Cherry Blossom Festival Feast

By JULIETTE ROSSANT The Nation's capital is bursting with cherry blossoms once again. If you are lucky enough to be visiting or living in Washington, DC, during the next two weeks, March 25-April 9, 2006, you can take part in the 2006 National Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington has developed this into a major national event, replete with fireworks. Celebrity and local chefs will be out in force, offering special cherry dishes -- even though there won't be any cherries for many weeks (and Japanese flowering cherry trees do not bear fruit). Most will get around the dearth of fresh cherries by using preserved or dried fruit. Michel Richard of Citronelle is preparing Foie Gras, sauteed, dried cherries and anise Morou Ouattara, currently consulting chef at Perry's (which has a famed outdoor rooftop for warm-weather dining), will be presenting Lamb Loin, Cherry Crumble, Sorrel Blossom Liquid Gel Bryan Voltaggio of Charlie Palmer Steak is offering a dessert of preserved bing cherry and dark chocolate brioche bread pudding with vanilla bean sherbet A full list of participating restaurants and recipes is available online. Spring is here at last. U.S. National Park Service references: Forecast Varieties History Previous articles: Feast at Cherry Blossom Festival Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cherry blossoms --> back to superchefblog