Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE still dealt with Spring fruits and vegetables: What vegetable looks like a wild and crazy Celery, but is actually related to the Artichoke? Looks like this “celery” got into baseball and steroids. Most people think it’s related to Celery, but it’s not. It is, in fact related to the official vegetable of Monterey County, the Artichoke. Go figure. It doesn’t look anything like an Artichoke. It’s the Cordoon. This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE deals with Spring fruits and vegetables: What popular melon was first grown for the Pope? See next week's "Fresh Tips" for the answer.

ROMA TOMATO (Monday, May 9): Last week, we had so much fun with BJ’s Brewhouse Restaurant Executive Chef Ray Martin, that we decided to bring him back for just one more show. Today, he is showing off the classic Italian favorite appetizer, the Bruschetta. At BJ’s, it’s served with a medley of fresh Roma Tomatoes, fresh Basil, Garlic, Onions, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegarette and of course, Parmesan Cheese, served with seasoned toasted bread. Roma Tomatoes are the best choice for this appetizer because it’s a very meaty tomato, with very little juice. Cherry Tomatoes, Grape Tomatoes, and even regular slicing tomatoes have too much gel inside, which would make the Bruschetta too watery and runny. The meaty Roma is perfect. Watch how Chef Ray assembles this classic appetizer.

This time of year, your Navel Orange can get dry cell.

Citrus is made up of hundreds of tiny water balloons.

NAVEL ORANGES (Tuesday, May 10): This time of year, you can find some pretty dry Navel Oranges. In the produce industry, we call it “dry cell.” You see, citrus is made up of hundreds of tiny water balloons. As the citrus stays on the tree throughout the season, more juice is going into the citrus. Well, what if the balloons are full? Adding more juice simply causes those “water balloons” to burst. When you get enough of them bursting, you end up with dry cell. As soon as you cut the Orange in half, you can see the dry cell. It looks like the inside is very pithy. To avoid Navel Oranges with dry cell, feel the orange in your hand. If it feels heavy for its size, that means there is a lot of juice inside. But if the orange feels very light for its size, then there is less juice, and most likely dry cell. You can’t tell by just looking at the orange. You’ve got to feel the orange. Some years, we can find dry cell not only at the end of the season, but around December or January. That’s when the San Joaquin Valley in California can get freezing temperatures. When water freezes, it expands. So, those little water balloons can burst, once again causing dry cell.

Get out the Vanilla Ice Cream. It’s time to enjoy Cantaloupes again.

Use a brush to scrub and wash your Cantaloupe…before you cut into it.

CANTALOUPE (Wednesday, May 11): Finally, we’re getting some better quality melons, and prices are starting to get back to more normal levels for this time of year. For most of the winter, prices have been very high, and quality was aweful. In fact, many retail stores around the country just stopped carrying Cantaloupe. That’s how bad it got. Well, we are finally coming into new crop acreage in northern Mexico, in the state of Sonora, around the town of Hermosillo. Up until now, most of our melons have been coming from “off-shore” growing regions of Central and South America and the Caribbean, mostly Costa Rica and Guatemala. Cantaloupes, like most other melons, originated in the Middle East. They love the hot, dry conditions. So if they don’t get hot, dry growing conditions, the yields and quality are way off. Cooler weather and rains throughout the growing regions not only slowed growth, cut yields, but also spread viruses and plant diseases throughout the region. In northern Mexico, near the town of Hermosillo, most of the nation’s spring cantaloupe crop is just about ready for peak harvest. This region of Mexico used to be a vast desert, until farmers drilled deep water wells, tapping into vast underground rivers flowing with crystal clean water which had filtered through the Sierra Madre mountain range. Farmers put in drip irrigation and turned this desert into a sprawling melon oasis. We are finally starting to see better quality, with better sugar, better color, flavor, and a thinner rind. Within a month, Texas, Arizona and California fields should also start their spring harvest, which will certainly increase quality, but also bring better prices. Cantaloupes do not gain any more sugar content once they have been picked. But, you can increase the flavor and even make it “taste” sweeter. If you leave your unripe Cantaloupe out at room temperature, you will cause some of the acids in the fruit to dissipate, and the other volatile compounds in the fruit will mix, causing the flavor to improve, and because some of the acids have dissipated, it gives the impression that it is sweeter. There are fewer acids to counter the sugar content in the melon. Remember to always scrub the outside of your Cantaloupe with a brush. All of those nooks and crannies in the rind is a perfect hiding place for bad bacteria. Get out the Vanilla Ice Cream! It’s time to once again enjoy sweet Cantaloupe.

