 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Check Out This Weeks Recipe from Your Produce Man. Click Here.
|
Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE dealt with Summer Nectarines: Why does a Peach have fuzz, and a Nectarine doesn’t? It’s quite simple. Fuzz is a dominant gene. Peaches have it. Nectarines don’t. Fuzz protects the Peach from some rain damage. So, what protects the Nectarine? LeRoy Giannini was one of California’s best Nectarine growers. “The delicate Nectarine is protected by a farmer’s loving care.” This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE deals with Summer Stonefruit: What day of the year is more stonefruit packed than any other day? See next week’s Fresh Tips for the answer. |
|||||||||
BANANA (Monday, June 20): They are one of the
most handled fruit on the face of the planet, and they are one of
the most misunderstood. From time of harvest to the time you use
them, they can be handled as many as 10 times. Palletizing at the
plantation and shipping in refrigerated containers have helped reduce
the amount of handling. Bananas are one of the few fruits that cannot
be picked ripe off the plant. You will never find a "tree-ripened"
banana. They must be picked when fully green and then ripened. The
process to ripen bananas requires the introduction of ethylene gas
into vacuum-controlled ripening rooms. Ethylene gas is a very natural
gas put off by all fruits that ripen. From an apple to avocados,
from a banana to a tomato, all fruits that ripen, discharge this
ripening gas. So in order to induce these fruits into ripening,
you introduce a little heat and a little ethylene. This triggers
the ripening process. Now, the fruit can ripen on its own. As a
banana ripens, it changes color, from full green to full yellow.
As the color changes and the fruit ripens, the banana also gets
softer. The riper the fruit, the softer the fruit. And the more
susceptible to bruising. Fruit that is at a "4 color"
stage or more can easily be bruised, even if it is handled gently.
You need to handle bananas like fine china, treating each hand as
if it was fine china passed down from your great great grandmother.
When you slice your banana, there is a way that is much more foodsafe.
Watch a chef slice a banana. He peels the banana, leaving the section
the peel, on the humped back side of the banana. Holding the banana
in one hand, with the peel against your hand, the chef can easily
slice into the banana. The knife blade is stopped by the banana
peel, not your hand. Aside from not cutting your hand with your
knife, why is this more foodsafe? Because if the knife blade cut
through the banana and stopped at your hand, if your hands are not
totally clean of bacteria, you will be picking up that bacteria
on the knife blade and then spread it to the rest of the banana
as you slice it.
LYCHEE (Tuesday, June 21): Welcome to the first official day of summer. So today, we’ll talk about a fruit that really is not associated with summer. The Lychee. The what? You can thank the Emperor of China in 1615. He was the first to make Lychee available to the public. Up until then, the Lychee was a closely guarded treasure of the Emperors of China. Until recently, the Lychee was primarily available only in specialty stores or Asian markets. In regular super markets, about the only way you could get Lychee was in a can. Today, with several major growing regions around the world, you can find the Lychee in many specialty department in the produce isle. The Lychee is part of the “soapberry” family. Once you peel the Lychee, you’ll know why it’s called the “soapberry” family. The flesh has the feel of slippery wet soap. Israel and Mexico are the major exporters of Lychee to the United States, however some are commercially grown in Florida and Hawaii. There are many Lychee varieties, but the main one sold in the United States has a reddish, bumpy peel. The fruit inside is pearly white, very floral in its sweetness. There is a black pit inside, so be sure to cut it out. You can eat Lychee just like any other piece of fruit, add it to fruit salads. They compliment chicken recipes very nicely as well.
VARIETY MELONS (Wednesday, June 22): "O fleur de tous les fruits. O ravissant melon!" a 16th Century French monk waxes rhapsodic about the Charantais melon. The translation: Oh, flower of all the fruits. Oh, ravishing melon! Five centuries later, there still is nothing quite as sensuous as taking in the sweet, voluptuous scent of ripe melons wafting on the breeze on a summer’s day. Humankind has been enjoying melons for more than 4,000 years. Surprisingly, melons have never been found growing in the wild, other than escapees from someone's garden. Melons are believed to have originated in the hot valleys of southwest Asia, specifically Iran (Persia) and India. Early American settlers grew cultivars of honeydew and casaba melons back in the 1600s. Yet, only in recent times, many more varieties are available, often out of season in grocery stores. Of course, growing melons from seed gives you the best choice of types and cultivated varieties. The first documented use of the word "melon" was about 1395. John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins suggests that the word is derived from Melos (the Greek Cyclades Islands, best known for the Venus de Milo). Melons wend their way into literature. In their text, the Mahometans (very early name for the followers of Mohammed) wrote that “eating a melon produces a thousand good works.” There is more to the world of summer melons than just watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, although they do account for about 90 - 95% of the melon production in the United States each year. Summertime is the main time for melons. That’s because most melons originated in the hot, dry deserts of the Middle East, most in old Persia, today’s Iran. They love the heat. That’s what helps the melon gain juice content. “Heh, it’s hot and dry,” the melon plant says to itself. You didn’t know melon plants could talk, huh? Only to themselves. “We need to protect our future,” they conclude. So the plants and their roots draw as much moisture as it can from the soil and sends it immediately to the fruit. The more juice, the more protection for the seeds (which is the future of generation of the melon plant). In the United States, during the summer months, most states grow melons, but only one area resembles the Middle East. That’s the San Joaquin Valley in California. During the summer months, it’s hot. The San Joaquin Valley will easily have 20 or more days with 100+ degree days. And the San Joaquin Valley is dry. During the summer months, the Valley gets no rain. This is the perfect combination for growing the perfect summer melon. Let’s have a little science lesson. The “Reticulatus” group of melons – the most commonly grown – is easily identified by its netted skin and is called netted or summer melon. This group includes Galia and Charentais melons as well as what we call cantaloupe. In America, the terms "muskmelon" and "cantaloupe" are used interchangeably, yet "cantaloupe" is more common. When ripe, these melons are aromatic and the vine "slips" off from the fruit. The melons of the “Inodorous” group, known as smooth or winter melons, distinguish themselves with their smooth skin (rind). In maturity, they lack an aromatic or musky odor and do not slip from the vine. Members of this group include the Casaba, Crenshaw, Santa Clause, Canary, and Honeydew melons. In common language, there are two main types of melons, netted and non-netted. Let’s start first with the netted melons, the family of the muskmelon. These melons are simple to find. They have a net wrapped around them. The most common is the Cantaloupe. Newer Cantaloupes have a solid netting, but older varieties have sutures on the netting. Many of these older varieties are very popular throughout the Midwest. Some of these sutured varieties include the Athena, Ambrosia or the Bella Heart. Other netted muskmelons include the Persian or Sharlyn. In picking out the best muskmelon, just look at the name. What does “musk” mean? That’s right. Strong aroma. If the muskmelon does not have a strong aroma, a musky aroma, then it won’t have a strong flavor. Pretty simple, huh?
