that the season for avocados on the island is over - there was one left on display and that was it, and I bought it; however, he pointed to the gorgeous oyster mushrooms he just harvested on the side trunk of his avocado tree sprouting prodigiously now, and for compensatory alleviation of my disappointment I took a handful of those, too (he said to sautée them with collards, dandelions, basil sprigs - I got those from him as well - and red wine vinegar for maximum effect, which I will do tonight for dinner). The cool thing about that store I am reminiscing in this blog was, like Sahadi's in Brooklyn, NY (another awesome marketplace concentrating on Mediterranean ingredients and spices), that it was a "feeder" of international cuisine-making in the comforts of your home by providing you with a behest of available edible traditions to achieve their taste and flavor originality. My runs at New Seasons were short, few blocks journeys from SE Hawthorne to SE Division Streets on my black Honda Element SUV (back when I was still driving) for the finest Sicilian olives, mortadella delis and Spanish charcuterie cheese I could find for my party. Not to mention the rustic baguettes I stick in my reusable bag after shopping and carry home like a musical instrument - and I, a tired street minstrel, was ready to retire for the night and eat my hard-earned bread.          

     Hetty Mckinnon is a New York City chef and recipe-contributor (as Gabrielle Hamilton, who I also follow) to the cooking section of The Times, and she had an interesting salad dish embedded in Sam Sifton's column of suggestions of what to cook this week (Hetty's was for a Wednesday night, I believe, and it sounded great): roasted cabbage and chickpeas Ceasar, forgoing the customary lettuce and croutons for the formers, respectively; she also wants you to make your own dressing of mayo with capers and lime juice. Lately my landlady's Saturday bag of veggies for me contains heads of cabbages I share with her pet turtles (no kidding; her adopted tortoises like them and she gets a bunch at the market and makes a point to share with me; I really do not mind at all - with the variety of recipes I could do with cabbages, case in point McKinnon's). There's always going to be "new seasons" for cooking when one is connected with cooks and writers you share the same passions with in the kitchen and on the writing board. You see, I have to make the best recipe for the last avocado standing on my table, to give it its proper send off like no other to the palate. Readers, if you have anything to recommended, please do not hesitate to post a comment. I'm all ears.