April 18, 2019

by | Apr 26, 2019 | Archive | 0 comments

  Market Notes
April 18, 2019

 

 

RAMPAGE AND FORAGE AT PEAK

 It’s the beginning of the peak period for ramps. For the next two weeks they will be at their most abundant and prices will be at their lowest.  After that they will ramp down as fast as they ramped up and we will switch to ramp bulbs. If you ever wanted a truck load, speak now or wait a year.  Rampage 2019 is on!  Other great things in the forage season are also at prime point of picking including fiddlehead ferns, nettles, wild watercress, claytonia, garlic scapes, wood sorrel and cattail shoots. Along with the morels we have been shipping from Tibet we now have domestic morels and black trumpet mushrooms from Oregon.  Summer truffles have begun. The earthy flavored tubers are black, Italian, and young.  They are mild in aroma but buttery in flavor. Cauliflower mushrooms are now available and the quality is superb. These are one of our favorite mushrooms of the year as they blend tastefully with almost any liquid or sauce.

THE GREEN SCENE
The small frisee fiasco we have encountered for the last two weeks is over and done. New fields, over 600 miles away from prior fields, are producing the beautiful product you are used to. Lady bugs be gone, and we have both conventional and organic in twelve count and fifteen pound packs ready to go. Proof is in pictures, so please request if necessary. Baby head lettuce is running strong again now that the northern fields in King City are experiencing near perfect weather. All specialty lettuce growers are now back in the Salinas Valley for picking, packing and shipping. Excellent growing conditions allow for five star quality on all mixes and components.  We hear rumors that mizuna is going to become scarce as low demand reduces amount grown. Micro greens, from numerous sources are continually growing in variety. Pretty much anything that comes out of the ground and is edible is available.

 

HOLY WEEKEND LETS GO HOME

And that is exactly what many field workers will do. Field operations for many harvests will cease tomorrow possibly through Monday in celebration. Scary times indeed, but the absence or workers will yield low production and crazy Monday’s. Tuesday things should normalize and by Wednesday we’ll be rockin’ once again. So, whoever you are, where ever you go, from Seder to Service we wish you a safe, happy and healthy Holy holiday weekend. As always, we thank you for your continued support.

 

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT 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 weeks quiz..CAPE GOOSEBERRIES…Congratulations to all winners!

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