FORGET the love angle on spring. This is the season when a cook's thoughts turn to entertaining. Right now there is no end of excuses to feed friends and family, whether for Mother's Day or graduation day or simply to share all the green freshness you've overindulged in at the market.
Even the word "spring" is exuberant -- which gave me a bright idea for a lively dinner party, a sit-down affair for eight with a multicultural blend of tastes and concepts. Every course is literally spring food: spring chicken, spring rolls and spring(form) cake, with a rice salad inspired by pasta primavera to add that continental touch of a lyrical translation of the season.
It all takes advantage of the best ingredients coming into their peak without resorting to reflexively reshuffling the lamb-asparagus-rhubarb holy trinity of spring cooking.
And after my favorite motto, "First you marinate the guest," the most reliable rule of partying is to always have a theme. It gives people something to talk about in case you are running late with the main course and distracted at the stove. Even better, it relaxes the host. If something doesn't quite turn out the way you imagine, you can still serve it proudly, knowing it makes the point. (I once did "freedom food" -- French food in reaction to the "freedom fries" era -- for a political potluck. Talk about an icebreaker.)
For spring food for this sit-down dinner, I went shopping in a sort of green frenzy, grabbing up ramps, mint, watercress, bibb lettuce and asparagus (of course) to see where they would lead, and then adding a few other seasonal sensations, such as strawberries. (Raspberries usually get more play, but to me they belong in summer.)
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Rolls that rock
THE idea of spring rolls just amused me, but the reality fits surprisingly well into any menu because no one can resist them, and because there is a break before the more Western dishes to let palates recalibrate between hemispheres. Eating them feels festive because they are wrapped like a present in lettuce leaves with sprigs of herbs to dip into a pungent sauce.
They are also a great starter because you can serve them as either finger food or plated fare -- eat them drippingly, standing up, or daintily, sitting down.
