Field Notes
Small things worth knowing this month.
Charring a pepper
The same dry cast-iron pan from July works — but peppers take longer and need to steam afterward. Char them on all sides until the skin is mostly blackened. Drop them into a bowl, cover tight, and leave them for 15 minutes. The skin will slip off cleanly. What's underneath is something the raw pepper never hinted at.
Figs and time.
A ripe fig goes from perfect to past-peak in about 24 hours. Buy them the day you plan to eat them, or the day before. If they're already splitting at the base, eat them today. This isn't a problem — it's the season telling you something.
You don't need to salt eggplant.
Salting was right for older varieties, which were genuinely bitter. Modern cultivars have had that bred out. What actually matters is high heat. A crowded pan steams; a hot, uncrowded pan chars. Give it room, leave it alone, and it becomes something worth eating.
August at the fish counter.
Yellowtail is still running. White sea bass is having its best weeks. Pacific swordfish shows up at some counters. The question from last month still applies: not 'Do you have salmon?' but 'What came in today?' In August, the honest answer is often better than what you planned.