Cooking Fresh

In April and May, the spring crops on Long Island kick into high gear. Lettuces, spinach and other salad greens proliferate. Rhubarb is at its sweetest, or, perhaps, its least bitter. There are so many peas that many gardeners and chefs begin to tire of pea soups, pea stir-fries and pea salads. Asparagus begins to taper by early July. Mesclun mixes get spicier as the weather warms, and arugula, amaranth and mustards push out cooler, crisper lettuces and spinach. Yardbirds move out of henhouses to dine on grubs, and weed seeds give eggs darker yolks and new zest. Cows kick the hibernal hay to dine on new grass for the first time since last fall and yield milk and cheese with less fat, more yellow, and richer flavor. Warmer waters mean that herring, flounder, sea robin, striped bass, bluefish, blowfish, eel and other fish are heavy with roe. And that raking clams no longer requires wearing boots.