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Autumn Artichokes tend to
have
sharper thorns
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ARTICHOKES (Monday, Oct. 6): There are two seasons to Artichokes.
The major season, where we get about 75% of our year’s supply
of Artichokes, is the Spring, from late March through May. The
minor season…is the Fall. Right now as a matter of fact.
There is a major difference between the Spring and Fall crops of
Artichokes. You see, during the summer, the temperatures are hotter.
Remember that the Artichoke is just a flower, the flowering bud
of the Mediterranean Thistle plant. Warm temperatures cause flowers
to open up. You will tend to find the Fall Artichokes more open.
Also, the warmer temperatures cause longer thorns on the leaves.
You need to be very careful when choosing the Fall Artichoke. Handle
them with great care. They can be a painful experience.
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If the leaf jacket
can’t
protect the head, then you could see discoloration.
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CAULIFLOWER (Tuesday, Oct. 7): This time of year, you can tend
to have more discoloration or brown spotting on the head. This
year, we may be seeing more than normal. Water allocation has been
very important in Salinas this year because of the unusually warm
weather. Farmers have had to ration irrigation to the Cauliflower
fields, sacrificing one or two irrigation cycles in order to protect
lettuce and broccoli fields. This can lead to dehydration of the
curd, causing some brown spotting. Also, growers have noticed smaller
jackets, or leaves, on the plant. These jackets are used to protect
the Cauliflower head from exposed sunlight. If the jackets are
smaller, the head may have more exposure to the weather, causing
some discoloration. Also, brown spotting can simply be age spots.
This time of year, as national demand really slows, growers may
be left with too much product in storage. Instead of rotating new
product every day, product may be left over or another day or two.
That extra age can certainly lead to brown spotting as well. I
expect this to clear up shortly.
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The Fall Glo Tangerine rings
the bell to the start of the winter citrus season.
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FALL GLO TANGERINES (Wednesday,
Oct. 8): This "newcomer" to
the tangerine family was born in 1962. It is cross, bred with the
temple orange and tangelo, producing a highly flavored fruit that
tastes great. It's the best of both worlds! The peel is an outstanding
red color with excellent internal juice. It’s only available
October and November. Every year, the Fall Glo brings about the
start of the winter citrus season. These early Fall Glos will have
a pretty pale outside color. In fact, growers will treat the Tangerine
with ethylene gas to help bring out the orange color. Ethylene
is a very nature fruit hormone that causes fruit to ripen. All
fruit that ripen, put off ethylene gas. Citrus growers learned
long ago that ethylene also destroys the chlorophyll cells. That’s
why the very early season citrus will be treated with ethylene.
The fruit is mature, but will have some green color to it. The
ethylene treatment destroys the chlorophyll, leaving the pale
orange color. As each week passes, the outside color will naturally
improve.
Juice content is excellent and sugar content is improving every
single day.
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The Valley of Ica is south
of Lima.
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The Andes Mountains tower
over
the Valley of Ica in Peru.
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ASPARAGUS (Thursday,
Oct. 9): In the Valley of Ica, one of the world’s most delicate
vegetables is now being grown. The Valley of Ica is about 4 hours
south of the capital of Peru, Lima.
This valley has a rich history of Inca Indians. In fact, when
the valley was being transformed into farming, farmers would often
find remnants of the famous Inca Empire. Farmers found Incan
cooking
utensils, pots and pans. Today, this coastal valley, with rich,
sandy soil, grows some of the world’s best Asparagus. Rich
soil helps the crown stay healthy. Sandy soil allows the tender
spears to grow straight and fast. This valley also has an average
yearly rainfall of “zero.” That’s right. No
rain, which would bring decay and disease. This valley is completely
irrigated with deep well water. The well water comes from deepunderground
aquifers, fed by pure water from the Andes Mountains. The Valley
of Ica is a somewhat isolated growing region…geographically
anyway. To the north and east are the Andes Mountains. To the
south is the driest desert on earth, the Atacama Desert. To the
west
is the Pacific Ocean. It is very difficult for disease or pest
to enter this valley. Growers here, therefore are able to use
less pesticides on their crops. This coastal valley also has
near perfect
growing temperatures, warm during the day, but cooled by the
ocean breezes at night. Those cool nights, getting down to the
upper
40s, help produce the very sweet spears of asparagus in Peru.
Because of this very special growing region, and its very special
and unique
environment, growers here are able to produce 4 to 5 times more
asparagus per acre than even the famed California Delta region.
In 1987, the first Asparagus crowns were planted in this Valley.
It was part of a U.S. drug program to help Peruvians leave the
cocaine drug trade and begin employment in a different trade.
So they went from an illegal agricultural crop, to a very classy
crop.
Imports from Peru have been coming into the United States since
1989. Imports from Peru have grown by about 25% a year. Last
year, the United States imported about 10 million cartons, about
110
million pounds. Asparagus in the Valley of Ica is cut, washed,
packed and chilled in the mornings. Then they are trucked to
the Lima International airport where they are loaded onto planes.
The
next day, that Asparagus is in Miami or Los Angeles, and then
immediately trucked to stores across the country.
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The most treasured asparagus
in Europe: White Asparagus.
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Does the white in the
Peruvian flag symbolize White Asparagus?
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WHITE ASPARAGUS (Friday,
Oct. 10): Yesterday, I talked about Asparagus from Peru. We are
also getting White Asparagus from Peru. In fact,
Peruvian growers have helped bring White Asparagus back into popularity.
Unlike the zesty and strong flavor of the more common green variety,
White asparagus is remarkably tender and delicate. It is far less
fibrous than its green relative and so the entire white asparagus
spear is edible and brimming with flavor. Its color is nothing
special - it simply means that the asparagus has not been exposed
to sunlight. Growers will mound up the dirt, covering the tender
spears. As soon as the tip breaks the surface, that’s when
they are harvested. That’s why a lot of times, the very tip
has a very light green color. It’s the only part that was
exposed to sunlight. Tradition demands that white asparagus be
eaten in the simplest way possible. Boil them in salty water for
7 minutes and then serve them to grateful guests dipped in mayonnaise.
At the spring festivals in Italy, Germany and Austria, they are
served by farmers with a plate of hardboiled eggs, aromatic extra
virgin olive oil and a refreshing glass of Garganego wine. Away
from the rustic simplicity, however, chefs often marry white asparagus
with exotic flavors to
create more sophisticated dishes. Legendary Italian chef Gianfranco
Vissani mixes White asparagus with coffee garganelli in a lemon-tea-potato
sauce, and Isidoro Consolini, renowned in the Veneto area and
owner of the restaurant, Alcaval di Torri Benaco, combines the
white delicacies with parmesan wafers and a smoked beef carpaccio.
While in Milan, Carlo Cracco, the young owner and chef of Cracco-Peckin,
strays even further from tradition and serves his guests glazed
asparagus with an almond sherbet and whipped oil. Not only good
for your spirits, white asparagus, unlike most of life's pleasures,
is also good for your health; it is a great source of vitamins
and minerals and is known for its diuretic value. Its medical
application has been known for centuries, dating back as far
as Roman times. No lesser authority than Julius Caesar himself
devoted pages to its diuretic qualities, and today nutritionists
believe it contains antioxidants that help the body to fight
disease.
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