Market Notes
November 10, 2016

 

OFF-SHORE AND MORE

The holiday season is around the corner and the asparagus wasted no time in pricing. Look to the mid-twenties for quality stuff, maybe a bit less for smalls. Price has dropped on both regular and rainbow peeled carrots. Both blackberries and blueberries are abundant. Florida starfruit is in season so prices are not exorbitant like the imported fruit. French beans are trouble free and reasonably priced. Both snow peas and snap peas are very reasonably priced for this time of year. Yellow and red slicing tomatoes have started in northern Florida and peppers and cucumbers not far behind. We load out of Southern Florida two times a week for LTL delivery throughout the northeast. Please check out our Off Shore list and connect with your Culinary Rep for logistics.

THE BEST OF THE BEST….AND THEN SOME

The cutoff date will be early December, that’s the law. This is a very unique opportunity and in order for it be valid, product must be used by December 5th. Okay, enough with the teasing. We are very fortunate to know an old school produce expert from LA who has 20 acers of his own olives. For several years now they have been making a blend that is fabulous. Using the Arbequina olive from Spain and blending it with the Koroneiki olive from Greece yields wonderful full flavored oil. But here is the kicker. Because we know the grower, and this grower processes his own oil we have a very unique access to the early product. This is not Bertolli. This is beyond extra virgin. As the oil ages it mellows. This is the unmellow oil and it is outrageous. This is finishing or table oil that is thick, pure and spicy. We have never tasted anything like it. Apparently this is famous throughout the world. The product labeled as Olio Nuevo and it is known globally by chefs. This would get lost on the supermarket shelf but is a destination product for patrons who have had the privilege prior. We will bottle this to order. Bottles are sized as 250 ml, 500 ml. 750ml, half gallon and full gallon. Call now or just enjoy the bland stuff.

ON THE WILD SIDE

Domestic truffle season has begun. So, if you don’t want to pay 2K for the Alba whites or 500 for the Burgundy blacks, you can settle on the cheap side with the domestics for a couple hundred. Still no corn smut but we hope to have it for the December holidays. Morel Mushrooms are only available frozen, Chanterelles, Hedgehog, and Black Trumpet mushrooms are available fresh. Porcini are hit and miss for fresh, and steady on the Frozen. Fresh Lobster mushrooms should be available through Thanksgiving but not much beyond that. Cultivated include the clams, Trumpet Royal, Piopinni, Nameko, and Abalone.

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHO AM I???

I am grown on every continent of the globe.. My earliest cultivation took place in China. I was made popular by Roman authors in the first century, medieval monasteries in England, and by the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote about us in beautiful gardens. With my hundreds of varieties I range in color from yellowish-green to deep purple, and in size I range from a small cherry to a hen’s egg. There’s even a dinosaur variety named after me. I contain one inedible pit in my center. I will ripen after picked, but this process is slowed by refrigeration. When I ripe I can be so sweet and so very juicy, public joy during my consumption must be refrained though often revealed by drippings on clothing. I am used dried in brandy, liqueur, jam, pudding, breads, cakes, compotes, oriental sauces, and a variety of other sweet and savory applications but am definitely best eaten fresh out of hand. I am fat free, low in sodium, and only contain 33 calories per piece. Often the mere mention of my name implies goodness and delight.

PLEASE NOTE THE LA MARKET IS CLOSED TOMORROW 11-11-2016 IN CELEBRATION OF VETERANS DAY

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Answer To Last Week’s Quiz…CELERY…Congrats To All Winners

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