MR. GREENS "FRESH TIPS"
November 3, 2000
Our last MR. GREEN'S PUZZZZLE dealt with Citrus: Where can you find one of the original Navel Orange trees grown in the United States? Cabulla is a tiny village in the interior of Brazil, but it played a big role in the Navel Orange industry. In the 1860s, a Presbyterian missionary by the name of Rev. Schneider, was based in Bahai, Brazil. In his travels around the countryside, he noticed a particularly good orange being grown in Cabulla, so he shipped four budded trees to the USDA research facility in Washington D.C. Those four trees were split, two going to Florida and two shipped to Mrs. Luther Tibbetts in Riverside, CA, a tiny town of white stucco houses and red tile roofs. The two trees in Florida died. The two trees sent to Mrs. Tibbetts flourished in the warm, dry days and cool nights of Riverside. Virtually every Navel Orange tree grown in California was grafted from bud wood from on of those two original trees from Mrs. Tibbetts back yard. Today, one of those trees still stands, in a protective fenced area of Arlington, a suburb of Riverside. This week's PUZZZZLE still deals with the most popular eating orange in the world, the Navel: How many sections are in a Navel Orange? See the answer in next week's "Fresh Tips."
CRANBERRY: Across the nation's bogs, from Boston to Washington State, America's most beloved holiday berry is being harvested. Officials at Oceanspray, the world's largest supplier of fresh Cranberries, say that this year's crop could be a record crop. Weather during the blossom and growing periods was excellent this year. There will be plenty of fresh Cranberries throughout the holiday seasons. Cranberries help create some of the most colorful recipes you'll see during the holidays. Try a Cranberry Biscotti, or a Cranberry Bread Pudding. How about an Apple Pie with a zing? Just add fresh Cranberries. Or the favorite Cranberry Apple Crisp. When you buy your Cranberries, buy an extra package. Simply throw it in the freezer for Christmas and New Year's holiday meals.
LETTUCE: Most iceberg supplies have now shifted to the Huron growing region, just south of Bakersfield, CA. There are only a few growers remaining in production in Salinas. Quality from Huron has been pretty typical: a wide range of quality. From Huron, it is true that you get what you pay for. You can judge your store by the quality of lettuce they buy this time of year. There is premium lettuce available, but the price is also premium. Cheaper quality lettuce will not be a value. YouÕll have too much waste. Young lettuce fields in the Yuma, Arizona received nearly two inches of rain. Some growers there had to replant because those rains washed out seeds or very young plants. This disruption in the planting schedule could mean disruption in the harvest schedules, and that could mean some supply gaps of iceberg lettuce in February.
SPRING MIX SALAD: This time of year is very critical to Spring Mix salad suppliers. The tiny lettuces and other greens used in Spring Mix, because of their size, are very susceptible to adverse weather. These lettuces and greens are so low to the ground, that any amount of rain or wind can easily damage the delicate leaves. Also, cold temperatures can weaken the cell structure of the leaves. The finished Spring Mix Salad is only as good as the raw product going into that salad. If the raw product is weak, then the finished product will also be weak. Growers are sorting more, and being much more careful with the quality of product going into the mix. Shelf life could be shorter as well, so it would be wise to handle product very gently, store it properly, and use it quickly.
FRESH-CUT PRODUCE: Very much like Spring Mix Salads, fresh-cut fruits and vegetables this time of year need to be dealt with differently. If you have just run a marathon, you would be pretty tired. Well, most raw product for fresh-cut produce, is tired. The fields are older, putting out weaker product. The adverse weather combines to add more stress to the plants, which magnifies the weakness of the product. The product is more susceptible to bruising and damage. Fresh-cut processors are sorting through more raw product just to get enough quality product for processing. When you buy fresh-cut salads, fruits or vegetables, be sure to refrigerate it immediately. And handle it like fine china. Don't bang it around. Set it down gently. It'll last longer that way.
STRAWBERRIES: Options are getting few and far between. It looks like November will be one of the highest strawberry priced months. A few very hot stretches of weather in the summer stressed out strawberry plants in Watsonville. Those "stressed-out" plants are not handling recent rains very well, which means the plants are putting out less fruit, smaller fruit, weaker fruit. Most growers in Watsonville are basically finished for the season. They usually stay in production into late November. Florida growers won't be into production until late November, mostly early December. New-crop California fields won't start up until December, mostly early January. There are a few fields still in harvest in Oxnard, but not nearly enough to meet demand. Imports from New Zealand has already begun, but prices are very high and the packages are smaller. Buy with caution and use quickly.
CLICK HERE Mr. Green's CRANBERRY-APPLE TART by Carvers Restaurant