Get intimate with your produce!
Melissa Mayer
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Posts by Melissa Mayer
FARMERS MARKET REPORT: WEEK OF MEMORIAL DAY, 2010
Luna Oysters: LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE!!!!!!!! CARLSBAD AQUAFARM
It is officially Sustainable Seafood Week in San Diego!! Hopefully this week marks the greater awakening of a needed era in our relationship with the ocean’s edible populations. 67% of the seafood that America consumes is via restaurants. As chefs we hold the great responsibility to be responsible for the seafood we serve to our guests. How does this pertain to a farmers market report? We do not just find produce at the farmers market: there are cheese makers, cattle ranchers, egg producers, chicken growers and seafood mongers AKA fishmongers. Fishmongers are our great connection to the ocean. Just as global food distribution and our taste for seafood have increased tenfold over the past few decades, fishmongers have become a dying breed, a metaphor for what is left in the ocean and where our conventional collective consciousness lies. Food has become a forefront topic in the 21st century in a way that we have never quite seen in our lifetimes. Farmers markets are increasing in size, awareness and they are contributing to our regular source for food. We have decided we want to know where our food comes from. We want to meet the farmers and shake their hands. We trust them to grow food for our restaurant guests, our friends and families. That same connection to the farmer in the field should translate to the fishermen in the ocean, lakes and rivers. Where does your seafood come from? Who is fishing the seafood that you are putting onto the plate? Do you trust him? When was the last time you shook your fishmonger’s hand?
http://www.specialtyproduce.com/fish/
watch these videos:
What does sustainable seafood mean to you? by Specialty Produce
How I fell in love with a fish (Dan Barber)
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPRING CROPS:
Artichokes, Arugula, Avocados, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cardones, Carrots, Cherries, Citrus: Buddha’s Hand, Grapefruit, Meyer Lemons, Mandarins, Kumquats, Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Oranges, Pomelos, Tangelos, Eggs, Fava Beans, Fennel, Fiddlehead Ferns, Green Garlic, Herbs: Dill, Leeks, Chives, Parsley, Mint, Tarragon; Lettuce, Mushrooms: Chanterelles, Hedgehog, Morel, Porcini; Nettles, Parsnips, Passion Fruits, Pea Tendrils, English Peas, New Potatoes, Treviso, Radicchio, Radishes, Snap Peas, Sorrel, Strawberries, Watercress
***GLORIA TAMAI WHITE CORN IS IN FULL ABUNDANCE!!!! PUT IT ON THE MENU NOW***
***FITZGERALD PEACHES AND APRIUMS ARE RIPE AND BEING HARVESTED!!!***
FARMERS MARKET REPORT: WEEK OF MAY 23, 2010
Murray Family Farms and Barbagaleta are harvesting Brooks Cherries this week, sweet and simply delicious. Don’t hesitate, for the season is brief!
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPRING CROPS:
Artichokes, Arugula, Avocados, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cardones, Carrots, Cherries, Citrus: Buddha’s Hand, Grapefruit, Meyer Lemons, Mandarins, Kumquats, Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Oranges, Pomelos, Tangelos, Eggs, Fava Beans, Fennel, Fiddlehead Ferns, Green Garlic, Herbs: Dill, Leeks, Chives, Parsley, Mint, Tarragon; Lettuce, Mushrooms: Chanterelles, Hedgehog, Morel, Porcini; Nettles, Parsnips, Passion Fruits, Pea Tendrils, English Peas, New Potatoes, Treviso, Radicchio, Radishes, Ramps, Rapini, Snap Peas, Sorrel, Strawberries, Watercress
THE FARMS:
“The real deal is this: these are our products. You know me. I’ll shake your hand. I’ll give you a hug and a smile and my ear. You know our integrity. We aren’t hiding anything. You can talk to us anytime. You can visit the farm. You know our values. Our dreams. Our goals. You can call me out, right or wrong, and I’ll take it and try to make it better. I’m not perfect, but I’m doing my best. I like you. I want to help you. I think what you are doing is cool. Maybe you think what we are doing is cool. Let’s do something cool together and show it to some other cool people…” Lucila De Alejandro (co-owner of Suzie’s Farm) on building relationships with chefs and the culinary community
Local, organic, sustainable real people growing really good real food just out our backdoor (11 miles south of downtown, just west of I-5). Owners and operators, Robin Taylor and Lucila De Alejandro are passionate risk-taking farmers on a mission to provide an abundance of beautiful produce in harmony with the land and Mother Nature. They seek out unique varieties of well, just about everything. Currently they have 13,000 tomato plants in the ground, several varieties of shelling beans, radishes, spinach, sweet and hot peppers, summer squash varieties, peas, lettuces, red okra and so much more! The current harvest includes:
