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Check Out This Weeks Recipe from Your Produce Man. Click Here.
| Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE dealt with Summer Cherries: How did the Bing Cherry get its name? No, it has nothing to do with Bing Crosby. And it has nothing to do with sound the Cherry makes as it falls into the buckets during harvest. It goes back to the 1860 in Oregon, in the orchard of Seth Lewelling. He was a famous nurseryman in the Pacific Northwest, helping to populate the region with apple, pear and cherry trees. One summer, as the Cherries were ripening, one of Lewelling’s workers was walking through the orchard, checking the color and ripeness. As he was walking through, the sunlight happened to glare off one branch of cherries on one of the trees in the orchard. The worker looked up and noticed that the Cherries on this one branch were larger, firmer and dark mahogany in color. The worker gathered a few of the Cherries and took them back to his boss. Seth Lewelling couldn’t believe the size and color of these Cherries. And when he took a bite, he couldn’t believe the sweet flavor. At that moment, Seth Lewelling knew that these Cherries were going to become the most popular sweet Cherry in the world. It certainly has. Seth Lewelling named the Cherry in honor of the worker who first found the Cherry, a Chinese worker…named Bing. This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE deals with Summer Nectarines: Why does a Peach have fuzz, and a Nectarine doesn’t? See next week’s Fresh Tips for the answer. |
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WATERMELON, ARTICHOKE (Monday, June 13): Happy
Birthday to President George H. Bush, our 41st president. He turned
81 yesterday. When my little girl, Claire, and I were in Texas a
couple of years ago, we visited the George
Bush Presidential Library & Museum at Texas
A & M University in College Station. When we arrived, we
ran into Barbara Bush and their dog. Claire loved the dog. Barbara
told us that “George is in the museum right now. Why don’t
you go on in and see him.” So we did. When we entered the
museum, there was President Bush with the one millionth visitor
to his museum. Secret Service had kept the small crowd back from
having access to the Bush family. I leaned over and whispered to
Claire, “They probably won’t mind if you go up and ask
President Bush what his favorite fruit and vegetable are.”
So off Claire went. She was indeed allowed through. “Let the
little girl through,” one Secret Service man said. As Claire
approached the President, the official photo of President and Mrs.
Bush with the one-millionth visitor was just about ready to be taken.
That’s when Pres. Bush felt a little tug at his jacket. It
was Claire. He was kind and bent over to talk with her. Mrs. Bush
said, “George, they’re ready to take the picture.”
But President Bush kept talking with Claire. “George,”
Mrs. Bush says, a little louder. “They need to take the picture.”
“George.” Finally, President Bush turned around for
the photo, but then turned back to Claire and chatted with her a
few more moments. In that time, Claire found out that President
Bush’s favorite fruit and vegetable were Watermelon and Artichoke.
We are quickly nearing the end of Artichoke season. From April through
May, about 70% of the year’s supply of Artichokes are harvested
from the tiny California coastal town of Castroville, the self-proclaimed
Artichoke Capital of the World. When we start out the season, the
pickers will pick the “crown” Artichoke, which is at
the very top of the plant. It is the largest of the chokes on the
plant. As the season goes on, the pickers go through the fields
again and again. Each time, as they pass through, they pick artichokes
that are lower on the plant, and smaller. The further down you go
on the plant, the smaller the chokes. Those tiny babies, which by
the way are fully-grown, are at the very bottom of the plant. That’s
why toward the end of the season, you start seeing smaller artichokes,
and what seem to be cheaper prices. In just a few weeks, artichoke
growers will be “mowing” the fields, prepping them for
the Fall season. By the summer, pickers will only be going through
the fields once a week. We are nearing peak of the Watermelon season,
during the dog days of Summer. By the way, the current President
George Bush also likes Watermelon as his favorite fruit. I have
noticed that the early harvested Watermelons, particularly from
the desert growing regions of Arizona and California, have been
particularly sweet, with a lot of flavor. In fact, these early Watermelons
have been some of the sweetest in recent memory. Last year, the
early Watermelons were juicy, but didn’t have a lot of flavor
or sugar content. Well, Mother Nature had a lot to do with both
years. You see, last year, the growing region was hit with record
high temperatures in March and April, pushing the early crop into
early maturity. It doesn’t give the plant or the melon time
to produce sugar. This year, however, March and April and even into
May, temperatures were much more moderate. When you add 10 –
14 days onto the growing cycle, the melons have time to mature and
gain far more sugar content. Micro-climates have a lot to do with
the sweetness as well. The Gila River in Arizona and the Colorado
River in California help bring cooler temperatures at night to the
growing region. Those cooler night temperatures trigger sugar production
in the melon. This is what makes the San Joaquin Valley an ideal
growing region. Very warm days, and mild nights, producing juicy…and
sweet Watermelons. You have to remember that Watermelons, like most
other melons, originated in the hot, dry conditions of the Middle
East. But the rivers Nile, Tigres and Euphrates also brought cooler
night temperatures to the region. So hot days, mild nights is what
a Watermelon likes to produce the most water and sugar content.
