Local, Schmokle.

Last week, my father and I sat on the farmhouse porch swing and polished off a quart of three-day-old strawberries that were long past their prime. They'd started to soften and turn. We ate them anyway. Dad popped one in his mouth and told me that when he was a kid, he and his siblings (there are seven of them) would wait with bubbling anticipation for their father's strawberries and asparagus. The winter's canned food and potatoes would have grown so dull that by May and June the fresh, early summer berries and veggies were thrilling. Then he told me that all they ate for two months was asparagus and strawberries. By late June they would have eaten so much of the two that they'd be ready for another ten months without either. There was never any asparagus to be had in October, and that was just fine.

Today we live in a different world. If you want asparagus or strawberries in October, just go buy some. If you want a banana and you happen to live in Ohio, that's not a problem. Our world is small and seasonless, and that's one reason why there has been such a cry for "local" and "seasonal" eating: Mostly, we don't eat locally or seasonally, and, well, people often want what they don't have.

And, let's be honest, even those of us who tout those ideals don't always follow them. I grow my own food and hunt for meat, but I cook with Spanish olive oil and French sea salt. I drink wine from California--which is quite a bit farther from this Pennsylvania farm than Long Island, or the Azores for that matter--because I prefer it; because I can. This week, as I was making a dinner of roast chicken and asparagus with some strawberries for dessert, I thought to myself, "I'm sick and tired of asparagus and chicken and strawberries. What I really want is a lobster roll." So I went to the store and I bought a lobster. It was from Maine, which is closer than, say, France, but certainly not local.

The lobster roll really hit the spot, too.

It seems likely that by next week the first of the zucchini will be ready, and I am bubbling with anticipation for it. I haven't eaten any zucchini since last September, when I'd become so sick and tired of eating it that I swore off it until its return in July. Now I'm looking forward to eating the squash. Maybe I'll make it into a salad for lunch...with a glass of California wine.



Lobster Rolls
6 servings

I'd never been a fan of lobster rolls. They're so often too mayonnaise-y and usually a letdown. Then I tried one made by a colleague of mine at Gourmet--Kay Chun, who's now a deputy food editor for this magazine--and her twist on the New England summer staple changed my mind. This version of the lobster roll, based on Kay's, is a delicious American classic.

4 1/4-lb. cooked lobsters
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. kosher salt plus more for seasoning
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
6 hot dog buns, preferably top-split, toasted

Remove lobster meat from claws, joints, and tails. Coarsely chop meat.

Combine lemon juice and 3/4 tsp. salt in a large bowl; whisk in oil. Toss in tomato, scallions, and parsley, then add lobster meat and gently toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide lobster salad among rolls and serve.