Peas

There is nothing so gracious as a vegetable. Many vegetables, happy to move aside when meat or fish takes center stage, are equally adept at stepping into the spotlight themselves. Yet most cooks tend to turn their backs on the star quality of vegetables in winter months, when force of habit turns our attention to crisp-skinned roasts and tankards of soup. This is unfortunate, for vegetables comprise the most varied food source available to a cook, and nothing better matches their natural versatility than the popular leader of winter cookery, a homespun, chill-chasing stew.

For those of us privileged to live in the beautiful Tuscan countryside of Italy, it is very simple to go downstairs to the vegetable garden and be inspired by the selection of ripe produce available to create the menu of the day. Our vegetable garden is found right in the middle of the main garden, like a jewel in a setting of flowers. My mother, (noted Italian cookbook author) Lorenza de' Medici, adores gardening and has returned from her world travels with cuttings or seeds from all manner of interesting herbs and salad greens.

Some kitchen gifts have the power to evoke mixed emotions. Take, for instance, some friends' recent present of a big bag of assorted spices. "We just replenished our whole stock with nice fresh material," they explained, "and we thought you might be able to get some use out of these. " "These" were large jars of whole cumin seeds and ground chilies, bags of dusty-looking herbs, and fat plastic envelopes full of curry powder - a whole store cupboard of the darn things, all of decidedly uncertain utility in view of their unknowable age. On the other hand, what could be more heartening than to find out that the people whose cuisine you frequently enjoy really do care about what they cook?

Charlotte Jarrett went to the White Dog Cafe last night to eat black-eyed peas and country ham with greens in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The peas and the ham were just a few items on the menu featuring traditional Southern food as part of a dinner and gospel music program held at the restaurant at 3420 Sansom St. Although she was too young to have actively participated in the civil rights movement, Jarrett, 34,...

The loud, bumping music, the mouth-watering aroma of shish kebab, cheesesteaks and international dishes, and the sounds of laughter set the tone for the hundreds who attended the fifth annual Black Family Reunion Celebration over the weekend. Organized by the National Council of Negro Women, the three-day event drew more than 200,000 to Fairmount Park. "I think it's wonderful and great that we can unite this way," said Joyce Jackson-Williams of West Philadelphia. Yesterday, which concluded this year's festivities, Isaac Maefield, of North Philadelphia, conducted a woodcarving workshop.

What a relief! The lilacs are budding, the forsythia and willows delicately paint touches of yellow into the landscape. Bunches of daffodils bloom their little hearts out in a sheltered corner. The groundhog was too accurate this year. The onion snows came, but the onions weren't there to welcome them. My Lancaster County aunt, gone now for decades, never failed to head for the garden on St. Patrick's Day come rain, snow, sleet or hail to make sure those onions and peas were properly planted.

Enticing aromas from a hearty, nourishing meal warm the soul. Even the most jaded diner will recall the soothing pleasure and gracious welcome of toothsome one-dish meals. Among the many "comfort foods" rooted in the traditional American kitchen, a steaming bowl of split-pea soup or hearty chili can invoke much soul-satisfying nostalgia. Soups can be the most filling and satisfying of comfort foods, especially as the temperature begins to drop. They are hot and hearty, but all too often they are also high in fat, calories and unnecessary cholesterol.

King Laughlin's job makes him hungry. As the 1996 Hobart Cawood Fellow for the Friends of Independence National Historic Park, he studies Philadelphia dining practices from 1750 to 1850. He will be at Historic Waynesborough tomorrow to speak about "Dining Customs in Philadelphia, 1750 to 1850," the last of three Wednesday lectures on the history of food in Philadelphia. The series began with "Early American Hearth Cooking" by Patricia McDaniel, educational cook at Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation in Ridley Creek State Park.

Phyllis C. Kaufman's resume is diverse: lawyer, former Atlantic City casino vice president, special-events producer and author of more than two dozen self-help guides, including "The Good Eating, Good Health Cookbook" (Consumer Reports Books / $13.95). Kaufman began cooking low-fat, low-cholesterol meals for her father, a Center City resident, after his cholesterol registered well above the recommended limit. When those recipes brought the reading down by 70 points within six months, Kaufman's literary agent told her, "That's a book.

If there ever was any question about the growing popularity of Indian cuisine in our region, take a look at Ardmore, which has three Indian restaurants within a few blocks of each other. While that's a terrific development, only one of the three - Khajuraho in Ardmore Plaza on Greenfield Avenue - has exceptional food. The two others - Taste of India next to the movie house and the newer Bombay Grill almost directly across Lancaster Avenue - offer decent but boring, watered-down dishes.