Market Watch by David Karp: The sweet smell of Mara des Bois strawberries

Walking through the Santa Monica farmers market early one recent morning, I noticed Sherry Yard, executive pastry chef of Spago, carrying a flat of strawberries that looked oddly different than any I had seen there before. Even from 10 feet away, they seemed smaller and rounder than conventional strawberries, with prominent seeds and an unusual carmine-orange color. As I wondered what they might be, suddenly the breeze shifted my way, wafting an intense aroma of wild strawberries, and I knew.

"They're …" I started to say, my mouth agape, hardly believing.

"… Mara des Bois!" said Yard in the exultant tone of one who has just scored. From the name, one might think that Mara des Bois is a variety of wild strawberry, called fraises des bois in French, or perhaps a hybrid of wild and garden strawberry, given that its size is between the two. Actually,

Canning it: Here's how to get started

After a 10-year hiatus, and with lots of excitement, the Master Food Preserver program has officially re-launched in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Master Food Preservers are trained and certified by the University of California Cooperative Extension in food preservation. They are volunteers who provide information and technical assistance to home preservationists in L.A. County.

This spring, 18 trainees began a 12-week program that will cover everything from canning, fermenting and curing to brewing and pickling. As one of the trainees, I’ll be sharing some tips and highlights from the program and hopefully answer your questions on preserving food at home.

What's hitting its peak in February? Baby bok choy

It looks something like regular bok choy, but has thinner stems, darker leaves and tell-tale yellow flowers. Milder Shanghai, or baby bok choy, looks like bok choy's prettier sister (it's not really a baby, of course, it's just smaller, even at full maturity).

Click here for tips from Times Food editor Russ Parsons on how to choose, store and prepare baby bok choy and other Chinese cabbages.

And check out our Market Fresh photo gallery: It's your guide to cooking through the seasons, using the freshest produce available:

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--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch 

Photo: Los Angeles TImes

What's hitting its peak in September? Bell peppers

There is nothing at the farmers market that sums up the late summer-early fall season like the mounds of brightly colored peppers that seem to be everywhere. Their colors -- red and yellow, even purple and brown -- are so saturated they seem to have been designed for the painterly golden light at this time of year. And they taste as good as they look. Click here for details about how to choose, store and prepare bell peppers -- including recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen.

Plus: Take a spin through our photo gallery guide to cooking through the seasons.

Photo credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Central Asian melons adding new flair to the marketplace

Here's a sneak peek at one of the stories in Thursday's Food section:

When you think of melons, do you think cantaloupe and watermelon? Then you are in for a treat. David Karp, our resident expert on all things fruits and veggies, examines a most unusual melon harvest: Immigrants from such places as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and China's Xinjiang region yearn for the melons of home. Some grow the varieties here, which has led to some delicious cross-pollination. Read on here.

Plus, check out David's photo gallery look at melon harvest, and look over his weekly farmers market report, which gives you the inside track on what's arriving at local stands.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter.com / renelynch

Photo: The Hami melon harvest at Sandstone Marketing's fields in Huron, on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Credit: David Karp / For The Times

Firm and green? Not a pear problem

What are hitting their peak at local markets? Bartlett pears. Pears will continue to ripen off the tree (indeed, they really have to ripen off the tree to avoid a woody texture). So if your pears are a little green and firm, just leave them at room temperature and they'll finish up nicely. Then you can refrigerate them. Click here for more at our Market Fresh photo gallery. It's your guide to selecting the freshest produce of the season -- and what to do with it once you get it home.

Restaurant Opening: Forage in Silver Lake calls all home gardeners

Fresh gets fierce at Forage, the new restaurant that opened Friday in the old Town & Country space on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. The chef-owner is Jason Kim, who worked as a sous chef at Lucques. His partner in the endeavor is chef de cuisine Amanda Bacon, who also worked at Lucques as well as at Canelé. More recently, Bacon was the assistant food and wine editor for The Times' magazine.

Forage creates all its dishes using ingredients from local farmers markets, so the veggie-heavy menu changes often. Right now, diners can treat themselves to chicken pot pies with greens; braised Niman Ranch meatballs with grilled bread; cauliflower and curry soup; chimichurri-rubbed flank steak with tomatillo salsa; and jalapeño slaw, among other made-from-scratch dishes.

Central to the restaurant's concept is its "foraging program," through which Bacon and Kim, along with the help of a friend named Eugene Ahn, encourage diners to bring in fresh fruits and vegetables from their gardens. Then, Kim and Bacon will create a dish, pastry or drink around those ingredients.

The art of choosing walnuts

Walnuts seem easy to overlook — how special can a nut be? — but every fall I look forward to the new crop of walnuts.

Get them now, before the holidays, when the meat is sweet and slightly creamy and they haven't had a chance to develop any rancidity.

The shells will be fragile enough to crack with your hands.

— Russ Parsons

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What's in season? Pomegranates

Join L.A. Times Food Editor and cookbook author Russ Parsons in cooking through the seasons. It's your guide to what's fresh now at the market -- and what to do with it once you get home:

What's fresh now? Pomegranates. Sweet and tangy as they are, pomegranates are undoubtedly the "un-convenience" fruit. Few other foods demand as much of the eater. Not only do you have to break through that tough, leathery outer shell, but then you have to pry apart the pith to get to the delicious, though admittedly seedy, edible parts.

Click here for an easy way to clean a pomegranate, and some recipes for putting them to good use.

Photo credit: Larry Crowe / Associated Press 

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A behind-the-scenes look at your farmers market finder

 

We're Californians. We like our produce fresher than fresh. We want it picked that morning, if at all possible. And we love our farmers markets. It seemed like a no-brainer to launch an interactive map that featured every single farmers market in Southern California.

But that was just the starting point. We wanted this to be a resource where we could share details about when the season's first crop of mulberries, or white peaches, would be coming to market. We also wanted to know which markets are kid friendly, and which offer a more chef-y vibe. What were the best markets for grazing -- whether it be samples or prepared foods. We also wanted it to showcase one of our favorite features -- Russ Parsons' Cooking through the Seasons -- as well as our timely reports from our Market Watch columnist, David Karp. We wanted it to also link to our ever growing collection of recipes from the Times' test kitchen, as well as any food news.

That couldn't be that hard, could it?