NZ Vegetables (For week 20 November 2008):
Pick of the week would need to go to courgettes. These are simply a baby marrow, but after putting up with Australian product all winter, the first flush of these in our country produce a mighty fresh vegetable. Steam, boil, microwave, bake, stir-fry, barbecue or grill courgettes as a side vegetable. They are particularly good in stir-fries and barbecues or filled with a savoury stuffing and baked. They are good when used raw in salads. Other top vege buys would be asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes. And with November being the month of the year the industry promotes 5+A Day in; there is three top colours in that lot. Mushrooms are incredibly versatile and will add flavour to many dishes. White mushrooms are the most commonly consumed mushrooms in New Zealand. Also to look out for are capsicums, cucumbers, silverbeet, kumi kumi, and spinach. You need to remove the seeds and inner membranes of capsicums. If you want to stuff the capsicum, cut the stem off and remove the seeds from the top, otherwise it's easier to cut the capsicum in half first. It really did take a while for greens to recover after some devastating weather during winter affected plantings, however cabbages, cauliflower, and lettuces are all back on stream. Celery is relatively tight still, and so is broccoli and spring onions; broccoli I would imagine so because this is an extremely likable item for most people's diets. Leeks aren't pleasant at the moment because of that strong stork which grows through the middle of them this time of year, termed as 'gone to seed'.
NZ Fruit:
Pick of the week needs to go to that little marvellous blue fruit, aptly called the blueberry. There was a noticeable increase of these in the markets so I would imagine they'll become more affordable by the weekend. Most of our supplies are grown in the Waikato and Hawkes Bay. It got awarded, so to speak, 'Produce Superfood' status some years ago now and as rocketed in demand ever since. In-season I simply throw a decent handful on top of my yoghurt and cereal each morning and enjoy my fix that way. They're a great smoothie ingredient too. Other top fruit buys remain strawberries, avocados, and green kiwifruit. Word on the street though is there's some great aggressive pricing on strawberries this week for the customer, but buy early in the day, I'm picking a lot of stores towards closing will be out of stock...demand is red hot both here and for export. The firm rough skin of a green fleshed kiwifruit is easily peeled off with a knife. The fruit should be cut into slices, cross-wise, for use in most dishes. The bright green flesh and the radial pattern of the seeds in the flesh give the fruit slice a most attractive appearance. The most can be made of this by using them to decorate a fruit salad, a fruit cream, a mousse or a cake, especially if more fruit has been used inside as a filling. Also to look out for are oranges, tangelos, cherimoya, and blackberries. Plus four of the five summerfruits all started this week, but they are early varieties, such as Hawkes Bay Mayglo nectarines, Flavourcrest peaches, and Royal Rosa apricots, and Earlise cherries from Blenheim. Again, please tread carefully, as not only dear still but none will satisfy your craving for a piece of stonefruit.
Imported Produce:
As we approach December, more and more American pipfruit is here to ensure a crisp crunch. There are 3 colours in the pears available; the brown Bosc and red and green D'Anjou, plus a good quantity of Royal Gala apples. Most imported pipfruit is usually dearer than local, but still not a bad choice as we do have a lack of local product in November. Other imported product firm in pricing are Australian mangoes, beans, rockmelons, and oranges; plus bananas, USA limes and pomegranates, and Fijian pink taro. Better buying are honeydew melons, ginger, grapes, Ecuador mangoes, papaya, pineapples, and Chinese Ya pears. As you can see, New Zealand is a big consumer of tropical and fresh fruits. We even import regularly, and here now, organic bananas, watermelon, dates, and fresh coconuts in their shells. I became quite partial to eating a few dates a day, and are available both fresh and dried, with or without stones. Keep them in sealed plastic bags or airtight containers in the refrigerator. Some fresh dates will keep for several months, and dried dates can be kept for up to a year.
Fresh Flowers:
There were some very big floors throughout the country, after the warm weekend, and noticeable increases were seen in Roses, Peonies, Alstro, and Carnations. There is a good range of product about too, such as Sweet Peas, Celosia, Sweet Williams, and Longiflorums. Also available are Sunflowers and Lilies.
www.turnersandgrowers.com
Kind regards, Glenn Forsyth.