VARIETY MELONS (Thursday, June 23): The second main type of melons are the “non-netted” melons. These are your Honeydew, Crenshaw, Casaba, Santa Clause, Camouflage, and others. There are a couple rules of thumb when picking out the best melons. First is color. The darker and brighter the color, generally the better the melon. If the color is dull and light, then that melon may have been picked too early, which will mean less juice, sugar and flavor. The second is weight. When you find a bright, darker colored melon, lift it up. Does it feel real heavy for it’s size? Melons in the middle of summer should feel like a lead weight. Make sure there are no soft spots on the melon. Melons do not gain sugar content once picked. However, their flavor can be enhanced by leaving the melons on the counter a few days before you use them. Cover the melon with a towel or a newspaper to help minimize dehydration. Left on the counter at room temperature, all the volatile compounds in the fruit that make up the flavor, have a chance to mix. You end up with a melon that will have a richer flavor. Final thought. Wash your melons before you cut them. Here comes a shocker. Melons grow in dirt. Bacteria is in dirt. If you don’t wash the melon, and there is bacteria on the surface, when you cut the melon, you simply spread the bacteria from the rind to the flesh. VARIETY MELONS (Friday, June 24): When you walk
through the produce department, you’ll notice that the melon
section has grown. There’s more than just Cantaloupe, Honeydew
and Watermelon. You’ll find all kinds of fun, colorful melons,
like the football shaped Juan Canary. It’s full yellow, which
is why it’s called “Canary.” There’s also
the football shaped Santa Clause melon. No, Santa Clause didn’t
invent this melon, but years ago, this used to be the only melon
still available around Christmas time. Hence, the name of Santa
Clause. There is also the unashamed “king” of melons,
the Crenshaw. Now, that’s a melon. It was also my Mom’s
favorite melon, may she rest in peace. The Crenshaw is one of the
larger of the summer melons. It can easily weigh in at 8 –
10 pounds. With its size, the Crenshaw is indeed the king of the
melon patch. Then you can find a really wrinkled one called a Casaba,
one of my favorite melons. When the outside color looks like the
dark yellow line down the center of the highway, that’s a
good Casaba. The Casaba, because of its thick rind, is usually with
us right into the Fall time. There is also a Persian melon, one
of the netted melons. It looks like an overgrown Cantaloupe. Then
comes the Sharlyn. What a melon she is. One of the sweetest melons
on earth. Tastes like cotton candy. It melts in your mouth. The
Sharlyn was actually discovered in France by a famous actress (the
farmer made me promise I wouldn’t tell you who the famous
actress was). She was in France in the early 1980s filming a new
movie. Every morning for breakfast, she had this melon…and
fell in love with it. She scooped out some of the seeds and put
them into a small pouch to bring them back to the United States.
Now, I do not advise anyone to do this. The USDA frowns on people
bringing fruits and vegetables and seeds form other countries into
the United States. Not a good idea. Well, this actress took them
to a farmer friend of her’s in Florida who started growing
the melon. The next summer, with his first crop, he asked the actress
what the name of the melon was. She had written it down in France.
It was a long Persian name, which they couldn’t pronounce.
So, the farmer decided to name the melon after…no, not the
actress. You’re getting ahead of me. He decided to name the
melon after his two daughters. One was named Sharon and one was
named Lynn. It became the “Sharlyn” melon. This farmer
not only learned out sweet the melon is, but also how very difficult
it is to grow. This melon is so full of sugar and juice, that it
is very heavy for its size, and it has a very thin rind. If the
melon was allowed to rest on the ground during the maturing process,
the bottom side would become very soft. Too soft to sell. So the
farmer has to send the workers into the Sharlyn melon fields every
day to rotate the melon one-quarter turn, to keep the melon from
resting on one side for too long. The workers will also pull the
plant leaves over the melon to keep it from getting sunburned. It
may be difficult to grow, and it may be expensive, but this is a
melon worth every penny you pay for it. With so many summer melons
in the melon patch, may I suggest you try a new one each week. By
the end of summer, you would have tried all the different melons.
This is a good way to get your kids our your grandkids to eat more
fruits and vegetables. Have the kids choose the “Melon of
the Week” for your family. By the end of summer, your kids
would have tried many new melons, and would have probably fallen
in love with a few of them.
|
|||||||||
