The HERBE. Market Guide: April
Seasonal ingredients are always the best ingredients. They arrive more fragrant, more flavorful, and more aligned with how the body wants to eat this time of year.
April is full spring. What was tentative in March is now in earnest: asparagus at its absolute peak, ramps at their most abundant, morels spreading north through the Midwest. And alongside these, a set of ingredients that belong entirely to April: fava beans appearing at market for their brief six-week window, radishes at their sweetest before the heat turns them harsh, snap peas arriving in volume. Strawberries are here too, just beginning, and rhubarb is at its most vivid.
Here is what is in season now, and the most intuitive ways to welcome these ingredients into your kitchen.
Peak Now
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April is peak artichoke season. California produces nearly all of the country's supply from its coastal fields around Castroville, and spring, March through May, is their prime. Look for tightly closed leaves and a firm, heavy feel. Open, spreading leaves mean the artichoke has passed its moment.
Try: steaming whole with good olive oil and flaked salt, working through the leaves one by one until you reach the heart; braising halved artichokes face-down in white wine, garlic, and olive oil until completely tender; shaving raw baby artichokes very thinly over dressed greens, noting that only the smallest, most undeveloped ones are tender enough to eat uncooked.
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April is asparagus at its best. The California harvest has been building since late February; by now the crop is in full swing, and local sources are beginning to come in across the mid-Atlantic and the South. Buy them at the farmers market, where they were likely cut that morning. The difference between freshly harvested asparagus and anything that has sat in transit is not subtle: higher sugar content, better flavor, better texture.
Try: roasting at high heat until the tips crisp and the stems caramelise; shaving raw with a vegetable peeler over a lemon and olive oil dressing; cooking quickly in a hot pan with good butter and flaked salt.
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April is peak ramp season. What began as first sightings in the lower Appalachian elevations in late March has now spread north and upward through the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, and into New England. They will not last. A wild-foraged allium with a flavor that sits between garlic and spring onion, ramps are available for only a few weeks each year and in limited quantity. When you see them at market, buy more than you think you need.
Try: wilting quickly in butter over high heat, no longer than thirty seconds; blending into a compound butter for pasta, eggs, or good bread; pickling the bulbs in a simple brine of vinegar, sugar, and salt to carry the season several weeks longer.
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The morel season that began in the mid-South and Pacific Northwest lowlands in late March is now moving north through April. By mid-month, morels are in peak season across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic; the season continues to rise and spread northward through May. Earthy, deeply meaty, and entirely unlike anything cultivated, they command the attention they receive. Find them at specialty grocers or farmers’ markets.
Try: sautéing in butter with shallots, finishing with a small amount of cream and fresh thyme; folding into a risotto whole; cooking simply in olive oil with garlic and serving over good toast.
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April is true peak pea season. Shell the English peas and eat the insides; eat the snap pea pod whole. Both deteriorate quickly after harvest, which is the argument for the farmers’ market over the grocery store. Buy them the day you plan to cook them.
Try: eating a handful of snap peas raw while you shop; stirring briefly cooked English peas into risotto in the final minutes off the heat; tossing both with good butter, torn mint, and flaked salt.
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Fava beans have a season of roughly six weeks, and April is the heart of it. They require work: the large pods must be opened, and each bean has a tough inner skin that is typically removed after a quick blanch. The result is worth it. A sweet, nutty flavor that is entirely its own, nothing like a frozen bean, nothing like a dried one. Find them at the farmers market; they rarely make it to grocery stores in any meaningful way.
Try: sautéing briefly in olive oil with shallots and shaved pecorino; mashing simply with good olive oil and lemon as a spread for toast or crostini; tossing with asparagus, a handful of mint, and a lemony dressing for a plate that reads as purely April.
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Spring radishes are at their peak now, becoming bitter and pithy as temperatures warm above 70 degrees. April is their sweet spot. French Breakfast, Cherry Belle, and Easter Egg varieties are all in season, crisp and mildly peppery, nothing like the sharp heat of an overripe one. They are one of the most underused vegetables at the spring market.
Try: sliced thin over good butter on bread with flaked salt; roasted whole until their exteriors caramelise and the interior turns tender and sweet; shaved raw into a salad with snap peas, mint, and a sharp vinaigrette.
First Sightings
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Early strawberries are arriving from California and the South, with local crops beginning to appear in warmer markets by the end of the month. It is worth waiting for ones grown near you. A strawberry picked ripe tastes entirely different from one harvested early for shipping. Visit a farmers market, or a pick-your-own farm if one is nearby.
Try: simply, with nothing, when they are right; macerated briefly with a pinch of sugar and a splash of good balsamic; folded with rhubarb into a simple galette, the most intuitive combination spring offers.
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Tart, brief, and often treated only as a dessert ingredient when it deserves more. The season is short. Buy it when you see it.
Try: roasting with a small amount of sugar and vanilla until just collapsed, then serving over yogurt or alongside something rich; making a simple compote with orange zest to keep through the week; pairing with strawberries, the combination that defines early spring.
Notes for April Cooking
Work with urgency on the foraged ingredients.
Ramps and morels are available for weeks, not months. Build meals around them while they are at market.
Buy peas and favas the day you plan to cook them.
Both deteriorate faster than almost anything else at the market. The gap between freshly shelled and day-old is significant.
Treat peak produce simply.
April's ingredients are at their most expressive with minimal intervention. Asparagus with butter, radishes on bread, snap peas with mint.
Seek out local strawberries.
The flavor gap between a properly ripe, locally grown berry and anything shipped in is considerable. If your farmers’ market has them, they are worth the detour.