Nothing like an ice-cold melon on a hot summer day. Actually a Watermelon
tastes better when left out at room temperature. If you like it
ice-cold, simply put it into your walk-in for a few hours to chill
it. Between Texas and Florida, they grow about 75% of the nation’s
supply of watermelons. The rest come from Arizona and California.
Chefs around the country are coming up with some great recipes for
watermelons, even a Watermelon Salsa. Watermelon may actually be
the largest vitamin pill, loaded with vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
In fact, watermelons are loaded with lycopene, the anti-oxidant
that gives it the red color. Recent medial studies show that men
who have high levels of lycopene in their system, have a 45% less
chance of getting prostrate cancer. Gentlemen, eat your Watermelons.
Besides, the Watermelon is the perfect the “guy fruit.”
It’s the only fruit you can “eat, drink and wash your
face with all at the same time.” By the way, how did they
get a seedless Watermelon. OJ Eigsti was a geneticist in the Midwest
in the 1930s. He was first one to discover it. If you cross a diploid
with a tetraploid, you come up with a triploid. That’s genetics
talk. In simple terms, it’s like crossing a horse (that’s
your diploid) with a donkey (that’s your tetraploid), you
end up with mule (that’s your triploid). Mules have no seed.
They do not reproduce. We may notice more lopsided Watermelons in
the early part of the season. You see, Watermelons need bees in
order to be pollinated. The pollen is too thick to be moved simply
by wind. It needs bees. However, this Spring, we had a lot more
rain, and bees do not pollinate in the rain. That means the blossoms
were not properly pollinated, leading to part of the Watermelon
that is immature. That’s the lopsided part. That small end
will have less sugar and very little flavor. A sweet Watermelon
will be symmetrical in shape, even from side to side.
RED & WHITE POTATOES (Tuesday, June 14): Next
week is the official first day of summer and that means summer picnics
down by the summer swimmin’ hole. And of course, you’ve
got to have potato salad on that picnic, so dig out grandma’s
favorite recipe. Every potato salad recipe begins with the main
ingredient, potatoes. But which variety should you use? Is there
is a logical reason why we use red and white potatoes, and not russet?
Well, as a matter of fact, there is a scientific reason why new
potatoes are THE potato salad potato. It has to do with starch.
You see, the starch content of the regular russet potato is very
high. Starch, when it is heated, explodes and bursts. With all those
burst starch cells, the potato is just waiting for something to
fill the space, like butter and sour cream. That’s why the
russet potato is so “fluffy” when baked. If you used
the russet for a potato salad, it would simply soak up all of the
dressing and become an absolute soggy mess. New potatoes, like the
red and white, have a higher sugar content, less starch. The sugar
cells do not explode and burst, so when you heat the red and white
potatoes, the cell structure is much tighter. The dressing, therefore
“coats” the potato, not soak into the potato. The red
and white potato, the perfect potato for your perfect potato salad
this summer.
