Market Notes
May 17, 2018
POTATO NOTES FROM ALL OVER
California new crop potatoes have begun. For the fingerlings we just have the yellows but in two-three weeks we will have purple and red. This makes fingerling assortments very tight until all colors are in stock. Yellow jumbos are in good supply and price should drop on them in the next few weeks. Pee-wee fingerlings will start up next week and we should have three colors by months end. We do have purple pee-wee in stock now and hope to see yellow next week and red the week after that. Medium yellow fingerlings are steady as she goes. We expect a slight price hike in late June through September but that seems to be a yearly event. Great deals on purple fingerlings out of Northern Colorado. Speaking of Colorado our access to organic russets has ended for the season. We will begin new crop in October. Until then we are at the mercy of the Washington and California growers whose quality and pricing are often questionable. Red, white, yellow and purple rounds are available from our California fingerling shed and can be easily consolidated with your fingerling orders either FOB or consolidated in the LA market. Marbles, tiny rounds have begun new crop harvest this week and should remain steadily available through the first of the year. Florida is in season with beautiful fingerlings and creamers but the pricing is restrictive. Weirdo potatoes (Rooster, Nicola, Raccoon Tail, low glycemic, and other things you read about are available by request). Retail packs are also available.
ANDY’S ORCHARDS UPDATE
We last left off with the plight of the cherries. The weird winter weather with its early warmth and late chill yielded a slight crop. The quality will be sublime but the quantity will be limited. Also, as we will write about in Market Notes to come, there is quite an interesting variety of cherries, not just the sweets. Availability will be through the store for FOB pick up and the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market. Early reports on apricots are much better with several varieties looking good with great flavor and high volume. It looks like another sweet season in Morgan Hill. Stay tuned for more updates or call for details and orders. The best is yet to come.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??
I am a perennial found throughout southern India. I became a popular in Greek and Roman cooking after Alexander the Great’s soldiers introduced me to Europe. Today I remain popular in Eastern and Arab countries but receive little attention in the west with the exception of Scandinavia, who, strangely enough, has taken quite a liking to me. I am elite in my class, only being out priced by the likes of vanilla and saffron. Beginning as a thumb thick creeping root stock I grow up to 8 feet tall producing a three-celled pod containing up to 18 seeds. Long dark-green leaves with lanceolate tops and silky smooth bottoms protect my pod. My yellow or bluish flowers can be found near the ground. My Malabar variety is tops, but often substituted with the lesser qualities of the Cambodian or Sri Lankan varieties, respectively. Although I can be found in ground or seed form, it is best to buy me by the pod to insure I am not mixed with imposters. My pod color will vary by region due to the style of processing. I’m sun-dried and green in India, oven-dried and brown in Asia and Europe, and bleached white in the United States. Used as a substitute for gluten, I can be found in breads and cereals. I also add flavor to eggnogs, wines and liqueurs, fruit compotes, fruitcakes and marinades. I am a prime ingredient in curry and garam masala. A few of my seeds steeped in boiling water makes a soothing tea that will aid digestion. Sometimes you will find me used as a replacement for ginger or cinnamon. I am a good source of potassium and also provide calcium, iron and zinc
Answer To Last Week’s Quiz:…RAMBUTAN…Congrats To All Winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015