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From left: Heirloom’s white asparagus; Heirloom’s ricotta-and-ramp ravioli.//Courtesy of Heirloom
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Delaware’s weather has slowed the arrival of many local fruits and vegetables, but you can still savor some spring ingredients thanks to these beach chefs.
Right now, you’ll find everything rhubarb at this fine-dining destination—pickled, pureed or sautéed. “Whenever an ingredient becomes available, we treat it with ceremony,” says executive chef Matthew Kern.
His white asparagus is currently from France, and he’s served it with a spring garlic sabayon, crispy leeks, trout roe and cured egg yolk.
A longtime forager, Kern says his favorite spring ingredient is ramps, which play a starring role in his house-made ricotta-and-ramp ravioli with pickled rhubarb. The dish also features fiddlehead ferns and morel mushrooms—both spring delicacies with a short season.
For the 2017 Lewes Tulip Celebration, April 6-15, local restaurants are participating in the Lewes TWO-Lips Culinary week. Co-owner Ian Crandall’s contribution is “spring pizza” with asparagus, fresh goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and prosciutto.
Executive chef Chris Parks is wrapping tender asparagus spears with prosciutto and tucking them into buckwheat cannelloni with mushroom farce (a seasoned mixture for stuffing). A taleggio cream and breadcrumb streusel are the perfect enhancements.
Nothing says spring like co-owner Gary Papp’s plate of risotto with baby asparagus, English peas, sugar snap peas and baby spinach, made with an herb-infused vegetable broth and garnished with basil pesto and snow pea tendrils.
