In praise of a fleeting moment

by Heather C.

  In the last week signs saying "Sweet Corn" have begun sprouting up all over in my area.  This is a season that I wait all year to experience.  Sure, I eat frozen corn in the winter but I wait until July to eat corn fresh off the cob.  Corn bought out of season in a store just can't compare. 
  In a way I wish it did.  At times I get cravings for fresh corn and know that I need to wait for months to get it again.  Isn't the desire that grocery stores are attempting to fill by stocking out of season produce?

  Isn't it strange to voluntarily wait to fufill a desire? I just read Brave New World and one of the founding principles of the society in the book is that there should be no time that elapses between having a desire and the fulfillment of that desire.  That was considered to be the ultimate happiness.  Or is it the waiting that makes eating that first bite of locally grown, fresh from the field corn so delicious?  It only exists for a fleeting moment and then it is gone again.  It makes every bite that much sweeter. 
  July also brings my other local-only passion - cherries.  The season is so much shorter than the sweet corn season.  It only last about 2 weeks around here and then the cherries are gone from the markets.  It is another taste that is gone in an instant and can't be replicated.  Last year I froze some cherries for the first time.  I pitted the cherries and covered them in a 50-50 sugar and water mixture.  Then I froze them.  I used them in a pie that I made in January.  The difference in taste between those cherries and the frozen cherries that you buy at the store was night and day.  That experience alone was enough to make me an Eat Local believer. 
  I spent some time in Costa Rica.  The house I was staying in had a mango tree in the backyard.  When the mangos fell off of the tree we ran out to grab them.  They were the juiciest and most flavorful fruit I have ever eaten.  I've tried to eat mangos in the U.S.  They don't even seem like the same fruit. 
  Eating food only at the most flavorful time and place can be a hard philosophy to explain.  There is a food you love and you won't eat it 90% of the year.  But when you bite into the fruit picked nearby at the perfect stage of ripeness suddenly you don't want to eat any other way.

Comments

[Birdsong]

A great tribute to flavor, Heather. To me, there is no better corn than fresh and in season... and it is the lack that contributes to the great gain when I take that first bite.

[Expat Chef]

Amen. I won't touch a peach out of season now. It's hard to think of what you lose so many months of the year, but consider what you gain; ultimate flavor and deep appreciation for each produce item at its peak. Have you ever enjoyed produce as much as you are now? As each item goes out of season, another takes its place, again at its peak. Until winter. It will be a long winter!