Cooking with Zac

SPRING & SUMMER

After a long winter of braises and roasts, I am ready to lighten things up! I love the moment when the forsythia comes out with its gold Pantone color—forsythia is the harbinger of spring with those concentrated sparks of yellow on the branch that make me think of the tulips and lilacs that will be blooming within a few weeks. I'll venture out to forage for peppery-tender watercress that grows in the creek that runs through our farm in Pennsylvania. This is also when the wild leeks-also known as ramps-begin to break free of the earth and stand tall in their fragrant glory. Everything is coming out of dormancy and coming back to life! I'll celebrate the first cherry tomatoes twisted off the vine. Gardening reminds me so much of fashion design-when you garden, you're always planning several seasons in advance. The vegetables I harvest in the height of summer and well into October arrive as seedlings in the very early spring (even late winter). It's just like fabrics arriving at the atelier in time for a new collection that will go down the runway months later. Both arrivals mark the beginning of a new season. This is the time to plot and plan and, above all, imagine. Once early summer arrives, the garden begins to really show promise, offering tender greens and baskets full of herbs. In one fell swoop I transition from spring soups and softly flavored salads and pastas to big and bold summertime dishes like my dad's wonderfully citrusy-smoky slow-barbecued ribs and fresh-churned strawberry ice cream.