Ask anyone about a favorite harbinger of spring, and the answer might be the scent of magnolias, warmer temperatures or the onset of a busy festival season.
Ask a chef the same question, and most likely the answer is an ingredient that’s here and gone by the blaze of summer.
Spring ingredients are a welcome change from the hearty greens and root vegetables of winter. Although the supply chain (at least as it used to be) delivers tropical ingredients in winter and tender shoots despite the heat of summer, many chefs prefer to follow the season as they prepare their spring menus. Here are some of the ingredients local chefs are excited to get their hands on in spring.
Gulf shrimp
Although local shrimp are available year-round, the Roosevelt New Orleans’s executive chef Daniel Mills adores the crustaceans that mark the season. “While Gulf shrimp are technically in season all year round, the peak season begins every spring,” Mills says.
At the hotel’s Fountain Lounge, garlic sautéed Gulf shrimp are served with a Louisiana corn maque choux. “That screams springtime in Louisiana,” he adds.
Rhubarb
Chef Philip Whitemarsh finds it odd that rhubarb isn’t more popular in the U.S. It’s such a treat in his native U.K. that there is a rhubarb triangle in West Yorkshire, where the vegetable is grown in underground cellars. “The rhubarb we grow is so much sweeter,” Whitemarsh says. “The whole stick is fully pink all the way through. The flavor is concentrated.”
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At Jewel of the South, he uses rhubarb in several dishes. Thin raw slices garnish a foie gras parfait. Whitemarsh also concentrates the sweetness in a spiced chutney served with roasted pork belly. For dessert, a sweeter version of the chutney goes with a creme chiboust, a light pastry cream pudding.
Louisiana strawberries
It’s true that strawberries are available in every season, both imported and grown year-round in California. But the difference between that fruit and a spring Ponchatoula berry is noticeable. Bite into a big off-season California berry, and while it may look pretty, the taste is probably flat. A Louisiana berry, on the other hand, is a deeper red and pops with juice and flavor.
At Nolita Bakery, pastry chef/owner Martha Gilreath eagerly awaits the spring berry season. Her strawberry shortcake is a round buttery cake slathered with whipped cream and crowned with rings of bright red berries. It’s almost too pretty to eat.
They also go in savory dishes. At Café Normandie in the Higgins Hotel, chef Virgile Brandel uses Ponchatoula strawberries on toast with wild arugula, stracciatella cheese, basil, a drizzle of lemon olive oil and aged balsamic.
Soft-shell crabs
Every spring, GW Fins chef and fishmonger Michael Nelson eagerly awaits the arrival of soft-shell crabs, harvested right after they shed their shells and bulk up in the process. “The shell starts to feel too tight, until it cracks open and they literally crawl out of it,” Nelson says.
Local crabbers move the “peelers” or blue crabs about to lose their shell to molting sheds. Once they shed their shell, they’re plucked from the water and taken to market live. “We don’t use anything frozen, so the season is a big deal for us,” Nelson says.
Frying preserves the sweet tender flesh with the least amount of grease, he says. Then again, they also are delicious sauteed in brown butter. “Soft-shells are easy to cook,” Nelson says. “Louisianans know that. But for people who aren’t used to them, it can seem a little weird.”
Peas
Fresh spring peas, also known as English peas, have nothing in common with their mushy canned cousins. From their bright green color to their plump curvy pods, these little spring gems are the sweetest, most tender and least starchy they’ll be all year.
Chef Rob Carbone, who recently opened Patula in a French Quarter courtyard, loves the bright notes the vegetable lends to a rich, meaty dish. “We make a cassoulet with smoky pork jowl meat from White Sand Homestead in Poplarville, Mississippi,” the chef says. “Fresh spring peas are the perfect accompaniment.”
Tender spring pea plants also produce curly tendrils or shoots, which are wonderfully edible. These sweet, delicate leaves are best eaten raw or lightly wilted and are a favorite spring garnish.
Artichokes
Artichokes, a favorite in Italian cuisine, come into season around April. In fact, the thistle’s arrival is celebrated so robustly in Rome that tourism spikes with the advent of the green and purple-tinged carciofi. In New Orleans, diners love stuffed artichokes.
In his role as executive chef at Cure, chef Fredo Nogueira serves an artichoke brandade. “At Cure, we feature it as a take on a traditional artichoke dip,” he says. In his version, the hearts are combined with roasted garlic and potatoes, all whipped together to form a savory, creamy spread for focaccia.
At Mister Mao, chef Sophina Uong likes to roast whole artichokes over a wood fire and serve them with a smoky morita chili aioli for dipping, with lots of lemon on the side.
Fava beans
Bright green favas, known for their crunchy texture and distinctive grassy flavor, taste like a heftier version of an edamame. Chefs embrace fresh favas as a herald of springtime, serving them raw, mashed, steamed and every which way.
Uong grills the entire pod of beans over the wood fire. “When they are young, they are super tender and the whole plant is edible,” she says. She garnishes them with shaved pecorino, sherry vinegar or lemon and a hefty drizzle of Texas olive oil.
Mushrooms
Every forager knows that the best mushrooms are the early ones. Morels, the prize of edible wild mushrooms, is one of the most celebrated fungi in America, if not the world. Primarily found in the wild due to the symbiotic relationship that they have with trees, morels live close to woodlands in central Louisiana.
Chris Lynch, executive chef at Atchafalaya, adores using morels and chanterelles either in a saute to accompany a Gulf fish dish or as a featured ingredient in a pasta. “The number one thing is they need to be cleaned, washed by hand until there's absolutely no grit or sand,” he says. “That will ruin a dish.”
Chef Brian Landry loves to feature chanterelle mushrooms on his menu at Jack Rose, but in his case, the foraging isn’t too challenging. "We pick our own chanterelles in June,” he says. “My family has a farm in Mississippi that has live oak trees. The chanterelles pop up every early summer after a good rain.”
Crawfish
Crawfish season is welcomed with unbridled joy in New Orleans, and the season hits its peak in April and May. It’s marked by boil parties that gather friends, family, neighbors and bar regulars together, but fresh crawfish also show up in menus around the area. In Metairie at Dr. Jones, the new creative café from chefs David Rouse and Billy Jones, crawfish etouffee gets a vindaloo twist thanks to South Asian spicing.
In New Orleans East, chef Demond “Dee” Matthews takes a one-two approach to serving boiled crawfish at Dee’s Xquisite Seafood. He parboils crawfish — and all the seafood he serves — then finishes it on the grill, sealing the flavor in with a touch of smoke. His garlic-butter sauce is served either on the side or generously slathered over the platter. It’s an indulgent dive into the flavors of the season.
More than 200 area restaurants to check out this spring.