PLUMS (Wednesday, June 15): There are more plum varieties than any other stonefruit. That presents a problem for consumers. Most stores simply sell plums as “red” or “black.” However, within those two categories, during the course of the summer plum season, you will find about a dozen to two dozen varieties. Most of the time, you never knew when the variety changed. Except when you bite into it. Some varieties taste better than others. You may go into the store one week, buy a “black” plum and fall in love with it. The very next week, that variety is finished already, and you will find a different variety of “black” plum. You think it’ll be great. You buy a whole bunch, get them home only to discover it doesn’t have nearly the flavor. Then, most likely, you get discouraged and stop buying plums. That’s actually what has happened over the past decade or so. That’s why plum sales have dropped. One way you can learn the varieties…is to ask. Each time you buy plums, ask the produce manager to look on the box and see what the variety is. At home, make a note of that variety and the date. You see, each year, these varieties mature at around the same time of year, give or take a day or two. Second, ask the produce manager for a sample. They’d be happy to. If it’s the flavor you like, buy 10# and enjoy. Over the summer, with your kids or grandkids home, make this an adventure project. Buy a Notebook. Every time you go to the store, ask for plum variety name. The kids can log the date and variety name. Then have them write a description of the plum, both inside and out. They can also write the “eating characteristics” of the fruit. By the end of the summer, the kids will have learned a lot about plums. Then next summer, they can make some extra money by helping people at the store pick out good plums. Most people enjoy plums simply out of hand. However, the plum can be used in many mouth-watering summer plum recipes. Tarts are easy to make, and with a ripe plum, wow!
APRICOTS (Thursday, June 16): Apricots most likely originated in China, but today, California grows about 50% of the world’s supply of Apricots, about 90% of the Apricots grown in the United States. Washington grows the rest. Apricots originally hailed from China. Cuttings of this golden fruit made their way across the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean where they flourished. The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a member of the rose family, along with peaches, plums, cherries, and almonds. The word apricot comes from the Latin “praecocia” or “praecoquum” meaning "precocious" or "early ripening." It first appeared in English print in 1551. We also get the word “precious” from a derivative of this Latin word. And indeed, the Apricot is precious. Alexander the Great is said to have taken apricots from their native home in China to Greece in the fourth century B.C. The Arabs carried apricots to the Mediterranean, where the apricot became a main crop in Italy for centuries. Franciscan friars took the apricot to America in the late 1800s, where they thrived and found a home in the Golden State. I call the Apricot one of the “Mission Fruits” because it came through the Spanish missionaries like Father Sera. These Spanish explorers and missionaries do get credit for introducing the apricot to the New World, and specifically to California, where they were planted in the gardens of Spanish missions. In 1792, in an area south of San Francisco near San Jose, the first major production of apricots was recorded. Today, there are around 21,000 acres of Apricots being grown in California. There are about 24 varieties that are commercially grown in California. The United States produces 90% of the world's apricot crop, with 90% of the U.S. crop grown in the state of California. The rest is grown in Washington. Growers and scientists are working hard at coming up with new varieties that are larger in size, stay firmer longer while ripe. There was a time when the only way to eat a ripe Apricot was right from the tree. If it wasn’t tree-ripened, it wasn’t worth eating. These newer varieties are a great improvement. Look for plump apricots with as much golden orange color as possible. Stay clear of fruit that is pale yellow, greenish-yellow, very firm, shriveled, or bruised. Apricots that are soft-ripe have the best flavor, but they must be eaten immediately. Apricots, like other stone fruit, will ripen after harvest. Use the brown paper bag, but you’ve got to be careful with Apricots. They will go from unripe to overripe very quickly. Keep a close eye on them and you will receive your reward. They are a perfect fast food anytime. To cut fruit, slice around its seam, twist it in half, and lift out the pit. Get out the vanilla ice cream. Anyone up for an Apricot Crisp? Fresh ripe apricots are a boon when found, since they do not travel well. The majority of ripe apricot crops are dried, with often less than one-fourth of the harvest coming to the market fresh. Harvest season for apricots in the United States is from June to mid-August depending on variety and location, but dried apricots are available