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ITALIA STAFF PICKS |
SUMMER BERRIES by Sarah Lagrotteria It is time to re-familiarize ourselves with the summer sun, to uncover our shoulders and feel them warming by 8am. It’s also time for the delicious fruits that only such a sun could ripen. It’s time for berries here in New York, on our plates, our menus, in our mouths, and staining our hands. We at Babbo couldn’t be happier. BLUEBERRIES Originally called 5-star fruit by native Americans, due to the slight star-like puckering around the stem end, a wealth of blueberries color the farm fields of New Jersey and Michigan, and the wooded wilds of Maine during summer months. If you find yourself driving through one of these states, you’re sure to pass a sign or two (or 40!) advertising fields where the blueberries are ripe for picking. Stop if you can, there’s nothing like picking your own. The best blueberries hit the markets in mid- to late June. We always recommend visiting your local greenmarket, but Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma also swears that local New Jersey blueberries, which that can be found in most New York supermarkets, are “the best in the nation.” As with blackberries, the flavor of a blueberry intensifies as it bakes, leaving a luscious, oozing streak of blue in cakes and cobblers. When selecting strawberries, Gina recommends a “bite test.” If your bite reveals a white, rather than red center, the fruit is inferior. The whiteness indicates a strawberry that had been bred for size. It may appear just right, with an even, beautifully red exterior, but it will probably taste more like a watery cucumber than a sweet berry. At Babbo, we get our summer strawberries from Franca Tantillo of Berried Treasures Farm in Cooks Falls, NY. Franca has found her niche by specializing in tristar variety strawberries, beans, and fingerling potatoes. Her focus on strawberries has resulted in consistent crops of small, jewel-like berries that are red to the center. Franca’s berries are truly tied to the soil from which they came, which Franca keeps nutrient-enriched, with a special blend of vitamins and minerals. Her berries reflect that care in their glossy red color and consistently firm feel. When leftover fall apples have us longing for summer fruit in March, it’s Franca’s berries we dream of. When berries are as perfect as those grown at Berried Treasures, they need little preparation for eating. Gina suggests simply tossing them with a little sugar or enhancing their flavor with a drizzle of top-quality aceto balsamico. Not something you’d find at a local market, fraises des bois are the wild strawberries of France. Though it breaks with the idea that what’s best is grown locally, Gina recommends taking advantage should you ever encounter them at a gourmet market. What Gina calls “the ultimate strawberry indulgence,” fraises des bois are plucked from the wild and jetted to gourmet stores around the world. Intensely aromatic, these wild berries cannot be replicated in a greenhouse, and are the ultimate pinnacle of fresh berry sweetness. If you have the luck to try some, Gina recommends serving fresh mascarpone or a fresh farm cheese as an accompaniment. |
 Travel around New
York City with the Babbo staff. |
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