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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 17:49:19 GMT
Excellent selections.
It is so weird seeing rillettes sold in a glass jar. In France, they are sold in cardboard pots, even the luxury brands.
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Post by imec on Nov 17, 2009 18:01:49 GMT
Very nice haul, imec! When should I book my flight to Winnipeg? ;D Well, someone will have to help us eat all this - and some of them are in peak condition right now. btw, the one in the foreground in the centre, le Secret de Maurice, is one of the most magical cheese I've ever eaten. We had one at Toast! on Friday night. You cut a round of the washed rind out of the top to find that the inside is a rich, unctuous liquid to be spooned out (onto a beautiful rye and fig bread at Toast!) - the sexiest cheese I have ever encountered. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 18:14:40 GMT
Some of it can be frozen. It will revive almost as good as when it was put away if wrapped properly.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 17, 2009 22:14:22 GMT
After reading your description of le Secret de Maurice, I cannot imagine how you'd ever be able to maintain the discipline to put it away for "later". What if a meteor hits the house? Enjoy it now!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 17, 2009 23:11:27 GMT
Okay, I will now hog this thread for a few minutes, if I may. Today was the big day for produce at the giant downtown market. As usual, I overbought, since it's hard to pass up all that peak freshness at bargain prices. I'll spare you all pictures of carrots and onions, but you may enjoy perusing the more fun, tropical purchases. An overview of the more interesting items, from right to left: smoked fish, totopos, dusta chiles, guias, chico sapote, fresh cheese with chile, & squash flowers, beets with their greens, and creole squash.  As you can see, these are branches and leaves from the squash plant, with flowers and developing squashes attached. They are called guias -- guides. I suppose that's for the little curly tendrils the squash plant uses to climb, its "guides". They are stewed or boiled down and eaten as greens. I am going to steam them with the beet greens. I bought this cheese at the same stand where I got the totopos. People who produce these items come from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the eastern part of Oaxaca. There is a whole line of vendors from that region lined up in the market. They specialize in cheeses, smoked, dried, and salted fish and shrimp, a sort of cornbread cake, totopos, and a thin crisp disc subtly flavored with raw sugar and coconut. The women are easily identifiable because they retain their regional costume. Below are the totopos. I urge you to watch this video: I've seen these made, & it's hard to believe that the sticky dough can be so deftly manipulated, then defy gravity to be baked. It's awfully labor-intensive, too. Baking starts at 4:10 on the counter.  Here's an extreme close-up of the dusta chiles. They are very seasonal, only to be seen once a year or so. I imagine those of you who grow chiles are going to ask if these are of the C. chinense family. It's what I thought the first time I saw them. They completely lack that characteristic fruity smell and taste of the habaneros and all their relatives, so I don't know what they are botanically. They have a fierce bite! Below is an open chico sapote. This comes from the tree that renders chicle -- chewing gum. It's a pain to get them home in one piece when they're ripe like this, but the taste is fabulous, like a brightly flavored fruity pudding. You can see the actual size in the first picture above.  ] And here is the crowing jewel of today's purchases. Not only are the squash flowers beautiful, the fresh taste will take your breath away. The bottom portion of the petals is like a pleasant mild lettuce with a slight floral note. But the top -- the top will make you wish you were born a bee. I made a salad as soon as I got home with the squash flowers and a very ripe tomato. It only had salt, pepper, and mere drops of olive oil and vinegar, as I didn't want to cover those delicate flavors in any way.  |
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 18, 2009 5:06:28 GMT
Oh, I love all your photos! The squash flowers have me drooling. They're in season here now as well, Friday is market day  |
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Post by imec on Nov 18, 2009 5:16:57 GMT
Wow bixa! Some really exotic items and the pictures are great! I love squash flowers - never see them for sale here  . Would love to try those little chiles! |
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 18, 2009 15:49:42 GMT
Thanks so much you guys! I was afraid I was boring everyone with Mexican foodstuffs.
I'll be hovering over the computer on Friday, HW, waiting for the Cambodian cornucopia. How are the flowers used there?