year-round. Most fresh apricots sold to market are picked when not quite mature and still firm to reduce shipping damage. While they will ripen in color, texture and juiciness after being picked, the flavor and sweetness will remain at the same level as when they were picked and will not improve. Apricots range in color from yellow to deep orange, often with red or rosy touches. When selecting fresh apricots, look for fruits with no touch of green whatsoever. The fruits vary in size from about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches in diameter. The flesh should yield to gentle pressure when held in the palm of your hand, and the fruit should have a bright, ripe aroma. Avoid those that are bruised, soft, or mushy. If you are not blessed with an apricot tree and vine-ripened fruit, apricots will continue to ripen if left at room temperature in a paper bag, away from sunlight. Check the ripening progress often as they will quickly deteriorate. They will never achieve the same full sweet flavor as tree-ripened, but will be better than off the shelf. Once ripened, store for no more than a few days in the refrigerator. To freeze, slice apricots in half and remove the pit, which will impart a bitter flavor. Dip in an ascorbic acid solution to discourage discoloration. Place in airtight baggies in the freezer up to three months. With some varieties, the skin will become tough if frozen without blanching first. Simply blanch in boiling water for one minute, plunge into cold water, drain and freeze. Apricots can also be packed in sugar or syrup for freezing and frozen up to one year. If you are planning to dry or can your apricots, be sure you have chosen a freestone variety. With freestone varieties, the flesh will easily separate from the pit. Most apricots in the market are freestone varieties. Sun-dried apricots will be a bit tougher than dehydrated. Dried apricots should be stored in the refrigerator. If stored at temperatures above 75 F., the fruit becomes hard, dark in color, and will lose nutrient value. Sealed bags can be stored no more than one month at room temperature, but up to six months in the refrigerator. If your dried apricots become too brittle, they can be softened by soaking in liquid or by steaming.
Surprisingly, commercial canned apricots often have a much fuller flavor than fresh apricots from the market. This is because the apricots are left on the tree longer to ripen and naturally develop more flavor. The loss of nutrients during the canning process is negligible. Here are some other great ways of using Apricots in your diet: • Slice them up for fruit salads. There is a lot of work being done to improve Apricots. The sweet, delicate flavor and enticing aroma of freshly picked apricots make this fruit a spring and early summer favorite. The impressive array of delicious apricots in your supermarket results in part from ongoing research by ARS scientists at two California laboratories. Geneticist Craig A. Ledbetter breeds tasty new apricots. He's based in central California at Parlier—near Fresno. Charles J. Simon, geneticist and research leader, curates the nation's official collection of apricot trees from around the world. He's stationed in northern California at Davis, just outside Sacramento. Ledbetter and colleague Louis Vuittonet recently developed a juicy new apricot they've named "Apache." Its freestone fruit—about average in size—has an attractive pinkish-orange skin. Inside, the orange flesh is smooth and finely textured. Apache ripens earlier than any other ARS-developed apricot. Ready to harvest in the first week of May, luscious Apache apricots are bound to be a hit, "especially with people who've waited all winter for the taste of a tree-ripened apricot," Ledbetter notes. To form fruit, Apache needs pollen from other kinds of apricot trees. But that isn't a problem for growers. Popular apricot varieties like Katy and Castlebrite are excellent sources of pollen for bees to carry to Apache flowers. The researchers are now determining precisely how many of these pollinator trees are needed and how close to Apache they must be planted. Apache ships and stores well and is likely suitable for growing in any state where commercial apricot orchards are already established. It was Ledbetter who crossed, or hybridized, two parent apricots, yielding the first Apache tree. That eventually led to more than a decade of research. During that time, Ledbetter and Vuittonet evaluated hundreds of experimental Apache trees in commercial and research orchards in central California. They scrutinized thousands of individual Apache fruits from those trees. The team made budwood—for grafting—available to breeders and nurseries for the first time last year. Today, budwood is still available seasonally from Ledbetter and also from geneticist Simon at the Davis genebank. Formally known as the National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Fruit and Nut Crops, the genebank is a living collection of plants. It is one of a nationwide network of ARS-managed genebanks that safeguard cultivated plants and their wild relatives for the future. (See related