Market Notes Oct. 8, 2020

 

FIRE

After burning almost 400 properties including 31 restaurants and wineries and St. Helena’s White Sulphur Springs (the oldest resort in California), Cal Fire now says that 58% of the Glass Incident fire is contained.  This fire has been burning since September 27 and the blaze is expected to continue through October 20. Thousands of evacuations have been enforced and over 630 residences have been lost. Another 2300 structures remain of threat.  The good news is that lives lost equals zero. The smoke pollution has reached to southern San Francisco and continues to move south and east. Although the flames will get smaller according to Cal Fire, there are at least 10 more days of smoke filled skies before any relief can be appreciated. The Glass fire has merged with the Shady fire in the Santa Rosa area where there continue to be many evacuations.  One thing that might speed up quenching the flames is the rainy season that could start as early as October 18th. Until then we continue to pray and support these devastated communities and businesses and look forward to supporting their regrowth.  

ORGANIC DRY FARMED EARLY GIRL TOMATOES

We bushed over this last week in the tomato blurb, but these tomatoes are worth their own blurb. The punch line here is simple.  These tomatoes taste like a rich tomato sauce. They have a bit of a tough skin and they are small like 7×7 sized tomato. Both of these conditions are the result of dry farming. Dry farming sounds exactly like what it is.  Healthy tomato starts are planted and given a few round of watering then left to find water on their own, and they do. What this creates is a small thick sinned tomato with a root system that can be up to six feet long. These resulting fruit has a very thick wall, very little water and the richest tasting tomato flavor you will ever come across. Different than an heirloom, the dry farmed Early Girl focuses on sweetness and density while leaving behind much of the acid balance. Cut these tomatoes open, sprinkle with salt and oregano and it is like biting into a cooked tomato sauce.  If you care about selling or cooking with great tomatoes, you need this organic dry farmed Early Girl, you really do. FOB shipping is out of the San Juan Bautista area but we can provide transportation to either the San Francisco or Los Angeles produce markets or surrounding areas.  For retailers who are offering samples this item will create immediate sales and might even increase the sale of pasta and mozzarella cheese. Get these now!

                 NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I???

   There is evidence that the Assyrians and ancient Persians ate me, but the Greeks were probably the first to cultivate me.  The Romans even referred to me as the “Greek Nut”. I do know that I originated in parts of Western Asian, and from there spread to the Mediterranean.  Now I also grow in California, Australia and South America. I require warm weather to grow, and take up to five years to reach my fruit baring age. People who cultivate me now often use honey bees because I am genetically self-incompatible and need the assistance of bees for my pollination. The Hebrews used me as a symbol for haste because I blossom suddenly, but the Greeks and Spaniards used me as a symbol for good luck. Medieval Europeans used me instead of cow’s milk in order to avoid the rules of fasting days. Pliny, Plutarch and the Englishman, Gerard, thought that I was a reliable cure for drunkenness although I make quite a fine liqueur.  My culinary value is unmatched. I can be used in anything from salads or chicken dishes, to Danishes and syrups.  I can be fuzzy, green, and liquid, or I can be fuzzy green and solid, or I can be brownish and solid. Some of my varieties are considered toxic because I contain prussic acid when raw, and so my bitter form is banned from sale in the United States, but my sweet side provides a nutritional powerhouse because I am packed full of calcium, fiber, folic acid, potassium and Vitamin E. Oh, and all that talk about water usage, phooey!

THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WAS …SAGE.…CONGRATS TO ALL WINNERS  

Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702 Visit us at www.culinaryproduce.com “like” us @ Culinary Specialty Produce on Facebook© Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015