Market Notes

I know, I know, I'm a neglectful blogger. But I'm turning over a new leaf and really getting down to business. Before I post this week's feature report on Winchester Cheese, I thought I'd share some general market news with my regular readers. Although you may not be able to tell by the weather in Irvine, winter is coming to an end, which means the citrus season is, too. Lovers of Sweet Tree's petite mandarines, I'm talking to you: beware, you only have until the end of March to eat your weight in those bright and tiny pockets of perfection. I've also begun to notice already that the once abundant sweet, firm, juicy navel oranges have begun to dry up, which means my beloved oro blancos and fruas will, too. I'm so sad! Run, go, make another golden greyhound while you can! When the first Saturday arrives without them, you'll surely hear my sobs across campus.

In other happier news, crates of strawberries have begun to pop up all over the market! I tried as many as I could today and finally decided to pick up a bundle. And sugar snap peas are also beginning to roll in, which is great news for me: I love to make a cool pesto puree in the summer with sugar snap peas, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Let's also hope that before long we can start to see some good tomatoes. It has been a long, dry, almost completely tomato-less winter for me.

Though before summer's sugary sweets begin to roll in, we'll have to make it through the no-man's-land of April. In the meantime, stock up on citrus!

See you at the market!

Donovan Sez..., Cilantro v. Chrysanthemum

This is it. The face-off you've all been waiting for: Cilantro versus Chrysanthemum. What will he devour first? Will the little-known green leaf from Yao Cheng supplant Big D's all-time favorite? Could it be?




Let's find out!
At the start, the competition stays pretty close, while Donovan weighs his options.



But, wait, before long he seems to head for something. Is it ... the cilantro?
Yes, indeed it is!


And the cilantro wins!!!!!!!! Woo!!!!


Poor chrysanthemum. It sat there all night, untouched, unloved.
For our next battle, I'm thinking cilantro v. oro blanco. Care to make a wager?

Yao Cheng, Part II

I went back to Yao Cheng Farms this week to continue my report on their offerings. I found largely the same selection of leafy greens and gourds, but with just a couple noticeable alteration: it was out with the honeydew, in with wintermelon and shark fin squash!




The latter is a green-and-white speckled, fairly rare variety of winter gourd, which often appears in soups. Though I didn't buy the shark-fin squash, I did pick up half a kabocha squash, which I'm quite excited to try. I also filled up a bag with the chrysanthemum greens I saw at Yao Cheng last week, which I've never seen or tried before.



It has a powerful floral flavor and aroma, which I think is going to be amazing in the tangy lemongrass soup I plan to make with it later this week. (Stay tuned for that recipe.) Yao Cheng also had some absolutely gorgeous green onions, which I snatched up and will also incorporate into the soup.

In general, the market had a strong selection of the citrus we've seen all season: navel oranges, mandarines, oro blancos, pommelos, and Fuji apples. I picked up a couple navels from Garden of Eden, which were quite dry, so I plan to stick with Sweet Tree next time. If you've seen anything fabulous, please do let us know.

Forbidden Fruits

If you haven't already seen this op-ed piece in the New York Times, you should take a look at it now. Chances are, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll be interested to learn about the disturbing, but not altogether unsurprising obstacles put into play by the Farm Service Administration (essentially the bureaucratic puppet of corporate agriculture) in order to prevent local growers of subsidized crops like corn and wheat from cultivating other fruits or vegetables on these so-called subsidized "corn-based" acres.

Green, Green, Glorious Green! at Yao Cheng Farms

After much deliberation, I have decided to do an extended two-week profile of the farmer's-market staple Yao Cheng Farms. I simply did not acquire enough from their stand to post a comprehensive review. Known for their wide selection of unusual leafy greens (Japanese broccoli sprouts, chrysanthemum) and gourds (kabocha squash and winter melon), in addition to more common varieties (the only garlic I ever buy, ginger, bok choy, and more), Yao Cheng Farms is a great table to visit for a vegetable exploration mixed with culinary brainstorming.



David (above) spent a few moments with me pointing out a number of favorites among Irvine's health-nuts and frequenters of his stand. He raved about the "sweet" kabocha squash (the green gourd below), which he said possesses all sorts of health benefits for heart troubles, diabetes, and more. Though I didn't pick one up this time, I will next week; I'm thinking about using it to make some kind of a warm, savory, sweet mash, or maybe a soup...


And nuzzled in between the kabocha squash and the baby bok choy is the bright yellow Chinese honeydew, which tends to be quite a bit firmer than the honeydew we're used to seeing in the supermarket. I love it because it provides the sweet crunchy break from the citrus-overload I always find myself in this time of year.

Do check back soon for my recipe using pea tips and next week for another post on Yao Cheng Farms!

Donovan Sez...*

I am so excited to finally introduce the much-anticipated and soon-to-be-regular post "Donovan Sez...," featuring reviews from the palate of the ever-discriminating Donovan "Runtz" Labouff Ostrower. In the following short documentary, we were lucky enough to record Donovan enjoying oro blanco pulp leftover from the Golden Greyhound juicing extravaganza. As you can see, the oro blanco gets "two ears up" from big D.




* Many thanks to Tamara for coining this ingenious title.