Imec, if you have a place to do so, why not plant some squash this year in order to harvest the flowers? An interesting note about squash plants: they start producing male flowers before female flowers. Because the plant needs only one or two male flowers to pollinate the females, you can start harvesting flowers as soon as they appear.
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Post by imec on Nov 18, 2009 17:16:58 GMT
Imec, if you have a place to do so, why not plant some squash this year in order to harvest the flowers? An interesting note about squash plants: they start producing male flowers before female flowers. Because the plant needs only one or two male flowers to pollinate the females, you can start harvesting flowers as soon as they appear. I've thought of that before but mange to miss the boat each spring. I'm putting it in my computer calendar - next spring for sure! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 18:34:18 GMT
If I lived in a place like Imec or Deyana or Kimby with so much extra land just lying around not doing anything, without worrying whether it was my land or not, I think I would start planting seeds all over the place. If I managed to benefit from whatever decided to grow, so much the better. If somebody else beats me to the place at the right time, more power to them. Seeds are cheap.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 19, 2009 20:41:58 GMT
Plenty of people do, kerouac. Most of the seeds are cannabis, however, and the authorities tend to harvest it before the rogue gardeners get a chance.
Around here, the growing season is pretty short for gardening, even outside your door where you can keep an eye on your garden. If it involved a hike into the forest, the lack of care would bode poorly for the renegade garden.
Though on Kauai, Hawaii, at the end of the eleven mile (18 km) hike to Kalalau, we found a renegade colony of aging hippies who tended cannabis plantations in the national park, despite a 5-night limit on camping. They were attended (the hippies, not the gardens) by bare-breasted nubiles who (according to Mr. Kimby) made the long hike worthwhile.
It was amusing to watch the old hippies scatter into the woods when a helicopter flew over to make a garbage pickup.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 1:56:51 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 2:06:45 GMT
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Post by cristina on Nov 25, 2009 2:16:52 GMT
Casimira,
That is the most cheerful sassafras grinder I have ever seen.
(Not that I have ever seen anyone grinding sassafras...)
You have a wonderful market, although I am still reconciling the crowds that must be there 2 days before Thanksgiving. I did my shopping on Sunday, but today realized that I needed a lemon and ran into my grocery store (at about noon). It was a freakin' zoo.
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Post by imec on Nov 25, 2009 2:53:40 GMT
Great market and great post! What's the woman under the striped umbrella selling? (last pic of part 1)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 3:45:29 GMT
The market is laid out in such a way that it doesn't ever feel really crowded even when it's busy. I'm familiar with most of the vendors and there's a congenial atmosphere.
I thought the young lad grinding the sassafras into file powder was so precious and enthusiastic yes!
Cristina,if you look at the picture with the citrus on it,on the far left of the table,those are our Meyer Lemons in season here now. $3.00USD would have gotten you a bag of 6 or 7of them!
Imec,the lady is selling fresh mushrooms,dried mushrooms (shitake and in season now Oyster)
(Appears that she may have a private stash of some others from her expression!)
I was hoping to find some crimini but she didn't have so I got some fresh shitakes. I know where to hunt for the fresh Oyster mushrooms right now so foolish for me to buy.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 25, 2009 10:19:12 GMT
What did you do with the sassafras? Does the young fellow grind it up for free?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2009 12:17:32 GMT
What did you do with the sassafras? Does the young fellow grind it up for free? The sassafras leaves are ground to a fine powder to become file powder used in gumbos.Yes,he does it for free. One can purchase as little or as much as you like . I buy in small amounts as we don't use it real,real often. (There is a discussion of file powder in the Freezer Surprise thread). |
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 26, 2009 3:40:15 GMT
Thanks, Cas. Just saw it too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 1, 2009 21:38:00 GMT
Uh-oh.  I may have over-bought just the teensiest bit today. Everything was gorgeous and cheap, plus I found eggplant. They were three for 10 pesos. After buying them and walking away, I just had to go back for three more. Caponatina time! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (sorry about the blurry picture) Released from the bags:  Smoked mullet, showing the roe.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2009 21:59:28 GMT
Gorgeous booty there B. I know you will put every single thing to use too. Beautiful produce. I don't see any citrus,do you have a private supply in your neighborhood somewhere?
