Produce Briefs...
Cantaloupe Melon
The cantaloupe is defined by two elements: its roughly netted stone and green colored skin and its aromatic orange-coral colored flesh. When perfectly ripe, the flesh is juicy, unctuous and sweet.
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Rainbow chard, also known a 5-color silverbeet, is a tender chard variety with multi-colored stalks of yellow, white, orange pink and red.
Seasons/Availability
Mulberries have a breif summer season typically found at local farmers markets.
Current Facts
The mulberry is an aggregate fruit, a member of the bramble berry family, thorny plants of the genus Rubus. There are over 150 different species of mulberries that produce red, white, pink and near black fruits. Mulberry trees are wind-pollinated, thus many species are cross-pollinated, representing genes from multiple species.
Description/Taste
Mulberries have the immediate appearance of an elongated plump Blackberry or a dark Loganberry. Their similarities are simply skin deep. Ripe black mulberries are fragrant and literally, sticky sweet, their coloring so deep and texture so fragile and syrupy in nature that it stains to the touch. Mulberries, though containing some seeds, have a melting quality in the mouth. They ripen exceedingly fast and should therefor be eaten almost immediately if not dried, cooked or frozen.
Applications
Mulberries are used in ice cream, sorbet, jams, jellies, beverages, and pies. Reduce with red wine as a sauce for red meat, or use as an ingredient in a stuffing mixture for game birds. Gently stir into muffin and cake batters, sprinkle on pancakes before they're flipped, or cook down into a sweet sauce for cheesecake or pound cake. Layer into parfaits and trifles, or simply eat out of hand. Mulberries are highly perishable, so use immediately upon purchase.
Geography/History
The earliest documentation of the black mulberry records them as native to China. The mulberry tree was cultivated from wild trees in direct correlation with the desire to create silk from the silk worm. Silkworms thrive on the leaves of the mulberry tree, the more leaves they eat, the more silk they produce. The Silk Trade was synonomous with the trading and importing/exporting the mulberry tree for its vital value within the food chain of the production of silk. Though silkworms, birds and other wild animals have been eating mulberry fruit for centuries, it eventually would also become a commercial crop grown for the production of food for livestock and humans. Mulberries grow throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, South Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa and within limited regions of the United States.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Mulberry. One
is easiest, three is harder.
Mulberries have a breif summer season typically found at local farmers markets.
Current Facts
The mulberry is an aggregate fruit, a member of the bramble berry family, thorny plants of the genus Rubus. There are over 150 different species of mulberries that produce red, white, pink and near black fruits. Mulberry trees are wind-pollinated, thus many species are cross-pollinated, representing genes from multiple species.
Description/Taste
Mulberries have the immediate appearance of an elongated plump Blackberry or a dark Loganberry. Their similarities are simply skin deep. Ripe black mulberries are fragrant and literally, sticky sweet, their coloring so deep and texture so fragile and syrupy in nature that it stains to the touch. Mulberries, though containing some seeds, have a melting quality in the mouth. They ripen exceedingly fast and should therefor be eaten almost immediately if not dried, cooked or frozen.
Applications
Mulberries are used in ice cream, sorbet, jams, jellies, beverages, and pies. Reduce with red wine as a sauce for red meat, or use as an ingredient in a stuffing mixture for game birds. Gently stir into muffin and cake batters, sprinkle on pancakes before they're flipped, or cook down into a sweet sauce for cheesecake or pound cake. Layer into parfaits and trifles, or simply eat out of hand. Mulberries are highly perishable, so use immediately upon purchase.
Geography/History
The earliest documentation of the black mulberry records them as native to China. The mulberry tree was cultivated from wild trees in direct correlation with the desire to create silk from the silk worm. Silkworms thrive on the leaves of the mulberry tree, the more leaves they eat, the more silk they produce. The Silk Trade was synonomous with the trading and importing/exporting the mulberry tree for its vital value within the food chain of the production of silk. Though silkworms, birds and other wild animals have been eating mulberry fruit for centuries, it eventually would also become a commercial crop grown for the production of food for livestock and humans. Mulberries grow throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, South Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa and within limited regions of the United States.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Mulberry. One
is easiest, three is harder.
