Market Notes
September 27, 2018

POTATO MARKET UPDATE

The new potato market is over. Our fresh product (product run out of the field directly into the box and shipped) is complete and as of next week we will be shipping our fingerlings out of storage as they complete their sweat. What this really means is a temperature change. We have been running our trucks at 45 degrees and asking you to do the same in your coolers so the new potatoes do not cool down too quickly and turn to mush. Now, out of the sweat, we process the potatoes at 38 to 40 degrees. Our trucks and storage facilities will now hold product at 38 degrees. So starting next week, please store you fingerling potatoes at 38, and they’ll be great. Oh, and by the way, for our east coast forward distribution, price is down like we promised, but up a bit from last year.

TRUFFLES

All the standard fall stuff is here.. From persimmons to pumpkins, from hard squash to pomegranates, from apples to pears with finger limes and clementine’s, all the good stuff is out there. Pumpkin spice comes out of water fountains for the next 10 weeks. Hay bales and fall leaves with corn stalks, wheat, and ornamental gourds fill our homes yards and offices. Only one thing left, the expensive stuff. So what’s a cassoulet with a good chunk of white Alba truffles? Affordable! White truffles are just in and the stink factor is high, the sizes are large and the price is low. Low for white truffles that is. Under 2K for top quality. For those less ambitious the Burgundy truffle, exponentially richer than the domestic product and the price is just about the same. We Fed-ex truffles to your door step and relatively the shipping is very affordable. Call today for deals.

FLORENCE FINALE

If all goes well, the receding flooding waters should retreat by this weeks end. Hopefully this will end all the damage and rebuilding can begin on a grander scale. As expected, many inland rivers crested and caused damage and isolation throughout North and South Carolina both on the rise and return. We wish residents of these states a speedy return to their homes and hope their insurance is paid up and their damage is minimal.

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??

The 18th century French dramatist and critic, Mercier said of my ancestors and me that we were an “inestimable gift to the numerous class of the needy” and that we were “to have the greatest influence on Man, his liberty and his happiness.” Even though many other European countries were cultivating us, many people of Mercier’s time thought we caused leprosy. But later that century, as a result of the French Revolution, it became a sign of patriotism to uproot your roses and replace them with us. By this time, and despite the initial rejection of my species, there were over 40 varieties of me. Now there are hundreds of variations of me. My ancestors originated in the Peruvian Andes and in the 16th century the Spaniards brought us to Europe. Although it is a mystery how we came to North America, the earliest recorded date of my cultivation was in New Hampshire in 1719. Suffice it to say that I’m as American as apple pie because Americans consume approximately 138 pounds of my relatives and me a year. I, in contrast to my relatives, am always getting left behind. Dug up along with my elders, yes, but then I pop out, get run over, or fall through the harvester. I just don’t make the grade. But I get the last laugh, I’m much more premium than my counterparts. I am harvested by human hands and get wonderfully delicate treatment. I can’t do anything to help your coffee, though my name might imply it. You could probably tee off with me, as my size is appropriate, but most likely I would explode before landing. Rarely skinned like my older relatives, I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy as I grow in red, white, or blue. I’m excellent roasted, grilled or cooked in the microwave. I can be halved, and scooped then filled with caviar, sour cream, cheese, bacon etc. I can be sliced thin and served under a cheese sauce. I am high in potassium and vitamin C, and contain eleven other vitamins and minerals. With me, as with your answer, size does matter!

 

Answer To Last Week’s Quiz:…CLAYTONIA (MINOER’S LETTUCE)…Congrats To All Winners

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