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| Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE still dealt with war: What is the most black marketed fruit during war? If there will be an extended period of war around the world, then this fruit may once again become a black-marketed fruit. When NBC reporter Stan Atkinson taped his reports in Afghanistan several years ago, he noticed that this fruit was very hard to get, and very expensive to get. The most black-marketed fruit during times of war...is the Orange. This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE deals with a fall fruit: “If it is not ripe, it will drive a man's mouth awry with much torment, but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an apricot.” What is it? See next week’s Fresh Tips for the answer. |
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JONATHAN APPLES (Monday, October 11): I love this time of year. You walk into the produce department, and just about every week, another new variety of apple is coming into harvest. We started with new crop Gala apples in August, then Gravensteins, and now, the first red apple available in the Fall, one of my very favorite apples…the Jonathan. What? You have never heard of a Jonathan? You must try them. Thomas Jefferson loved apples. His very favorite apple was the Esopus Spitzenburg. Some growers affectionately call it simply…Spitzenburg. Even today, in taste tests around the world, the Spitzenburg wins, every time! It’s not commercially grown any more. You can find them at some farmer’s markets in some parts of the country. The Esopus Spitzenburg, however, does have offspring. The first generation from the Spitzenburg is…you guessed it…the Jonathan. It’s the closest thing we have to the Spitzenburg. The initial fame of Woodstock, New York, in Ulster County. That’s where the Jonathan variety was discovered as a chance seedling in the 1820s. It received its name from the man who found it and first promoted it. This crimson apple (with touches of green) has a spicy tang that blends well with other varieties in sauces and ciders. Also an excellent general eating apple. The skin of the Jonathan is thinner than some other varieties, so it’s great for your little kids in school, especially those little ones who have some loose teeth.
ROW CROP VEGETABLES (Tuesday, October 12): Agricultural losses are topping $3 billion so far in Florida. The media focus of crop damage in Florida has been Oranges and Grapefruit. Citrus isn’t the only crop that was hammered by four hurricanes, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Row crop vegetables also took a beating. This includes crops like Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green Beans, Squash and Tomatoes. In Florida, where about half of the winter row crops are grown for the United States, growers were just preparing soil with plastic, after they dodged a bullet called Hurricane Charley. Most growers expressed relief that Charley hit when it did…before a lot of soil prep and crop planting had been done. Charley delayed planting schedules about one week. But then along came Frances. Growers who had started the soil prep and laying plastic and irrigation lines lost all of that work…and the cost associated with it. So growers frantically once again began soil prep, laying plastic and irrigation and putting tiny transplants into the fields. Then along came Ivan and Jeanne. Now growers throughout southern and central Florida had to wait even more for rains to stop so that pumps could drain the floodwaters from these storms. Growers had to wait for dry weather to help dry the land, allowing growers to get tractors into the fields to first, re-laser level the fields for drainage, prepare the soil, and finally lay the plastic and irrigation drip lines. The record number of storms has meant about a 4 – 6 week delay in the planting schedule. Whenever you disrupt the planting schedule, you also disrupt the harvest schedule. Because of this long delay, this will push harvest right back to the holidays, which will mean very tight supplies during the strongest demand of the year, the holiday season. Thanksgiving will be the most affected. Most of these crops are 60 – 90 day crops, from planting to harvest. Some of these crops usually begin harvest in mid-to-late October, reaching peak supplies well before Thanksgiving.
But now, because of so much delay, lack of power, lack of farm workers, many growers in Florida say that harvest will be pushed back right into the first week of December, missing the Thanksgiving demand. If weather cooperates from here on out, growers could pick up some time, but it will still be close for the holidays. This will put demand pressure on Mexican-grown row crop vegetables. In the state of Sinaloa, growers are doing the same thing as Florida growers, preparing soil, laying plastic and putting tiny seedlings into the ground. The storms also ended most of the Fall production of row crop vegetables in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and into New Jersey. That has meant a very quick end to supplies for most of the East Coast, sending East Coast buyers to the West Coast for produce, and that has led to very sharp increases in prices. Expect October and November to be very volatile months for produce prices and supplies. Don’t change your menu for Thanksgiving. It’s still a very special holiday time with friends and family. You’ll just pay more for it.
