Beat It!

It just goes to show you that the big guys are sometimes the last ones to catch on. I was skimming today's New York Times Dining section and saw a familiar-looking plant, one that was being trumpeted as the latest "exotic favorite of (New York) chefs."

Kevin Gibson's glacier lettuce with peaches and prosciutto.

Huh? Was that glacier lettuce they were getting all gotta-have-it about? I wrote a post about the succulent they're calling ficoïde glaciale, oh, let's see, a year ago when Kevin Gibson of Evoe served it as a salad with peaches and prosciutto. Grown by of-the-moment Viridian Farms right here in Oregon, who also grow the positively addictive pimientos de padron, it's apparently finally made the 3,000-mile trek across the country to the lofty tables of the Big Apple.

By the way, they recommend discarding the heaviest stems and tossing it with sweet grape tomatoes, halved, and shrimp or scallops in a light vinaigrette, or adding it to a seafood salad. Whatever. Just as long as they know we had it here first.

Top photo by G. Paul Burnett for The New York Times.