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Burlingame, California

Posts by Sophia Markoulakis

When not stressing about the amount of junk food my college freshman daughter has at her disposal, I try to pass the time writing about new and healthy food discoveries.

Wondering what to do with the latest seasonal foods? Here’s a partial record of what we’ve been eating ourselves.

Radicchio

The red-and-white chicory

By Sophia Markoulakis

February 24, 2009

Head for the salad section of any good grocery store, and you’ll likely find burgundy globes of radicchio next to the tender greens and fresh herbs. Such shelving makes perfect sense during the summer, when nothing beats a chilled salad on a hot day. But come winter, those ruby-hued heads really should be displayed next to the other cold-weather greens, such as kale, mustard, and collard greens. I like my radicchio raw and slightly bitter in the summer, but cooked to sweet softness in the winter.

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Sweet potatoes

Try the Japanese version

By Sophia Markoulakis

November 25, 2008

No matter how many times I remind myself that the sweet potato and the yam are not the same tuber, I still hesitate when asked to explain the difference. It’s a problem of nomenclature: Nearly all of the “yams” that we come across in North American markets are actually sweet potatoes. And sweet potatoes aren’t related to potatoes.

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Pears

Seek out local varieties

By Sophia Markoulakis

October 1, 2008

Few fruit specimens have had the adoring love of poets, horticulturists, and kings like the pear. Homer praised the pear as a “gift from the gods.” The 17th century Versailles gardener Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie dutifully developed new varieties, and King Louis XI tended to his Bon Chrétien tree so tenderly that it’s said that it prolonged his life for months. (Alas, he died shortly before its first harvest could properly ripen, and so never got to enjoy its fruit steeped in honey and wine.)

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Muskmelons

Honeydew and cantaloupe

By Sophia Markoulakis

August 22, 2008

We Greeks love our summer melon — especially right after a meal, before coffee and dessert. Growing up, we couldn’t leave the table until we had eaten our melon or other seasonal fruit that was meticulously carved by my dad.

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