Professor Butter Beard and Pieter Bruegel’s “The Hay Harvest”
“Look at our farmers markets today, bursting with heritage breeds and heirloom varieties, foods that were once abundant when we were an agricultural nation, but that we have lost touch with. Bringing all these back helps us connect to our roots, our communities and helps us feed America the proper way.” – José Andrés, American chef, restaurateur, and founder of World Central Kitchen
The audible return of the tree swallows and yellow-rumped warblers. Joyful daffodils and lilacs performing their interpretive dances between the raindrops. Baby furry foxes and bouncing bunnies teasing Nellie, tempting her to chase them across the meadow. They are all welcome markers that winter has stepped aside to let the spring bloom forth. But, for me, my soul smiles the loudest when I see the “Welcome to the Red Bank Farmers Market” sign unfold in the parking lot and the village of white tents popping up like overnight mushrooms and inviting us into a culinary Disneyland.
This morning I was greeted by my farmer friends that I haven’t seen since Thanksgiving. My eyes sparkling with theirs as they proudly introduce their offerings of fresh leafy greens, purple-topped asparagus, radishes the color of Snow White’s lips and eggs that actually taste like eggs. We laugh and hug, dressed in parkas and gloves against the brutally damp wind, chatting away as I fill my bags with tasty wonders for the week ahead. I hear, “See you next week, Professor,” and I know spring has finally sprung.
According to culinary historians, farmers markets date all the way back to Egypt over 5,000 years ago. Farmers along the Nile came together to sell their fresh produce as a means of income and to enjoy a bit of social interaction. Over the centuries, the markets continued to evolve and thrive enabling the first farmers market in the United States to open in 1634 in Boston, Massachusetts. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, farmers’ markets were not only important for economic success, but also social interaction as it was often one of the only means for rural and urban community members to meet. Unfortunately, as grocery stores chains gained in popularity offering “one-stop shopping” and year-round strawberries and corn, interest in farmers markets fell. But then, in the 1970’s, the public’s culinary awareness shifted back to a more regional and seasonal approach, combining the benefits of high quality, fresh products and a social atmosphere.
Farmers have been celebrated by artists for centuries. One of the greatest of the Flemish sixteenth-century masters was Pieter Bruegel the Elder. According to E.H. Gombrich, we know little of the artist’s life except that he had been to Italy, like so many northern artists of his time, and that he lived and working in Antwerp and Brussels, where he painted most of his pictures in the 1560’s. Bruegel concentrated on scenes from peasant life. He painted peasants merrymaking, feasting and working, all with the artist’s desire to portray the “folly” of mankind.
This painting of the peasant farmers in Belgium is part of a series of paintings by Bruegel that shows the agricultural activities that are usual for the different months of the year. The series is believed to consist of six paintings and “The Hay Harvest” represents the months June and July. The harvest is not just the grain; the foreground shows vegetables and berries as well. The series on the months of the year includes several of Bruegel's best-known works. Today, only five of these paintings survive and some of the months are paired to form a general season. Some of the most famous paintings from this series included “The Hunters in the Snow” (December–January) and “The Harvesters” (August).
While studying “The Hay Harvest,” I am particularly drawn to the detail of the three farmers with their tools in hand walking briskly through the fields. The central figure reminds me of Bernadette, whose smile beckons me every Sunday to the Hauser Farm market tent. With her eyes, she will lead me to the best the farm has to offer each week and I, in return, bake gifts from my kitchen as a personal thank you. This week, as a “welcome back,” I pulled the last bags of their springtime rhubarb from my freezer and baked it into rich poundcakes enhanced with roasted pecans and crystalized ginger. The frozen fruit actually works best in this case, as while it thaws, it exudes its extra juice that I can simmer into a syrup to glaze the still-warm cakes. I saved one of the mini loaves to have tonight for dessert after a dinner of roasted chicken and fresh spinach and asparagus picked this morning at the Hauser Farm. Welcome back, my dear friends. We have missed you!
Rhubarb Poundcakes with Roasted Pecans and Crystalized Ginger
3 Loaf Cakes (or 2 Loafs and 8 Mini Cakes)
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and cooled, then chopped coarsely
3 cups rhubarb, cut into ½” pieces (I used my rhubarb frozen from last spring – the freezer “cooked” it and the texture was perfect)
½ cup crystalized ginger
12 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
1 Tbsp dried ginger
6 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla paste
1 ½ cups buttermilk
For the syrup:
Drained juice from the rhubarb and enough water to make 1 cup
1 cup granulated sugar
1) Toast the pecans in a non-stick skillet, shaking often, and then cool them completely and coarsely chop.
2) Cut the rhubarb into 1/2” chunks, toss with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar and let drain in a colander over a bowl and save the juice. Or let your frozen rhubarb thaw in a colander over a bowl and save the juice.
3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray three loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment leaving a one-inch overhang on all sides (or two loaf pans and eight mini-loaves).
4) In a food processor, process the two cups granulated sugar and the crystalized ginger, pulsing, until the ginger is finely chopped into the sugar.
5) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and dried ginger. Set aside.
6) Cream the butter, ginger sugar and brown sugar in a standing mixer 1-2 minutes until butter is light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, 1 egg at a time.
7) Add the vanilla to the creamed butter/sugar and mix to combine.
8) On low, add 1/3 of the dry mix, then half of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry mix, remaining buttermilk and finish with the final 1/3 of the dry mix.
9) Add the chopped pecans and mix for 30 seconds to incorporate.
10) Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the drained rhubarb with a spatula.
11) Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
12) Bake the cakes until a wooden skewer comes out clean – roughly 60 minutes. The mini loaves will take about 30 minutes to bake.
13) While the loaves are baking, whisk together the one cup granulated sugar and the juice/water combination in a medium pan. Bring to a simmer to melt the sugar and then set aside to cool.
14) When fully baked, cool the loaves in their pans on a wire rack. After five minutes, begin to brush the loaves with the syrup until all the syrup has been absorbed.
Detail from “The Hay Harvest”
Detail from “The Hay Harvest”
My “Welcome Back and Thank You” gift ready for the market
The Farmer’s Market sign, the Hauser Farm team and my found treasures!
