Any Port in a Storm
« What's in season »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 19, 2013, 3:11pm

[Home] [New Topics] [Help] [Search] [Login] [Register]


Port Authority | Landmarks
Africa | Asia | Europe | North and Central America | Oceania | South America | Post Cards | Ports of Call | Shipping Out
Image Bank | The Library | Maritime Museum | Where Words Collide | Change the Station | Screening Room | In the Spotlight
On the Menu | The Galley | After Dinner | Port & Starboard | Saving the World | Putting Down Roots | Back Pages
Free Trade Zone | Waterfront Park | The Arcade | The Science Dock | Free Clinic

Any Port in a Storm :: Dockside Dining :: On the Menu :: What's in season
« Page 2 of 20 » Jump to page   Go    [Search This Thread][Reply] [Share Topic] [Print]
AuthorTopic: What's in season (Read 7,163 times)
hwinpp
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,885
Location: Phnom Penh
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #30 on Mar 18, 2009, 9:51am »		[Quote]
Do they let them get green or must they be white?
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bazfaz
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,052
Location: South of the Dordogne
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #31 on Mar 18, 2009, 10:23am »		[Quote]
We are in green asparagus country here (as is Spain, 2 hours' drive away). When I lived in the Dordogne that was white asparagus. Somewhere there is a line dividing France between green/white. Does anybody know how I can get a grant to travel round, sampling and drawing up a map of the two distinct approaches to asparagus?

When I lived in the Dordogne I used to patronise an asparagus farm. I would ask for half a kilo and the patron would ask how many people it was for. When I said 2 he would select 5 plump spears each, weight them briefly (even I could see it was between 700 and 800 grams) and he said that was half a kilo. Then he told me to pass over a wooden carton and he would load that up with free stuff that he couldn't sell. Some of the spears were misshapen but some were ones he had missed in the field and they had grown up green. He said the French wouldn't buy the green ones even though in his opinion green ones were better with butter sauces.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
kerouac2
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,438
Location: Paris, France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #32 on Mar 18, 2009, 10:44am »		[Quote]
The frozen food store sells both varieties. The green ones are a little less expensive.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
Don Cuevas
member is offline

[avatar]

My name really isn't Don, but I used to be anónimo.


[homepage]

Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,941
Location: Michoacán, México
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #33 on Mar 18, 2009, 12:49pm »		[Quote]
I find that white asparagus are nearly tasteless and boring. Of course, I've only had those from tins or jars.
Grilled green asparagus are heavenly.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
Panza llena, corazón contento.
http://mexkitchen.blogspot.com/
bixaorellana
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 25,290
Location: Mexico
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #34 on Mar 18, 2009, 9:43pm »		[Quote]
Baz's story reminded me of the free artichokes I used to get.

I worked as a typesetter in Carmel Valley, California. The house from which I worked overlooked artichoke fields, and every year my boss got given grocery sacks full of culls. Although supposedly rejects because of being marginally too small or something, they were perfect in freshness and condition. That was the first & only time in my life I ever had too many artichokes.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
hwinpp
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,885
Location: Phnom Penh
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #35 on Mar 19, 2009, 2:36am »		[Quote]
I prefer green ones as well.
In Germany asparagus have to be white, they're eaten with a thick whitish sauce (I think sauce hollandaise) and cooked ham. Asparagus farmers keep the prices up by destroying excess harvests and telling everybody asparagus can't be eaten after St. Johannis Day...

Green asparagus is something of a novelty slowly wearing off now. It used to be quite hip in the mid nineties to have green asparagus for brunch (another novelty wearing off) with a crisp white wine.
« Last Edit: Mar 19, 2009, 2:39am by hwinpp »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bixaorellana
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 25,290
Location: Mexico
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #36 on Mar 19, 2009, 4:13am »		[Quote]
[image]
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bazfaz
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,052
Location: South of the Dordogne
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #37 on Mar 19, 2009, 8:04am »		[Quote]
Bixa's artichoke story reminded me of living on a Greek island years ago. In May it was just coming to the end of the artichoke season and they were incredibly cheap: one old British penny each. So, if you were mad enough, you would have got more than 200 for one British pound. We used to buy some, cook them then get rid of everything but the hearts, pack them in a jar with olive oil and lemon juice and take them out on picnics.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bixaorellana
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 25,290
Location: Mexico
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #38 on Mar 19, 2009, 8:09am »		[Quote]
Smart! It's fun & tasty to scrape the leaves with your teeth ........... up to a point, then it's just tedious.

I saw quite decent artichokes for sale in the supermarket the other day for the first time since I've lived here. I couldn't remember the name in Spanish & asked the produce guy, who couldn't remember it either. He said he'd never seen them before that day & asked if I knew what to do with them. I described cleaning, cooking, & eating them. We both agreed springing them on an unsuspecting public was a doomed enterprise.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
kerouac2
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,438
Location: Paris, France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #39 on Mar 19, 2009, 8:28am »		[Quote]
Google translation says the Spanish word is alcachofa.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bixaorellana
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 25,290
Location: Mexico
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #40 on Mar 19, 2009, 8:33am »		[Quote]
That's it! I knew the word but never had reason to use it before around here.

I suggested they make copies of the cooking instructions. Ha. In a town where bell peppers are considered exotic, those artichokes undoubtedly withered in their bin.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
casimira
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female
Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #41 on Apr 15, 2009, 12:25pm »		[Quote]
At the Farmer's Market yesterday some new victuals in season: Creole tomatoes,sugar snap peas,spring onions AND soft shell crabs.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
voy
member is offline

[avatar]

The Lobstah Lady



Joined: Mar 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 122
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #42 on Apr 15, 2009, 2:02pm »		[Quote]
the guy who figured out how to eat an artichoke was REALLY hungry. Can you imagine??