germplasm article on page 20.) These might otherwise be lost when orchards or fields are paved over or when new varieties replace older ones. Treasures at the Davis genebank include apricots from Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, and about a dozen other countries. Some of these specimens have names as exotic as their origins, like Janjir, Khubani, Chaksa, Min-Dze-Sin, and Luizet. About 150 different kinds of apricot trees are growing in the genebank's orchard. It's located in Winters—a short distance from curator Simon's offices and labs. These trees range in age from only a year to 20 or older. Though the trees could grow to 30 feet, genebank staffers keep them pruned to a more manageable 20 to 25 feet. Most are varieties of Prunus armeniaca, the species most widely planted in the United States. "About five other species of Prunus are thought to be apricots," explains Simon. "Of these, probably the most interesting is the Japanese apricot, P. mume. If you look it up in a gardening book, you'll see it described as 'a flowering ornamental.' Fresh mume fruit are sour, but in Japan they're pickled to eat as a snack." The genebank also includes a backup collection of apricot trees growing in 5-gallon pots inside a fully screened enclosure. "Prunus species tend to be a little bit more delicate," comments Simon, "so they need the protection of our screenhouse." Growers—and breeders such as Ledbetter—use the collection. Along with hobbyist fruit growers and others, they donate new specimens. The genebank is the largest publicly available assemblage of apricots in the United States. Among the genebank's most prized specimens are apricots collected by renowned plant explorer Maxine M. Thompson on her 1988 expedition to Pakistan. Grown from the soft seed that's hidden inside an apricot's tough pit, or stone, the Pakistani fruit is "incredibly sweet," reports Simon. "This helps compensate for the fact that some of the trees have 4-inch thorns that make them a bear to work with." Geneticist Ledbetter, who obtained some of these apricots from the genebank, has found that the Pakistani trees don't thrive in central California's climate. To overcome that problem, he's bred them with hardy California apricots. His work has yielded a new generation of vigorous trees. Their fruit is even sweeter than Apache. Ledbetter expects to have at least one of these super-sweet apricots ready for growers and nurseries within a few years. California growers produce nearly all of this country's apricots. Most are sold as soft, chewy, dried fruit. Others are targeted for fresh-market sale or are canned, frozen, or pureed. Fresh apricots are low in calories and sodium. They provide several essential nutrients, including vitamins A and C. Whether fresh or dried, apricots lend flavor and texture to traditional fare such as jams, coffee cakes, pies, and glazes for grilled or roasted meats. They also add zest to newer cuisine such as apricot-blueberry muffins, southwestern apricot salsa, or warm apricot-onion vinaigrette on chilled chicken salad.
PLUOTS (Friday, June 17): The last two days, we
talked about Plums and Apricots. What if you crossed those two fruits?
What do you get? Have a Pluot. Why not? If you are in pursuit of
the perfect Plum, turn to the Pluot. No, the Pluot is not a new
line of imported cars. Sold commercially for the first time in 1989,
the Pluot (75% plum, 25% apricot) was developed by Professor Pluot,
better known to his family as Floyd Zaiger, a California fruit breeder
determined to improve upon the plumcot, a 50-50 mix developed a
century ago by Luther Burbank. The Pluot is an “interspecific,”
a complex hybrid that Zaiger developed over several generations
of trees, sweeter than the average plum. Certainly something about
the word “pluot” evokes images of laboratories and gene
splicing rather than fruit trees and farmers. These have not been
genetically modified. Remember, the first plum/apricot cross happened
over a century ago in Santa Rosa, California by Luther Burbank,
who also happened to hybred the Burbank Russet Potato. What Zaiger
did was take the 50/50 Plumcot from Burbank and cross it one more
time with another Plum, making the Pluot 75% Plum and 25% Apricot.
In the early days of Zaiger’s work, almost all of the original
plum-apricot crosses were sterile, but a few bore fruit, and Zaiger
started saving the seedlings of the most flavorful ones for further
crossings. Even today, Zaiger’s hybridization is painstaking,
involving elaborate climate control and transferring pollen with
an eyebrow brush. Now that’s an Extreme makeover. Still to
come from the Zaiger Nursery, slated for 2010: white apricots, nectaplums,
peacotums and…well, he’ll tell us later. By the way,
Zaiger continues a long heritage of great fruit breeders. One of
the greatest in our time was, of course, Luther Burbank. One of
Burbank’s students was Fred Anderson, who happened to come
up with the very first yellow-fleshed Nectarine in the 1940s. It
revolutionized the Nectarine industry. One of Anderson’s students
was…you guessed it, Floyd Zaiger.
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