Plant breeders, Northwest chefs and farmers are co-developing innovative new vegetables and grains. The bounty was sampled at a tasting party in Portland Monday night.
Breeders and farmers brought in the best of this year's field trials, such as a very purple corn, improved carrots, a tamed wild tuber called groundnut and more flavorful parsley. The growers were paired with chefs such as Nora Antene of Le Pigeon in Portland. She whipped up a delectable parsley-flavored Italian ice to show off the difference.
"The flavor is really strong and really aromatic,” Antene said. “It just has a lot more floral notes than other parsleys I'd say... and just more intense."