Market Notes
July 16, 2016
ANDY’S FOLLOW UP
There was huge positive response to to our report on Andy’s Orchards last week and with all those accolades, many customers still pondered how to get these best of the planet stone fruits for their customers and for themselves as well. While there are endless ways to move produce, most of which can maintain the cold food chain, speed is also critical to have these fruits present their best. So, for those who do not run trucks all over the place with consolidations, piggy-backs and cross docks, we run a truck daily from Andy’s packing house to the San Francisco airport. We can drop off at your favorite freight forwarder or set one up for you. Your fruit can fly out on a red-eye where you will have it the next morning, less than 24 hours from harvest. Please check in with your Culinary Rep for details.
PAW PAW’S
The Paw Paw continues to capture the imagination of the American chef and consumer, and the season is soo to be upon us. If you live in an area where these are local, consider yourself lucky. While the foraged Paw Paw remains in areas in and around the Ohio Valley, many orchards remain in development and it won’t be long until there is steady commercial availability. Until then we are dependent on the foragers and the small groves. Even with that limited volume we have to make sure that the fruit is not too ripe to ship. Surprisingly, the crop we found to best suite shipping comes at the end of the season which is late August. The demand is high and we want to satisfy all our customers so please let us know if you want ant this season or there will be no green skinned round banana/pineapple flavored fruits with seeds for you.
POTATO PROBLEMS
So we started the California Potato season with such a strong harvest we didn’t know if we could move all the beautiful fingerlings we had. Additional cooling spaces were utilized to properly rest and cure our potatoes to ensure their beauty throughout the season. Apparently that was not be. First we discovered product with heat damage causing soft rot with black, bruised ends. We worked really hard to sort that out and in many cases we succeeded and we continued to ship beautiful product. Now, as a result of the heavy rains that hit before harvest in some of our fields, we are experiencing a large lenticel problem which is making the potatoes spotty. Fortunately these are dried lenticels, so the potato will not blister. The good news is that we are going in to new fields in three weeks and that crop is looking stellar. We will be in touch with everyone and there might even be a magical solution but more on that next week. Rest assured we will show you what we can do and you will not be surprised at time of delivery. Sorry for the burp, we have had an incredibly excellent season and once we get past the next week or two we will be back with top quality product.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHO AM I???
Considered an ornamental plant, I am native to South America, and though I am quite pretty, I am useful as well. Let’s start from the top and work our way down. I am a flower, and edible flower when grown for culinary uses, delicate and beautiful in shades of bright yellow, orange, or red. I am always used fresh and add a spicy peppery zing to fresh salads. I am so versatile I can be used as a drink garnish or stuffed and deep fried. Moving down, my buds can be pickled in Tarragon vinegar and used in place of capers. My leaves can be used fresh or sautéed in olive oil with shallots as served as warmed greens. But wait, there’s more! In several of my varieties I produce an odd shaped tuber called Anu, a mild non-acid potato like starch which can be consumed after ten minutes of boiling. Finally I have great medicinal properties. I have been used as a stimulant, expectorant, antiscorbutic, and a diuretic as well as a topical remedy. I have recently become part of a lotion used to prevent hair loss. Even my seeds can be used as a purgative. In botanical Latin I mean watercress, but that’s definitely not what I am all about.
Answer To Last Week’s Quiz…CUCUMBER…Congrats To All Winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015