NZ Vegetables (For week 08 September 2010):
Pick of the week is carrots. After potatoes, carrots are without doubt our best –known and best-loved root vegetable. In the days when vegetables were served merely as an accessory to meat, carrots always made an appearance – often overcooked but still eaten up because, we were told, they helped you to see in the dark. Carrots should not be stored for too long. They will keep for several days if stored in a cool, airy place or in the salad drawer of the fridge. Other top veggie buys are white washed potatoes, white button mushrooms, pumpkin, silverbeet, onions, and Truss tomatoes. Truss tomatoes are those beautiful big red ones still attached to their vines, and are a very popular line of tomato here now for the discerning shopper. There are numerous varieties of tomato. Plum tomatoes are best for cooking. Unusually for fruits and vegetables, consuming cooked or processed tomatoes, such as canned tomatoes and tomato puree, is even more beneficial than eating fresh ones. Also to look out for is new season asparagus. We did mention these last week that they’re still in their embryo stage, although a little bit more “Sparrows Grass” (as they are cheekily called in the marketplace), are slowly coming through. And they are a delightful vegetable, but not favoured by the young as a rule, however we adults love it. Avoid eating asparagus if you suffer from gout as it contains purines which increase the uric acid in the joints and exacerbate the condition.
NZ Fruit:
Pick of the week is grapefruit. Avoid grapefruit with bruised or damaged skin. You cannot ripen grapefruit once they have been picked, but they can be kept in a cool place or in the fridge for a week or more. They constitute the perfect breakfast food; perhaps the easiest way to enjoy them is freshly squeezed into a glass, but half a grapefruit on its own or with a little sugar is more satisfying. The fruits can also be used to make delicious marmalade to round off your breakfast. Other top fruit buys are Royal Gala and Braeburn apples. Braeburn are crisp, juicy apples, which make excellent eating. Royal Gala are sweet, juicy and crisp, this apple is good for either cooking or eating. To cook sliced apples and rings, you can sauté them in butter and sugar, to help them keep their shape. To stew, cook in the minimum amount of water, or with butter and seasonings. Also to look out for is new season tangelos. Do be careful buying the early ones however, as beautiful as they may look, they can bite your head off and put you off them for what will be the best to come. If bought too early it will bite back at you, an unpleasant, if not unduly painful experience. My own view is that availability should be from late September to December rather than the official August to November for it can be a fine fruit ruined by the tendency of just some growers to market it in an immature state.
Imported Produce:
There are more of the Afourer mandarins coming to us from Australia, which are quite a pleasant mandarin to enjoy this time of year, and their Packham pears and strawberries continue to roll over too. There is also good numbers of stonefruit here from USA such as nectarines and plums. Other imported goods available, not mentioned for a while is papaya, plumcots, ginger, peaches, courgettes, watermelon, and oranges. Strawberries are rich in vitamins B and C and contain considerable amounts of potassium, iron and fibre. 100gm strawberries provide less than 30 kilocalories. Frozen strawberries are never as good as fresh, as the texture collapse after freezing, but they are fine for sauces and ice cream.
Fresh Flowers:
There were several lines in good supply this week, which included, Gerberas, Tulips, Oriental Lilies, Magnolia, and Chrysie Sprays. Both Asiatic Lilies and Freesias were in stronger demand. Daffodils are a little slow moving at present, along with Roses. Alstro is fairly well supplied, Orchid quality is good at the moment, and some early Waratahs have appeared.
Kind regards, Glenn Forsyth.