Market Notes
October 22, 2015
MORE DECOR
There are bales of hay, painted pumpkins, bunches of wheat, glazed gourds, fall leaves, grape leaves that are all pretty much required décor during the fall harvest season. The cornucopia is in its prime. Hard squash along with all sizes of pumpkins abound along with hundreds of specialty apples, persimmons and even early citrus. So what’s left? What’s new? What can you do that is different? Glad you asked, Culinary has taken décor and edible decor to the next level. We can now offer the following to add to your seasonal spiffiness. Consider Mini Pumpkins in a bunch on the vine that actually look like heirloom tomatoes. Ponder Mini Peppers on the vine in multicolored bunches. Perhaps Persimmons on the vine will enhance your display. Fresh, yellow dates on the vine will add a curious complexity to any cornucopia. We even have Fresh Pomegranates on the vine to complete our “on the vine” offerings. Then to top it all off we have fresh bunches of Cotton, yes Cotton, to provide a fluffy soft base for the jungle gym of vines. Most of these items are available through the middle of November and require forty-eight hour notice. So now that mind is racing with decorative ideas, please give your Culinary rep a call for more info and shipping details.
TRUFFLES & COMPANY
As we enter the 2015 holiday season the demand for fancy foods rise. Produce is no exception, and the king of the seasonal specialty is the humble, up from the dirt, truffle. There are a few things we would like to discuss referencing the truffle market. First some good news. This season we have aligned ourselves with another truffle company that will offer pricing at different sizes within the same truffle category. For example black summer truffles can be ordered in 15, 20, or 30 gram single pieces all at different price ranges. This will also be available for the white truffles when they are unearthed. Now a note about the prized white truffle which we have told you before and will probably tell you again. The peak purchasing time for the white truffle is New Year’s Eve. The peak time for consuming the prized white truffle is late November through mid-December. By Christmas they are fading and by the first of the year they are overripe. Please advise your customers of this so they can offer these morsels of earthy goodness at the right times to get the most flavor and stink.
AT 319 THERE WILL BE A SCENE
We will be sautéing the Midnight Moon potato. We will be serving baked mini- Masquerade potatoes. We will have on display our new Finger Lime packaging. We will be presenting our conventional and organic lines of specialty potatoes. And Mr. P will demonstrate four summersaults he’ll undertake on solid ground. We will have for your approval the finest Cherimoya you have ever tasted. Fungus from lands yet discovered! Citrus from fields with no water! . Specialty fruits and vegetables both large and small arrive with flavors and shapes to delight you all. 12-2 is the date and NYC is the place. Javitz is the hall and 319 has it all. Messrs. C&SP assure the public this production will be second to none. And at night, if we do it right, we’ll sell it all.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHO AM I
I am tired of being the bowl. Cut off my head, scoop out my seeds, and fill me up with soup. This is often the story of my life. Named after squirrel food due to my shape my skin can be green, gold, white or variegated in green, yellow and orange. I am a shrubby; creeping plant and my shape is conical with a pointed apex and longitudinally grooved. Compared to my summer cousins I take a long time to grow, averaging about 80 to 100 days. I am in the same family as the melon and cucumber and I am believed to have wild origins in Central America, between Mexico and Guatemala dating back over ten thousand years. Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing my ancestors to Europe. My thin skin is very hard to peel so it is usually left intact. My flesh will reveal a peppery hazelnut flavor that is universally admired. In fact, when not being used as a bowl, you can just cut me in half, drizzle some butter (tanning oil to me) on my flesh, then top with honey, cinnamon, brown sugar, and/or nutmeg. Roast me for just under an hour and I’ll prove to you that bowls are better in plastic, paper or china. Don’t forget to cover me in the oven or my top layer will burn, and I never got along well with aloe. While I am an excellent source of potassium and vitamin A, I also contain vitamin C, folic acid and copper.
Answer To Last Quiz….FIDDLEHEAD FERNS……Congrats To All Winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa, Mark or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015