And,where does the broccoli come from.? Don't associate any of the brassicas with Mexico somehow.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 1, 2009 23:20:40 GMT
No citrus because I have access to three lime trees. There's a not-very-good orange tree on the property, too. Oranges & grapefruit are so heavy, I prefer to buy them at the fruit stand at the bottom of my road so I can put them directly in the car. I got three kinds of fruit today -- apples, black sapote, & chico sapote. I really did not want the apples, which are mealy and insipid, but that's one of the psychological compromises that have to be made with the vendors I use all the time. This particular lady & her husband always let me leave my purchases at their stand while I do my other shopping. So, if she wants to unload two kilos of indifferent apples at 15 pesos for the lot, I just take them. Mexico is one of the largest producers of broccoli for the US (for frozen broccoli).* I talked to a friend of mine in Aguascalientes the other day, & he told me the temperatures had been at 0° and 5° (Celcius) there. That is vast, flat farmland, & that cool weather would work for brassicas. There were lots of cabbages, cauliflower, & broccoli in the market today. The two I bought cost 5 pesos for both of them. * www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/vegetables/broccoli_profile.cfm |
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Post by cristina on Dec 1, 2009 23:24:35 GMT
Beautiful bounty there Bixa. I can't wait to see what it all gets turned into!
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 1, 2009 23:30:41 GMT
Me too, Cristina ~~ where is that damned cook?!
Forgot to mention this -- when I was buying the eggplant, people kept asking the vendor what it was. One man was convinced it was a fruit. The vendor was telling people to prepare it by frying slices and putting a piece of cheese between them. On both my visits to that stand, I gave out recipes. Two ladies wanted to know how it tasted. The vendor's husband & I concurred that the texture is most like a denser, drier mushroom.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2009 23:50:33 GMT
Some of this is going to end up in the "what do you waste" thread, isn't it? |
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 2, 2009 2:27:25 GMT
Naaah, I don't think so. I might turn the boring apples into chutney & put some in the freezer, so even they don't get wasted. Chayote will last ages in the fridge, so doesn't have to be eaten immediately. Hmmm. Maybe I should make vegetarian stuffed mirlitons & put some in the freezer.  Most if not all the eggplant will get turned into caponata, which I can eat in a way that is kind of frightening. That will use up some of the tomatoes & the celery. ( and it's a food that gets cooked with olives!) The poblanos hold up fairly well in the refrigerator, & that fish will last up to three days. The only thing that worries me is the broccoli -- one would have been more than enough. Those habaneros are really, really, really hot! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2009 2:59:23 GMT
Your lemur is gasping from the habeneros!!
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Post by lagatta on Dec 2, 2009 3:14:09 GMT
Could you grow some eggplant? I've grown them - they aren't very difficult.
Mmmm caponata. Glad you have some idea of what can be done with indifferent apples. They are really a cold-country fruit. Even in central Italy they are mealy.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2009 3:23:05 GMT
Eggplant thrives in heat. Anything below 75F and it just sits there languishing...I finally pulled up my last 2 plants.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 2, 2009 3:51:31 GMT
It gets hot here during the dry season. The lady said the eggplants were grown somewhere in the Oaxaca valley. I grew some really nice ones last year, but during the rainy season.
We get some really good apples here, LaGatta. It's a mountainous country with varied terrain. Some of the best ones come from Chihuahua. The thing with vendors one knows is that one knows their product, too. They had some wonderful yellow apples two weeks in a row. Since they press samples upon me, I'd tried both & rejected the reds, as I'm sure their other customers did. So, not only were these apples not that great when they were new, now they're past any prime they had. As I said, buying them was a political move on my part.
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. Would love to try those little chiles!
I may have over-bought just the teensiest bit today. Everything was gorgeous and cheap, plus I found eggplant. They were three for 10 pesos. After buying them and walking away, I just had to go back for three more. Caponatina time!
Most if not all the eggplant will get turned into caponata, which I can eat in a way that is kind of frightening. That will use up some of the tomatoes & the celery. (and it's a food that gets cooked with olives!) The poblanos hold up fairly well in the refrigerator, & that fish will last up to three days. The only thing that worries me is the broccoli -- one would have been more than enough.