Summer

From The NY Times Magazine

William Brinson for the New York TimesThere are two ways to get crab this season. One is beautiful, hard work. It requires only a chicken neck, string, a net and access to coastal Atlantic waters. Tie the string to the neck and dangle it into the shallows where you can see the bait. Here comes Mr. Crab. Here comes Mr. Net. Repeat until you’ve got enough for dinner. Children can do this — and will — until you’ve got enough crabs for two dinners. Steam them and start picking.

The other method is easier and more realistic for the majority of us who don’t live near coastal Atlantic waters: Buy some. For this weekend’s cooking, get picked blue crab — pasteurized, refrigerated Callinectes sapidus, known as the savory beautiful swimmer — at the market, jumbo lump or backfin meat, from an American harvester. The most famous blue-crab fishery in the world is in the Chesapeake Bay, but the crabs are caught north of there and South to Florida waters.

A pound will do for dinner for four, though there are those who can eat a pound alone. These people can catch their own dinner. Crab is expensive. It is also rich.

You might make crab cakes, stretching the meat out with ground crackers or bread crumbs, binding everything with egg. But a higher, better summertime use of crabmeat is to dress it simply and pair the result with greens in a salad, or to warm it in butter and cream, scent it with sherry and serve it with toast.

Fresh corn on the cob just seems to be a summer tradition for most people. It’s so simple to do, but everyone I know seems to use a different method – grilled, steamed, boiled, microwaved.

When I was growing up, we picked fresh corn from the garden and it was thrown into a pot of boiling water, cooked briefly, stacked on a large platter, slathered with butter and placed in the center of the table.

It’s still my favorite method, although grilling is a close second. This recipe is pretty fool proof and brings out the natural sweetness of fresh corn.

I don't know where I went wrong. Three years of high school French and one graduate school semester of reading French, and I can still barely string together an intelligible sentence. C'est terrible! I have accepted the fact that a French pre-schooler could speak circles around me, but as long as I can say some words, like aubergine, I'm content.

Aubergine doesn't look or sound anything like its English counterpart "eggplant." But, oh, how I wish it did. Let's be honest, could there be a less appealing name than "eggplant"? I mean, it's not an egg or a plant. Plus, phonetically, it's just not pleasing; it's harsh and flat.  Aubergine, however, flows elegantly out of one's mouth. I daresay it's almost too attractive a word for the vegetable is signifies. (In botanical terms, an eggplant is actually a fruit, but it's cooked and eaten like a vegetable).

Fortunately I'm mature enough to look beyond such petty issues and appreciate eggplant's attributes. A heavy, firm, eggplant with a glossy purple-black skin borders on the regal. And its flesh, though just an unassuming off-white color, becomes enticingly rich and creamy when cooked. Like a chameleon, eggplant has the ability to transform itself: when grilled, it is appetizingly smoky flavored and tender; when fried, it is irresistibly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Better than punch, tea, and even lemonade, aguas frescas are drinks made of fresh fruit puree. In Mexico they are typically made with tropical fruits, melons, and even grains—which include the rice drink horchata. Street vendors popularized the drink but nowadays you can even find agua fresca made in top restaurants. The Mexican soft drink company Jarritos is based on traditional aguas frescas recipes, but replaces water with soda.

Make your own version of agua fresca at home using your favorite fruit. This recipe for uses ripe seasonal strawberries. The sweet-tart flavor of strawberries is very refreshing and palate-cleansing. It couldn't be easier to make this agua fresca. The combination is simply pureed fruit, water, and a little sugar. Make a pitcherful for this weekend's BBQ get-together and treat yourself and your family and friends to a cooling drink on a hot day.