Market Crush: How Chefs Are Letting Fresh Produce Do the Talking This Summer
- Ava Vitiello
- Aug 4
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 8
Every season has its rhythms, but summer produce demands a special kind of attention. We spoke with Executive Chef Alex Lempka of Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga Springs, NY, about the herbs, fruits, and wild cards taking up space on the menu right now.
We learned that sometimes the most exciting thing a chef can do is... get out of the way.
Ava Vitiello: Which ingredients are having their moment right now, and what are a few you can’t wait to get your hands on every summer?
Alex Lempka: Cucumbers and tomatoes are the big ones, of course. We won’t get tomatoes until almost mid-August, but we always highlight those on the menu in some sort of fashion. All of the leafy greens, lettuces, and herbs are always great, especially when used in nice salads and as beautiful garnishes for our dishes. We work with a few local farms, and Edible Uprising is one of our big ones. They are in Troy and grow a wide variety of produce and have a good specialty selection. Right now, they have one of our favorite herbs that we work with called lovage. It has this very interesting flavor, almost like a mix of parsley and celery combined. We like using it with fish or as a fresh addition to salads.
Another big part of the summer season for us is using these really great seasonal ingredients at their peak and, in a two-fold manner, preserving them for future seasons. This way, in the middle of winter when we are not getting any of this fresh produce, we are still able to use it. We will ferment, pickle, or make misos and shoyu (Japanese soy sauce).
Using fermentation as that vehicle to take these ingredients through the entire year is key for us.
AV: How do you balance creativity with letting the produce speak for itself? Do certain vegetables or fruits tell you how they want to be used?
AL: That’s exactly it. When these fruits and vegetables are at the height of their season, you want to make them shine. We try not to use flavors that are going to mask the ingredient, so we’ll look for complementary flavors or dig into our pantry for things that will heighten that flavor. Our tomato sandwich is a really good example of that because the tomato speaks for itself, we just season it really well with some nice sea salt and add complementary flavors in (what I would say) the appropriate quantities so that we’re not masking that flavor. Last summer, we were doing a truffle-infused aioli on the tomato sandwich. Since truffle is a really strong flavor, we used just the slightest schmear on the sandwich just to give it that “je ne sais quoi,” but to complement the tomato flavor.
AV: What is one lesser-known summer ingredient you wish more people appreciated or experimented with at home?
AL: A lot of what you’ll see at the farmers’ market is geared towards home cooks, so it’s going to be a lot of lettuces, tomatoes, and summer squash. One of my favorites is currently badger flame beets. They’re a particular variety of beets that were developed from a seed company called Row 7. They do a lot of seed breeding with specific fruits and vegetables to bolden the flavor from whichever variety they’re using. Badger flame beets are a golden beet variety that grows almost elongated, and they have this great, earthy, sweet flavor. I love them, and they might be popping up more and more in the area as farmers are starting to see the seeds around.
Another example that initially popped into my head is cardoon. It’s almost like celery and artichoke. You treat them exactly as you would an artichoke. They have a deep, earthy flavor and a little bitterness, but if you treat them well, they'll shine.
Celtuce is an interesting variety of green that is sort of a cross between romaine lettuce and celery. It grows leaves like you would see on romaine lettuce, but the core is really juicy, fresh, and vibrant. It has the bitterness of a romaine lettuce core, but also a lot of sweetness. It’s a really fun variety that can be prepared both cooked and raw.
AV: What should people look for (or smell or feel) when selecting summer produce at the farmers’ market? Any chef secrets to picking the best of the bunch?
AL: If I’m at a farmers’ market and see a really nice tomato, I’ll ask and see if I can taste test one. If they let you, then of course, offer to buy that one. Taste is huge, and a lot of farmers won’t hesitate to offer you a sample at the market if they can. During the summer, you always want to buy for flavor. Looking for (what I would say) “pristine,” so anything free of blemishes or that is starting to break down.
Nice, firm vegetables are always going to be key.
For lettuces and herbs, make sure they’re not super wilted. You want fresh-looking produce. When you see a lot of these fresh cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, how firm are they? If they’re rock hard, I would maybe pass. If it has a little give, almost like the avocado test, those are going to be nice.
AV: Any unexpected ways produce shows up on your menu?
AL: As far as our cocktail program goes, I know the bar team likes to experiment with these savory flavors. One of our specialty martinis is made with fennel, which has received rave reviews. They do a really great job of being able to showcase that savory ingredient along with the spirit. That’s almost a little bit of a tougher job than what I might have, because a lot of these spirits can be very potent. They always seem to find a way to balance those ingredients so that the spirit isn't taking over, but also so that the complementary ingredient isn’t taking over either.
You’ll certainly see some of these fresh produce items throughout our food menu and, of course, for the seasons to come. We’re going to be doing a lot of preserving this year, so that we can use these ingredients long after summer.
AV: If summer had a flavor to you, which ingredient captures it best?
AL: In Upstate, NY, I’d say tomatoes. A lot of farms around here will always have a good tomato crop, and tomatoes are a really great fruit that can be used in many different ways – it’s not just pasta sauce or a caprese salad.
Comments