I have also been in the "scrape against the top teeth" v. "scrape against the bottom teeth" discussion. I am of the top teeth persuasion.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
casimira
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female
Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #43 on Apr 20, 2009, 2:12pm »		[Quote]
Picked a bowl full of blackberries yesterday,they are in a little early this year. Glad I went and checked when I did. Pie tonight.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
kerouac2
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,438
Location: Paris, France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #44 on Apr 20, 2009, 2:19pm »		[Quote]
I bought 500g of Spanish strawberries on sale for 0.80€ this week. Amazingly, there were not bad at all -- they both smelled and tasted like strawberries. Definitely a fluke.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bazfaz
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,052
Location: South of the Dordogne
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #45 on Apr 20, 2009, 4:34pm »		[Quote]
I got some Spanish strawberries about 3 weeks ago: 99 centimes for 500 g. They had no taste whatsoever.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
auntieannie
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,224
Location: Greenest UK
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #46 on Apr 20, 2009, 6:37pm »		[Quote]
rhubarb is in season! I'll soon make some more jam.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.
lola
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,271
Location: USA
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #47 on Apr 21, 2009, 3:14pm »		[Quote]
I paid $3.40 for a pound of organic American strawberries this weekend because my mother was in town, and they were on the disappointing side. My strawberry bed is in full bloom now, though, so good eating shouldn't be far behind.

Nothing's in season around here, except early salad greens and floral salad additions like violets, spring beauties, and redbuds.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
lola
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,271
Location: USA
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #48 on Apr 21, 2009, 3:16pm »		[Quote]
I had been hoping my mother would bring some asparagus from my brother's beds in SW MO, but it's been unusually cool so far and slim pickings indeed.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bazfaz
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,052
Location: South of the Dordogne
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #49 on Apr 21, 2009, 5:28pm »		[Quote]
I keep looking at the cherry trees round us. The fruit are about the size of small peas. Damn weather is too cold or they would be swelling more.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bjd
member is offline





Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,982
Location: South-West France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #50 on Apr 22, 2009, 3:55pm »		[Quote]
The cherries on our trees are not even the size of small peas yet. I was told the weather had been the pits for the past few weeks (sw France).

This weekend I got back from 3 weeks in Ecuador -- lovely fruit, mostly that I couldn't identify. Lots of different kinds available nearly all year round, and delicious juices made on the spot in blenders at people's houses or at the market. They have enormous blackberries, called mora, about 3 times the size of French ones, that are blended into juice.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
kerouac2
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,438
Location: Paris, France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #51 on Apr 22, 2009, 4:47pm »		[Quote]
I hope you took pictures, bjd!
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
rikita
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,745
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #52 on May 6, 2009, 6:34am »		[Quote]
i have no idea what is in season. i buy asparagus all the time, but i fear it is probably the imported one i buy, since the german one costs twice as much. i buy vegetables at the market usually, but it is not a farmer's market.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bixaorellana
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 25,290
Location: Mexico
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #53 on May 6, 2009, 1:29pm »		[Quote]

Apr 22, 2009, 3:55pm, bjd wrote:
... Ecuador -- lovely fruit, ... They have enormous blackberries, called mora, about 3 times the size of French ones, that are blended into juice.

Latin American names for fruit can be misleading. Any chance those were mulberries, Bjd? Although I imagine you'd quickly recognize a mulberry.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
rikita
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,745
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #54 on May 6, 2009, 9:08pm »		[Quote]
hm the asparagus turned out not so great this time, had to cut away a lot, too... but well, that way i can make lots of soup...
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
kerouac2
helper
*
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,438
Location: Paris, France
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #55 on May 6, 2009, 9:10pm »		[Quote]
I confess that I buy only frozen asparagus -- nothing to clean or trim. All I have to do is put them in boiling water. And the frozen ones are in season 12 months of the year at a very good price.
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
rikita
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,745
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #56 on May 6, 2009, 10:46pm »		[Quote]
never bought frozen one. sometimes buy the one in glasses. but for me the fact that it is asparagus season and that i need to prepare it is something special. even if the cleaning and trimming is a bit annoying sometimes. and i enjoy making the soup out of the rests, just because i can, and thus know i am not depending on buying soup powder, should they ever not have that...
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
rikita
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Feb 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,745
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #57 on May 6, 2009, 10:46pm »		[Quote]
(apart from that i am turning my big freezer off most of the time so not much frozen food space in my house).
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
casimira
member is offline

[avatar]



Joined: Jan 2013
Gender: Female
Posts: 373
Location: NOLA,USA
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #58 on May 12, 2009, 3:34pm »		[Quote]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
[image]
Johney Rotten
Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
jazz
member is offline





Joined: Nov 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 48
Location: Toronto Canada
Re: What's IN SEASON
« Reply #59 on May 12, 2009, 3:56pm »		[Quote]
...a trip to bountiful!...what wonderful shots! This is a roving market that I wish would be near me and it is an excellent idea. I love how the owner carries the portable awning with her. The little boy certainly looks like he has a 'strong' character :D This has inspired me to go to a market this afternoon.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2009, 4:06pm by jazz »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
« Page 2 of 20 » Jump to page   Go    [Search This Thread][Reply] [Share Topic] [Print]

site search by freefind advanced
free counters
Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free


This Board Hosted For FREE By ProBoards
Get Your Own Free Message Boards & Free Forums!
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Notice | FTC Disclosure | Report Abuse | Mobile