Market Notes
June 27, 2019

OFF-SHORE REPORT

    Asparagus supply is steady but not abundant. Most domestic product is done. With southern fields shutting down in Peru we are left with northern Peru and central Mexico. What does this all mean? It means pricing on the high side and a shortage on larger sizes. Now we have to deal with the rainy season in Guatemala. This has decreased the production and harvest of baby squash. Snow Peas and sugar snap peas are also tight due to the Guatemalan rains. They will remain tight until mid-July when the Peruvian season begins.  Blueberries, French beans, orange and rainbow carrots, also from Guatemala, were not disrupted by the rains and are good supply. Baby Lettuce from Peru is thriving and there is excellent supply of papaya from Brazil along with excellent supply of mangoes from Mexico.

FOURTH OF JULY SCHEDULE

    This year we will celebrate Independence Day next Thursday, July 4th. Our global office will be closed in celebration and remembrance of our forefathers. Our West coast office will have limited hours shutting down around noon.  Our 24 hour crisis center remains intact while space stations and interplanetary service remains unchanged. In an effort to help you enjoy the festivities we offer a few precautions to protect your festivities;

  1. Drilling firecrackers in fresh corn does NOT make popcorn
  2. Your chimney is for smoke to escape. It is not a launcher for fireworks
  3. You can’t pickle a watermelon by exploding it in a jar with vinegar

We hope these tidbits of advice help you have a safe happy, healthy and safe Fourth of July. Everything that has not burnt up will be back to normal on the fifth.

 

 NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??

     You probably know me by my Japanese name, or maybe by the name I grow wild with in North America. I imagine my American name may result from my propensity to blossom in little purple flowers that become little prickly burrs.  While all parts of me (leaves, seeds and roots) have been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, it is my root that the Japanese are responsible for first using as a food and seasoning.  Actually, you can eat my young leaves and stems in the spring.   But, you’ll want to wait ‘til my underground treasure is a bit older before eating (around 4 inches in length with a 1” diameter at the wide end of my taper) – but don’t wait until I’m old, or I may taste woody.  I am nurtured under rather bare stems on 3-4 foot mature plants that bear large, rough, heart-shaped leaves—dark green above and pale beneath with pinkish veins – with short white hairs on leaves and leaf stalks.  Like most sweet young things, I’m most tender when young, and should snap when bent.  When well prepared, I have a pleasant, crisp texture with an earthy taste ranging from mild to sweet to strong.  When I am very young, peel me and eat me raw, but I’m perhaps best cooked.  Bring me home dirty – the dirtier the better – just wash or brush clean and rub off my dark skin with a knife back (as you would a carrot or parsnip).  Some pound me to tenderize, but I suggest a julienne or shaving.  A water bath should remove the bitterness that can result from my inulin.  With lots of vitamin B and minerals, my pithy white flesh is delicious shredded in soup and salads, stir fried, boiled, roasted, or stewed with other root vegetables or as meat stuffing.  I’m available all year round from California, Hawaii and Japan.

 

Answer to last weeks quiz..SOYBEANS…Congratulations to all winners!

Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015