NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS & FOOD - Chef's Corner

Greg Sonnier of Gabrielle Restaurant

Gabrielle’s Short Cake with Fresh Berries

Spring and summer are the best times to make the most out of cooler desserts with fresh fruit. At Gabrielle, chef Greg Sonnier has become a connoisseur of fresh berries.

His season starts in late February with strawberries, available locally from Ponchatoula, La., and then proceeds through blackberries and blueberries by the end of June. Then he switches to peaches, especially from Georgia. Cool climates all over the United States offer other fresh berries as well.

Working with berries has made him choosy in the types he uses. He often prefers smaller berries because they tend to have more concentrated flavor. That’s true of strawberries, so he’ll reserve the larger ones to cook with. The larger berries carry more water and don’t have as concentrated flavors. But the berries vary. With blackberries, he splits them to get an idea how much “wood” is in the core.

With less of a core, he uses them as is. With more of a core, he cooks with them to break down the insides. With blueberries, size matters less and he chooses more based on skin toughness. Berries with soft skins go on a dessert like a shortcake with whipped cream. Berries with tougher skins go into things like cobblers to soften the skins.

Peaches have their own guidelines. The first tip he has is to try to buy peaches from farmers markets and fruit stands. Since the peaches have probably been shipped, you want to avoid peaches that have been refrigerated. Peaches are picked just before they are ripe and they won’t ripen properly after they have been refrigerated. He prefers them with softer skins, but generally peels the skins anyway for his desserts.

While serving fresh fruit seems like it makes a chef’s job easy, he spends a lot of time and effort making sure the produce is fresh and presented to peak effect. For his shortcake he cooks some berries first to get the juices that surround and cover the scone and fresh berries. But the natural flavors just can’t be beat.