Ramps are in – sakari season has arrived

Posted on Apr 9, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

Long waited freshly harvested ramps have finally arrived at our neighbor Union Square Farmers Market this Saturday. Ramps are wild onion which has pleasant garlic aroma and taste. Ramps disappear from the market in a month or so, so I will be sautéing it (I used tonight the miso sauce which will be introduced in my upcoming book, Hiroko’s American Kitchen), deep-frying it (tempura) and simmering it in the next four weeks.

Here is the last part of shun story. Nagori is the term given to the shun food whose harvest time has nearly ended. [By the beginning of May ramps will be in Nagori season.] Nagori foods no longer excite, but consuming them give us a final chance to offer thanks and say good-bye until the shun season next year.
These days when I think of the concept of shun, I think of the lifespan of human beings — hashiri represents teenagers, sakari the middle-aged, and nagori the generation after them. But in case of the human beings I firmly believe that nagori people are the most exciting because of their accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and experience.