It was here for an instant, and then, “poof” in a puff of white it was gone again.
Officially, spring is here, but just in the lower case, as we suffer snow, sleet and 30-degree temperatures. I shouldn’t be surprised, Phil did say six more weeks, so we should be close.
It’s this time of year when my thoughts turn to menu changes and new products. Keeneland starts in several weeks, patios need some work to get open, staff needs to be hired and trained, all in anticipation of another season.
While the other seasons all hold their own promises, spring is the most open of all; no promises and all the potential in the world of food will be right at my kitchen door very soon. It will start with a trickle of product, here and there. Bits of local spinach and mushrooms. Greens and maybe some early green garlic or spring onions. A different shade of green will appear in the pastas, bright and aggressive. Roasted vegetables will give way to sautéed or wilted just with the heat of the sauce or dressing.
I’ve already left the winter beets behind, knowing they’ll be back around before you know it. I don’t dare to think about tomatoes yet, although I remember local tomatoes hitting my kitchen in April last year. I’m dreaming again, but that is the best part of early spring, the anticipation of what’s to come, the potential of new ingredients to work with, and what those new ingredients do for the restaurant or your kitchen at home.
I notice first that the plates I design in the spring aren’t as crowded. I’ve thrown off the heavy winter coat and donned the windbreaker.
The plate has more negative space, and not in a bad way. Negative space for a chef allows the positive space, the food, to shine more brightly. When we paint with spring colors, the positive space shines, bordered crisply by the rest of the plate. No need to fill it up, it is swimsuit season after all. But more to the point, spring denotes renewal, a clean slate, and in keeping with that motif, less has the potential to be so much more.
I want to explore colors I haven’t seen in months. I want textures that are crisp and clean to be highlighted on the plate and the palate. No rich sauces to cover the food, but light vinaigrettes and pans sauces to accentuate the fresh new flavors of light greens and eventually fresh asparagus and peas.
Time once again to dust off some cooking techniques suited for such a menu. Out comes the grill and the sauté pan, the braising pan can take a break. Techniques that require a quick cook time or no cooking at all move back up front to take full advantage of tender vegetables or fruits.
I dream once again of berries with a simple sabayon, focusing on the direct flavors and textures of ingredients that need very little to thrive. In all things spring I search for the most direct way to spotlight the new product. Don’t overload with fat or spice, keep the process minimal, there shouldn’t be the need to muscle the product around to extract anything.
Spring gives and gives, our job is to coax it along and let the dish showcase itself. Try asparagus raw this year, it will open up a whole range of menu possibilities and with the fresh local asparagus you won’t be sorry that you did.
It’s easy this time of year to ignore the potential of what’s to come. With the crush of patios opening, Keeneland running, and tons of people freed from winter, the path of least resistance is to bury oneself in the kitchen and just get through it.
You miss so many things, which fly by so fast. Spring onions are named for the season when they are at their best. Make a pesto, or a chimichurri, bright green and aggressive against the grilled flank steak or pork chop. Mushrooms gathered or grown, and harvested this time of year taste of spring rains with a hint of late frost, totally different than mushrooms I get in the fall. Treat them lightly and they give back those flavors with a light butter sauce and some sautéed spinach. Tossed with fresh pasta, and a bit of sundried tomato and your spring menu pasta is born. I’m topping mine with a bit of our herbed chevre for a hint of tangy richness.
Gone is the bourbon apple glaze on the pork and on comes the porchetta. Ribeye stays but I think a cleaner, lighter cut is in order, and maybe that’s where I throw on a bit of grilled spring onion butter.
Don’t worry though, the mac and cheese will stay, I’m not that crazy.
John Foster is an executive chef who heads the culinary program at Sullivan University’s Lexington campus. A New York native, Foster has been active in the Lexington culinary scene and a promoter of local and seasonal foods for more than 20 years. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef has been the executive chef of his former restaurant, Harvest, and now his Chevy Chase eatery, The Sage Rabbit.
To read more from Chef John Foster, including his recipes, click here.