ASPARAGUS (Wednesday, October 13): Not all of the problems with produce deals with crops in Florida. Some have to do with produce grown in other regions of the world, but are air-shipped into Florida. Miami International Airport is the primary East Coast place of import for Asparagus being flown in from Chile and Peru. From the Valley of Ica, just south of Lima, Peru, fields of Asparagus are in full production, but because of logistics problems at the Miami International Airport, those fresh spears are having a tough time entering the U.S. That has delayed imports, causing some slight price spikes. Fortunately, the impact is only for a short time. Miami International Airport was closed only for a period of 18 – 24 hours during each storm. That may only impact one 747 cargo plane loaded with Asparagus. Those planes can’t be diverted to other airports because FDA and USDA inspectors are at Miami International to inspect incoming fruits and vegetables. Because of the disruptions, you may have seen some slight price increases and some spotty outages in some regions of the country. Importers have doubled up on the 747s coming in, to help re-fill of supply pipeline. The Valley of Ica grows more Asparagus per acre than any other region of the world. And this year, because fields are coming into their prime production years, yields are even higher, with some growers telling me that production is up over 15%. That will mean terrific supplies for the holidays.
CHESTNUTS (Thursday, October 14): The chestnut is said to have originally come from Lydia, an ancient kingdom in Asia Minor. It has been used for food since those times. The first recording of the Chestnut was in China, around 900 A.D. Worldwide, there are about 1.2 billion pounds produced, with China as the leading producer. China harvests about 40% of the world’s supply, followed by Italy, Turkey, Japan, Korea around 10% each. The U.S. accounts for less than 1% of total world production. Today, California leads the nation in Chestnut production. And there are many growers in the U.S. where you can buy American-grown Chestnuts, including California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and Delaware. Even though U.S. production is among the smallest in the world, each year, production increases, making it easier to find American-grown Chestnuts in the supermarket. If you have only been accustomed to imported Chestnuts, then be sure to ask for American-grown Chestnuts. You’ll be glad you did. You can find scattered single trees and small groves planted throughout Northern California mountains by Chinese immigrants during the Gold Rush. Also, some trees were planted along the north and central coast by Italian homesteaders. The chestnut tree is related to the oak and can live for up to 500 years. It is the least oily of all the nuts, and the easiest of digestion. It contains more sugar than most nuts as well as a large proportion of starch. They can be preserved and stored for years. Chestnuts are usually roasted, boiled, or ground into flour that is used to make bread, cakes, and cookies. Chestnuts are enclosed in a prickly case, most of which hold three separate small, smooth nuts. Each chestnut contains a wrinkled cream-colored kernel that is covered by a thin brown skin. The nut is protected by a hard, inedible reddish brown membrane, which some call the “pellicle.” Improved cultivated varieties of the chestnut tree produce a single large nut, which is fleshier and more flavorful. The French refer to these larger chestnuts, which are better for cooking, as marrons and to ordinary chestnuts as chätaignes. Chestnuts have played an important role in human and wildlife health for thousands of years. Archeologically found in Michigan 3000-1000 BC in the eastern part of the state. The renaissance scientist Thomas Harriot wrote in 1590 that the native Americans in Virginia made loaves of bread from pounded chestnuts to eat with a type of bean that they grew. Many early settlers to the US quickly found out that chestnuts made “commendable nourishment.” A folk medicine was made from the leaves to cure whooping cough. In 1880 near Seymour, Indiana a tree was recorded that had a 22 ft. diameter trunk. Not all chestnuts are the equivalent of nut sequoias in the forest. Not too long ago, the American chestnut was one of the most important trees of forests from Maine south to Florida, from the Piedmont west to the Ohio valley. In the heart of its range only a few generations ago, a count of trees would have turned up one chestnut for every four oaks, birches, maples and other hardwoods. Many of the dry ridge tops of the central Appalachians were so thoroughly crowded with chestnut that, in early summer, when their canopies were filled with creamy-white flowers, the mountains appeared snow-capped. It was said that a squirrel could travel from Maine to Florida just by jumping from one Chestnut tree to the next. Chestnut was an important cash