Spring Stirs Green Market Memories

By Marie-Christine Perry

Growing up as I did in a family of nine, with seven food-loving children and a mother who was a delightful cook, meal preparation was joyful, sometimes simple and sometimes complex—particularly when a new recipe was tried. It all started with gathering ingredients. Whether at home—which in a military family could mean Toulouse, Marseille, Paris, Bordeaux, Dakar, Djibouti or Germany—or during summers spent in the Quercy at my maternal grandparents, food shopping was a favorite activity among we children.

The green markets in France, whether in small or large cities, are where one can always find seasonal offerings: asparagus, young peas and watercress in March; sweet, small wood strawberries and several varieties of cherries in June; chanterelles and king boleti in October. In Bordeaux, there were oysters in the “r” months. In Toulouse, one could find in the fixings for the celebrated cassoulet: Coco Tarbais beans, fresh sausage and duck confit. Marseille was the source of rockfish and saffron for bouillabaisse, and in Belfort du Quercy, we could find the noble black truffle in the markets from December to March.

This annual rhythm of coming and going delicacies has shaped the way I think about food, the way I buy it and the way I prepare it. It has transformed shopping for food into a joyful hunt, with opportunities to taste many things along the way, as we stop at every booth to admire, smell, taste and buy.

Here in Norfolk, that has translated into gardening at home; foraging for mushrooms, ramps, dandelion greens and watercress; buying produce, meat, maple syrup and honey from local sources; and picking apples and berries with friends in local farms, I have tried to be true to my childhood food hunts.

Eating fresh food that is grown in-season and just picked is so healthy! It is a privilege we still have, despite the short growing season here in Norfolk, so different from Northern California where I used to live and gardened for 10 out of 12 months. During the growing season, we can preserve all that fresh bounty: making tomato sauce, jams and jellies, chutneys, pesto, soups and stews, and drying mushrooms and herbs. It will give our own winters a splash of summer! In these first few days of spring, with the snow gone, I say: Bon appétit!