Market Notes
May 30, 2019
RAMP OFF FORAGE ON
The 2019 Ramp season is complete. We had a few new customers this season and we are glad to see the popularity of this product growing. While the fresh Ramp season is complete we still have Ramp bulbs and many other foraged items to offer including wild onion blossoms, nettles, wild mustard greens, fiddlehead ferns (both Lady and Ostrich), wild dandelion, morel mushrooms, domestic porcini mushrooms, and sea beans. Many of these items will disappear as the summer heat comes on. Domestic truffles are not available at the moment but we do have Italian summer truffles available at very reasonable prices. Paw Paws, also growing in popularity, are now being both foraged and cultivated and should begin mid-July. Stay tuned, details to follow.
YELLOW TOMATOES
Yellow tomatoes are now beginning harvest in north Florida and we hope to have a good run for about 6 weeks if the rains don’t get them first. We just started harvesting cherry tomatoes and should get into the larger sizes next week. We also hope to have several loads of the smaller slicing tomatoes for our processors. Unfortunately many of our growers in the Carolina’s have retired after the severe damage to sheds and equipment caused by the storms last year. This will create a shortage when our Florida program is complete mid-July. At this point we are looking at late-August for new crop on the east coast. We shy away from greenhouse yellows unless they are for local distribution. Our years of experience have suggested that decision is best for all.
FROM MEMORIAL TO INDEPENDENCE, A SHORT RIDE
Now that a day of honoring those who served is past, we move on the result of their efforts. July 4th festivities are on the horizon. With a solid supply of new crop fingerling potatoes from our California fields we would like to offer retail ads or wholesale promotions to our customers. If you are looking for an ad opportunity we would be very interested in such an opportunity. We are not long or heavy on product but we look for every opportunity to improve the awareness of fingerling potatoes. If you feel the same please contact us to discuss promotional programs.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??
I am the first seasoning whose use was ever recorded. I date back as far as 3000- BC Assyria. There is some confusion about my actual origin. While some believe it was Africa, others insist on India. Frankly, I don’t care, I’m just proud to be number one. I have been used in China for over 200 years but I never made it to the inner circles and I’m considered a foreigner there. My arrival in America is attributed to African Slaves and this is why I was initially very popular in southern cooking. I am an annual who grows tall and straight with deeply veined egg-shaped leaves and lovely pink or white flowers. I get plucked when I’m green (doesn’t everyone?) to avoid bruising. I am popular all over the world where I am regularly used in sweet and savory foods. My latest fad is to be blackened, but you can still find me in white and brown. More intense when toasted, I impart a slightly sweet, nutty flavor essential in specific types of bagels, breads, pastes, halvah, noodles, meats, fish, and oil. In fact I am 50% oil, so be careful, if you keep me too warm I’ll turn rancid. Best to keep me in an airtight container and my bedroom cool and dark. In this condition I’ll give you a good three months, in the icebox I’ll hold up for six months, and I can go a whole year in your freezer. My fat is largely unsaturated and when dried I provide magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, zinc and copper as well as dietary fiber and riboflavin. I help calm your nervous system and ease your bowels and make fine massage oil. Although my name is often used to “open” doors. I’ve never actually seen it work.
Answer to last weeks quiz..FIG…Congratulations to all winners!
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015