Tagged: farmers markets

With spring comes wild foods that inhabit our region. Last week, I met a group of visiting culinary students from France at a market.

Mid-conversation, the group’s leader took several steps away to harvest a lone mushroom on an adjacent patch of grass. He was elated to discover this fungus, like a familiar friend. “This wild mushroom is popular in France,” he said. To prove his point, he took a bite. I chose not to remind him that dogs favor that spot for cocking their legs.

Earlier this week, I had one of those enviable New Orleans moments. There I was: standing in a farmers market, debating with a group of market-goers as to whether Lent’s Gumbo des Herbes does or does not contain meat.

Are you familiar with the fifth element on the culinary spectrum, umami? Scientists have debated whether the four taste groups adequately cover it: sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

By the time our region’s markets are ringing their closing bells this afternoon, the New Orleans Road Food Festival will be in full swing in the French Quarter.