Spring has sprung. May marks the climate transition from warm to hot — along with everything in between. It’s the beginning of the season for night baseball, picnics, beaches, hiking, biking, and casual eating. With activities a plenty, there’s no shame in opting for convenience when mealtimes roll around. And there’s a simple hack that can produce multiple meals at a bargain price. Enter the rotisserie chicken: The modern iteration combines mass marketing with production line techniques. But the history dates back eons. Early vertical rotisseries took the form of fish, fowl, or game suspended on strings in front of the open hearth, with a drip pan beneath. Twirling the food put twists in the string, causing it to rotate clockwise, then counterclockwise as the string unwound.

Besides bringing prelude showers to May flowers, this April—as is often the case—includes two major cultural holidays: Easter Sunday, April 21; and Passover, Friday, April 19-Saturday, April 27. Easter, more so, has morphed into popular culture, with Easter bonnets, Easter eggs, Easter baskets, Easter rabbit and Easter parades. But both include food traditions.

If there’s a national Cuban dish it’s clearly ropa vieja. This is shredded flank steak that has been brazed in a zesty tomato-paste and beef-broth sauce. Throw in onions, bell pepper and garlic, then season with cumin and cilantro. Finally, a dash of olive oil and vinegar are added for mouth-feel and balance. But ironically, most Cubans don’t eat it, because beef is controlled by the state in Cuba, and is too expensive for the natives.

Now’s a great time to crack a Metacarcinus Magister, whom we know as Dungeness crab. After five years of Latin during high school and college, the literal translation is somewhat whimsical: “teacher crab.” This crustacean is renowned along the West Coast, and especially in the Bay Area. Dungeness crabs are a very important in California as one of the oldest and most valuable fishing grounds, creating jobs for coastal fishermen and processors, as well as emerging in local folklore.