Puntarelle

Several weeks ago when we returned from our Easter Break with nothing to eat in the house, Amy instructed me to go to the Fruit and Veg and buy “something green” in addition to the usual assortment of onions, peppers, etc. I complied, albeit reluctantly since green vegetables aren’t my favorite. I happened across something that looked interesting. It was sort of a cross between asparagus and fiddleheads. I didn’t recall having seen it before, so I got a “head” of it.

It turns out I had stumbled upon a Roman delicacy known as puntarelle or cicoria asparago. It is a late winter plant which isn’t widely available except in our region. It was everywhere I looked. I saw it at both supermarkets and both fruit stores that I went to. Then the next day it was gone, to return again next spring, perhaps only for a day. There are entire websites dedicated to preparing the dish. Amy took on the task of chopping all of the tender stalks into thin strips and soaking them in water to get out some of the bitterness. After that she topped it with a vinaigrette made with anchovy paste. It was certainly tasty, but not worth the hours of labor she put into it. I snapped a picture of the dish in progress, but not of the original head and, as indicated above, when I went back to try to do so it was all gone for the year.