crop for many Appalachian families. As year-end holidays approached, nuts by the railroad car-full were shipped to New York, Philadelphia and other cities where street vendors sold them fresh roasted. The tree was one of the best for timber. It grew straight and often branch-free for 50 feet. Loggers tell of loading entire railroad cars with boards cut from just one tree. Straight-grained, lighter in weight than oak and more easily worked, chestnut was as rot resistant as redwood. It was used for virtually everything - telegraph poles, railroad ties, shingles, paneling, fine furniture, musical instruments, even pulp and plywood. But then a chestnut blight struck. In 1904, a most unfortunate "thing" was imported into the United States. This "thing" was the Chestnut blight fungus, or Cryphonectria parasitica. The fungus came into the country on some Japanese and Chinese chestnut trees that were being imported to the Bronx Zoo in New York City. The blight then quickly spread to some American chestnut trees in the park through the air and throughout the entire range of the chestnut by the 1940's. The American chestnut trees, which evolved without the presence of the blight, are not resistant to the fungus and are quickly killed off by it. The blight enters the chestnut tree through cracks in the bark, which usually appear once a tree is a few years old. Once under the bark, the fungus then "eats" away the vascular cambium and phloem of the tree leaving a girdling, sunken canker. This canker prevents the tree from transporting the food it makes in its leaves through photosynthesis. Without this food, the tree then dies within a decade or so. However, the root systems are not affected by the blight and often sprout to form new chestnut trees. Once the sprouts are a few years old though, they once again become infected with the blight and die back again. By 1950, except for the shrubby root sprouts the species continually produces (and which also quickly become infected), the keystone species on some nine million acres of eastern forests had disappeared. Chestnuts are a quintessential holiday food. They’re delicious served simply roasted or incorporated into any number of recipes, from turkey stuffing to candied desserts. Right now they are at the peak of their season, which runs from about September through February. The nuts have a high moisture content, which can cause them to spoil quickly, so if you have a lot of them, you’ll want to take steps to make the harvest last. Fresh chestnuts, still in their shells, will keep for about a week in a cool, dry place. To store them longer, place them in a plastic bag — perforated to allow for air circulation — and refrigerate them for up to a month. For longer storage, you can freeze chestnuts: If left whole, in the shell, they will keep for about four months.
CHESTNUTS (Friday, October 15): Chestnuts roasting
on an open fire. Mel Torme and Robert Wells wrote the words and
Nat "King" Cole's voice did the rest. What a combination!
What a song! The classic "Christmas Song" is as much an
American tradition as eggnog and chestnuts. But what is a chestnut?
Chestnut trees once flourished from Maine to Michigan and as far
south as the Appalachians. The snowy white blossomed trees were
prized for their nuts and their strong, sturdy wood which was used
to make everything from sofas to railroad ties. Unfortunately, a
fungal blight at the Bronx Zoo attacked the trees in 1904 and spread
rapidly. By the mid-1920s, the American chestnut tree had all but
disappeared. Today, most chestnuts found in supermarkets are imported
from Italy. They are a different species from the true American
chestnut. Not-to-be confused with horse chestnuts, buckeyes and
water chestnuts - all pretenders. If you are in Europe during the
winter, check out their chestnuts. If you find some in the grocery
store and want to bring the song to reality, here is what you need
to do. Curing does 2 important things. One, it makes the nuts far
easier to peel as it gives the nutmeat the opportunity to shrink
away from the outer shell and the inner shell (pellicle). Two, it
ripens and sweetens the nut improving the flavor tremendously. Your
patience with the curing time will be worth it! When you’re
ready to eat the chestnuts, remember that they have to be cooked
first. Either roasting or boiling will eliminate excess tannic acid
and make the nuts palatable; but you should cook only as many as
you will use at one time — or within three or four days at
the most — because they spoil quickly. To roast chestnuts
in the oven, select nuts that are firm and unblemished. Cut an “X”
on the flat side of each nut to allow steam to escape, then spread
them on a baking sheet and place in a 400-degree oven for about
15 minutes. To eat, grasp the curling skin, and peel away both the
outer shell and thin, papery skin inside. Here are some more detailed
instructions:
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