Turn your produce purchasing into an adventure as we celebrate the anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

The path of Lewis & Clark took them to some pretty foreign land. Your produce adventure could help you explore new culinary lands.

PRODUCE ADVENTURE (Thursday, May 12): This weekend marks the anniversary when Lewis and Clark set out on their expedition, leaving St. Louis in 1804. On February 28, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson won approval from Congress for a visionary project, an endeavor that would become one of America’s greatest stories of adventure. Twenty-five hundred dollars were appropriated to fund a small expeditionary group, whose mission was to explore the uncharted West. Jefferson called the group the Corps of Discovery. It would be led by Jefferson’s secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Lewis’ friend, William Clark. Over the next four years, the Corps of Discovery would travel thousands of miles, experiencing lands, rivers and peoples that no Americans ever had before. It was the adventure of a lifetime. Today is the perfect day to dedicate yourself to an adventure, a produce adventure. There are over 350 items in the normal produce department these days. I remember when I first started working in a grocery store, we sold about 150 items. Today, you can find 10 different varieties of potatoes, 10 types of tomatoes, 15 different kinds of apples. There is a lot more in the pepper section, too, a lot more than just Green Bells. And mushrooms. When I started, we had the white mushrooms. Now, you can usually find 5 different varieties of mushrooms from the cute Enoki to the huge Portabellas. Look at all the pears, squash, melons, and berries. Treat the produce department like a Lewis
and Clark adventure. Don’t be afraid to try new items. And help teach your kids and grandkids to go on a fruit and vegetable adventure. Have the kids pick out the variety of apple of the week, then, like Lewis & Clark, have your child draw the apple and write about it, describing it’s appearance and flavor. Have your kids pick out new produce items that you’ve never tried before. If you get your kids excited about fruits and vegetables, they will grow up healthy enough to have their own adventures in life. Remember that we should eat 5 –9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and be sure to choose produce from the different colors, like red, blue, yellow, brown, white and don’t forget the greens. Give your kids a special “Lewis & Clark Adventure Award” for trying new items. Maybe take them miniature golfing or roller skating. Try to tie in their produce adventure with exercise. Maybe even have a grand prize for your child. If they try 10 new items, and actually begin eating their fruits and vegetables, then reward them with a new bike or a new pair of skates, or maybe a camping or fishing trip. Make it fun. Make it an adventure.

The Mother of All Onions: The Texas 1015Y.

The Father of the Mother of all Onions, Dr. Leonard Pike.

SPRING SWEET ONIONS (Friday, May 13): The United States defense department has in their arsenal the MOAB bomb, the Mother Of All Bombs. Well, Dr. Leonard Pike of Texas A&M’s Vegetable Improvement Center, has created the MOAO, the Mother Of All Onions. This onion is not explosive with strong flavor, but is the sweetest of all onions. With very high onion prices right now, the new crop of onions from Mexico and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas is a very welcome sight. Especially the harvest of the Texas 1015Y, the onion that put Texas back in the onion saddle again. Remember that Spring Sweet Onions are built differently than winter storage onions. Storage onions have a very dense cell structure, which is why they store so well. Spring sweet onions, however, have a very large cell structure, and filled with more water. This makes the sweet onion sweet and mild, but also makes the sweet onion more susceptible to damage. Please, don’t throw your 1015Y around. Treat them like fine china, gentle and easy. Dr. Leonard Pike of Texas A&M developed the Texas 1015Y onion. When Your Produce Man asked him why he developed such a sweet onion, one with thick rings, onions with a “single center.” Dr. Pike quickly answered, “Because I love onion rings, and this onion makes the best onion rings found anywhere.” When you peel your onions, make sure your knife does not score completely through the outer rings. Also, make sure when you slice your onion, you slice them thick, about ½” thick, or more if you like. My Ultimate Onion Ring recipe is a must. Onions are one of the oldest known cultivated vegetables known to man, and is one of the most widely grown vegetables around the world and domestically. Julia Childs says that she doesn't know how any civilization could survive without onions. In fact, she often says, "There are two things you must always have in your kitchen. Celery and Onions." Julia's not alone. In Onion history and trivia, even General Ulysses S. Grant refused to move the Union army during the Civil War, unless they had some onions. The next day, three trainloads of onions were sent to the Union front line. Onions are one of the most versatile vegetables, used in recipes for appetizers to main dishes to desserts. There are two main crops for onions, storage onions and sweet onions, or Spring Sweet Onions. The main sweet onion crops include the Vidalia, the Texas 1015Y, the Maui, the Imperial Sweet, Walla Walla, and the Oso Sweet from Chile.

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