NZ Vegetables (For week 28 July 2010):
Pick of the week is kumara. Sweet potatoes are another one of those vegetables that once tasted, are never forgotten. They are, as their name suggests, sweet, but they also have a slightly spicy taste. It’s this distinct sweet and savoury flavour which makes them such an excellent foils too many savoury dishes and they are fittingly paired with meat dishes that need a touch of sweetness, like turkey or pork. Other top veggie buys are mushrooms, carrots, and leeks. Mushrooms are my ultimate favourite vegetable, and like most young people no doubt, I did not start accepting them until well into my late teens. I’m having some success now though in sneaking the white ones chopped up finely into pasta dishes to 10-12 year olds, and the brown ones very finely into gravy, but I guess it’s the texture that the kids can’t deal with...probably similar to why young ones can’t handle asparagus either. But I’m sure with further perseverance, and the odd daring and accidental chomp from the little ones, they’ll be accepting mushrooms in all their chunky glory on toast, pizza, with steaks, and even in salads. Also to look out for is Asian vegetables, such as shanghai bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, and coriander. I love the gai lan, or known as Chinese broccoli too, but it has long green stems (about 2cm in diameter and 20cm long) and white flowers and green leaves which have a white haze on them. The flowers should be in bud rather than in full bloom. To prepare, chop the leaves roughly. Peel the stem to get rid of the fibrous layer and cut it into evenly-sized pieces. Stir-frying or steaming is the most commonly used preparation methods. It has a very strong broccoli flavour and can be used where you would normally use broccoli.
NZ Fruit:
Pick of the week is apples such as Royal Gala and Braeburn. It is so tough not to talk about the tried and true fruit lines during our winter, due to the sheer lack of choice, but apples are a proven success through our colder months for both quality and price. Assuredly, the apple tree was in existence prehistorically. Charred remains of apples have been discovered in the mud of lake-dwellings in Europe and pips have been found embedded in pieces of pottery of great antiquity. The earliest written record of the fruit in Britain dates as far back as 885AD. They were introduced by the Romans and the first trees were planted in what is now Somerset, of apple and cider fame. Other top fruit buys are avocados, handfuls of passionfruit, and late season Nashi. The avocado is high in protein and carbohydrate. It is one of the few fruits that contain fat, and it is also rich in potassium, vitamin C, some B vitamins and vitamin E. Its rich oils, particularly its vitamin E content, mean that it is not only useful as food, but for skin and hair care too, something the Aztecs and Incas were aware of a thousand years ago. The cosmetics industry may have been in its infancy, but it still knew a good thing when it saw it. Also to look out for is golden skinned tamarillos. They appear only for a short time, and not a lot are grown now, however they are about and are a lot less tart than their red counterparts because of the lower acid content in the yellow ones. Tamarillos are members of the same family as tomatoes, aubergines and potatoes.
Imported Produce:
Some of your better imported buys this week are peaches and nectarines from California, Packham pears, courgettes, and beans from Australia, Mexican red seedless grapes, and pineapples. So as you can see, during our winter, we rely heavily from abroad. There are also Mexican mangoes and USA plums coming, plus plenty of Australian tomatoes, strawberries, and Navel oranges. Do not store whole pineapples in the fridge, although peeled, sliced or cubed pineapple can be chilled in an airtight container for up to three days. Fresh, peeled and sliced pineapple is available and should also be kept chilled. Pineapples are very versatile fruit, their sweet, acidic taste lending itself to sweet and savoury dishes. Dried pineapple can be eaten as a snack or chopped to use in cake and pudding recipes.
Fresh Flowers:
Two lines that were in strongest demand this week are Black Magic Roses and Gypsophila, although there are imported Roses here at lesser values than our own. But two lines to even the budget out were Daffodils and Earlicheer. There are good volumes of Tulips around, plus pockets full of Oriental Lilies. A little dearer in values were Freesias, Orchids, Iris, and Asiatic Lilies. There is also Gerberas, Carnations, and Alstro available; however these were slighter dearer again.
Kind regards, Glenn Forsyth.