Appalachian Spring
Celebrating Vernal Abundance and Ephemeral Beauty with Feral Foods and the Very Last of the 2017 Wild Foraged Perry.
The Ingredients
Trout out of the creek, wild leeks, the first Shiitake flush and the 2017 wild foraged Perry Pear (GET IT SHIPPED).
The joy of spring is worth the enduring of winter. The two week long wild leek season is worth four months of eating cabbage and potatoes. In a climate where there are green leaves on the trees for less than half the year, spring is an outright riot. Once the skunk cabbages poke their stinky heads out of the ground in Beckhorn Hollow, there is no turning back and and its a full on race for all the plants and animals to do their thing before the geese head south for the winter again.
Here on the northern edge of the Appalachians, wild leeks (known to country folks as Ramps) represent the sheer joy contained in the brief moment in time after the ground has thawed but before the leaves come out on the trees. It is a time when the forest floor on the steep hillsides is blanketed with spring ephemerals--delicate fairy flowers that last a few weeks at the most. Ramps are the first real green, a green to revel in, a green to be eaten and a green that's gone before you can blink an eye...quickly flowering and melting into the duff as the forest canopy fills in.
The Setting
A horn beeps and Zuri runs out on the porch. It's neighbor Dan ready to take him fishing at their favorite spot by the bridge. The fish are biting and Dan's got just the right fly to make them jump. After Zuri catches five fish, Dad will grill them on apple wood and Mom will head into the woods to dig ramps.
In the kitchen, Zuri and Mom put together the meal. Friends from up on Nobles Hill harvested their first flush of Shiitakes after last week's heavy rain, so while the ramps are steaming, Mom sautés the mushrooms with garlic, thyme and cider.
The Pairing
What brings together the soft, earthy flavors of grilled trout, wild leeks and shiitakes? The delicate and ethereal aromas of the 2017 wild foraged Perry.
Like sackcloth on young flesh, this insane Perry has layers of texture ranging from corse to succulent and just about the prettiest aromas a perry can have... reminiscent of tender spring evenings and fairy flowers.
In the fall of 2017, we made just 700 gallons of Perry pressed entirely from wild foraged pears shaken from trees on steep hillsides just before the geese flew south for the winter. Now there are a little less than 100 bottles left in the cider barn. Soon it will be gone forever. Beautiful and ephemeral...
Do It Yourself
Don't wait. Just like the ramps, the last eight cases of 2017 Perry will be gone before you know it. Put a few on your table (and in your cellar too). We can ship bottles of 2017 Perry to your address from our farm within a couple days.
About The Pairing Issue
If I popped into your house, would I find cider at your table? For a growing number of artisan beverage lovers, the answer is yes! But giving cider a seat at the table continues to keep me up at night. The Pairing Issue is a monthly "how-to" about bringing cider into your life through daily meals and simple friendly gatherings.
Autumn Stoschek
Founder of Eve's Cidery
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