Produce Briefs...
Maui Onions
Two characteristics set the Maui onion apart from other yellow onions: the high sugar and high moisture content of its flesh.
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
Look for pluots in June.
Current Facts
The plumcot is the product of natural hybridization of a plum and an apricot. In this case, regardless of the equal percentage of plum and apricot parentage, this plumcot variety really does exemplify an apricot more than a plum, especially in appearance. The result is a fruit which draws on the best qualities of its parents to create a fruit that is better than its origins - much like technology, improving upon its previous carnation.
Description/Taste
No other fruit can replicate or replace the flavor qualities and complexities of the pale amber colored plumcot. Its skin is smooth and so thin it nearly melds into its tender, bright and meaty flesh. Light colored plumcots have the appearance and aroma of apricots, the balanced acid of a yellow peach and the developed flavors of a plum.
Applications
Pluots, like other stonefruit, are best enjoyed fresh at their peak of ripeness. Pluots may also be baked, roasted, sauteed, pureed or cooked into jams and compotes.
Geography/History
Though there is prior evidence of fruits with both plum and apricot parentage, the botanist and horticulturist, Luther Burbank is credited with developing the first plumcot. Burbank is considered a pioneer of agricultural science. Among over 800 different varieties of plants, he is responsible for the creation of the now-ubiquitous Russet potato. Plumcots thrive in climates such as the San Joaquin Valley, where winter time temperatures are cool but not cold and the summer season is long, warm and dry. They are also salt water tolerant which has contributed to their ability to flourish for centuries in regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Mediterranean like climates.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Plumcot. One
is easiest, three is harder.
Look for pluots in June.
Current Facts
The plumcot is the product of natural hybridization of a plum and an apricot. In this case, regardless of the equal percentage of plum and apricot parentage, this plumcot variety really does exemplify an apricot more than a plum, especially in appearance. The result is a fruit which draws on the best qualities of its parents to create a fruit that is better than its origins - much like technology, improving upon its previous carnation.
Description/Taste
No other fruit can replicate or replace the flavor qualities and complexities of the pale amber colored plumcot. Its skin is smooth and so thin it nearly melds into its tender, bright and meaty flesh. Light colored plumcots have the appearance and aroma of apricots, the balanced acid of a yellow peach and the developed flavors of a plum.
Applications
Pluots, like other stonefruit, are best enjoyed fresh at their peak of ripeness. Pluots may also be baked, roasted, sauteed, pureed or cooked into jams and compotes.
Geography/History
Though there is prior evidence of fruits with both plum and apricot parentage, the botanist and horticulturist, Luther Burbank is credited with developing the first plumcot. Burbank is considered a pioneer of agricultural science. Among over 800 different varieties of plants, he is responsible for the creation of the now-ubiquitous Russet potato. Plumcots thrive in climates such as the San Joaquin Valley, where winter time temperatures are cool but not cold and the summer season is long, warm and dry. They are also salt water tolerant which has contributed to their ability to flourish for centuries in regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Mediterranean like climates.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Plumcot. One
is easiest, three is harder.
