ARCHIVES

To anyone bred on Thompson green seedless, the local grape varieties are a revelation: tart and sweet, musky and almost overpoweringly fragrant.

The go-to stir-fried green at any decent Chinese-food feast, pea shoots have a tender texture and fresh, vegetal flavor that echoes the pea itself.

Like the increasingly ubiquitous practice of putting a new restaurant through a lengthy �soft opening� trial run, summer is merely a warm-up for the fig’s splashy fall showing.

Seldom seen in their pods, fresh cannellini beans, available now at Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm stand at Union Square, are a rare treat.

Is it just coincidence that the appearance of tart, lemony tomatillos at Greenmarket coincides with the beginning of football season?

True, a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato needs no further embellishment than some extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt. But with the lumpy love apples overflowing their Greenmarket stands a little variety can’t hurt.

Short and squat, with a warty complexion, the Kirby may be the ugly duckling of the cucumber world, but it’s also the best for pickling.

In nature, squash blossoms are delicate, ethereal things. On the plate, they’re usually coated in crunchy batter and deep-fried.

Slice raw artichokes and toss with lemon, olive oil, and plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano, as in this recipe from Morandi chef Jody Williams.

In its endlessly prolific bounty, zucchini can often seem more like a curse than a blessing.