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Post by hwinpp on Apr 22, 2011 10:36:39 GMT
I just had a closer look at your loquats, Cas. They look very familiar to me, but under a diferent name. I think they're what the north Africans call nefle.
Can somebody confirm? I used to have a nefle tree right in front of the balcony of my room, I loved them!
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Post by bjd on Apr 22, 2011 11:14:38 GMT
Aren't nefles a bit more orange-coloured?
Just had a look -- nefles are called medlars in English.
However, loquat is néflier de Japon.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Apr 22, 2011 11:42:41 GMT
Small, stony peaches are being sold off stands and trucks at $10 pesos a kilo. I'll pass.
Small mangos are cheap now.
Many stands in Pátzcuaro's Mercado had bunches of beets, many small to medium sized, as we like them, at 3 for $10 pesos.
Big clusters of fresh red radishes, with the leaves on, $5 pesos a bunch. The leaves were so fresh that I cooked them as pot herbs instead of throwing them away.
"Saladette" (Roma) tomatos are high again. Could be due to recent hailstorms. I don't know. We paid $16 pesos a kilo for the best looking ones.
Avocados are puny and I didn't check the price. I fear that we may be reaching the end of the season on avos.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 22, 2011 16:21:36 GMT
I've read descriptions of medlars, but have never seen one in real life. They sound divine.
Are the Patzcuaro peaches smaller than the ones in my photo? I got one size up from the little ones. You should really ask for a prueba of those peaches before rejecting them. The ones in season here right now rival mangoes in lusciousness.
We're getting round tomatoes (mixed sizes) more and more often in the market here. They're flavorful, but tend to have hard white hearts.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2011 23:55:48 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on May 5, 2011 0:15:16 GMT
Exotica for me:
artichokes
different colored beets (they are beets, right?) also beets of the proper small size
patty pan squash
Roman beans also, except that the seeds I scored are coming up, hooray.
In abundance here right now -- cucumbers.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2011 0:23:33 GMT
Yes,they are beets.This is the last of them,they're on their way out. I saw a few cucumbers there as well,oh,and blackberries. Did you see the fava beans Bixa?  ? |
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Post by bixaorellana on May 5, 2011 0:57:04 GMT
Yes, I did! Believe it or not, those aren't exotica here. They can be bought almost year-round. Because of the mountains, there are places that stay cool enough to grow what we consider cool-season crops in what we consider out of season. For instance, apples grown in the northern part of Mexico recently hit the markets.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2011 10:34:42 GMT
The price of cherries and strawberries is beginning to collapse because too much ripened all at once due to the warm weather -- the field strawberries were suddenly ripe at the same time as the hothouse strawberries.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2011 13:08:53 GMT
I spied these at the Farmer's Market on Tuesday. They were labeled "French Shallots". It confuses me because here in NOLA scallions are referred to as shallots so, I don't know what they are. They appear to be scallions to me. I suppose I should have asked.   |
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2011 17:26:17 GMT
French shallots (échalote) look like miniature onions and are not sold with any greenery.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2011 20:07:54 GMT
Yes,that is what I am accustomed to as well. It's a regional thing I have found, and has always made me especially crazy and, in this case referring to them as French shallots was particularly unnerving. On the side of the road last weekend I encountered this truckload of these sweet babies.  |
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Post by imec on Jun 15, 2011 3:09:51 GMT
Fiddleheads!  |
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Post by mich64 on Jun 15, 2011 15:02:36 GMT
Oh Imec, I love fiddleheads, I have not had in so many years! Can I ask how you prepared them, they look so delicious.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by mockchoc on Jun 16, 2011 8:10:20 GMT
I have heard others rave about fiddleheads but you most definetely can't buy them anywhere I've been in Australia and not sure they even grow here but I didn't google it yet.
You can't eat them once more developed because of a poison I thought someone mention once. Is that true?
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 16, 2011 8:30:35 GMT
Exotica for me: artichokes different colored beets (they are beets, right?) also beets of the proper small size patty pan squash Roman beans also, except that the seeds I scored are coming up, hooray. In abundance here right now -- cucumbers. Thanks to Bixa, the Roman bean seeds she sent us sprouted and are pushing up green leaves. Very good, because our Sugar Snap Pea plant yielded generously but briefly, and now is part of the compost. |
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 16, 2011 8:34:00 GMT
What's in season here, in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico: mangos. Last week, I bought a 5 kilo bag of smallish mangos for $20 pesos.
We ate a few but most I turned into a Mango and tamarind chutney yesterday. It was a lot of work, but the results were good. I got 5 pints and a taster.
Avocados are OUT of season. The price I was quoted on Tuesday in the Pátzcuaro mercado was $36 pesos a kilo, about twice what we used to pay. A friend gifted us with a big bag of baby avocados. They look like giant green olives. We are told that you can eat them whole (except for the pit), skin and all. I did, and it wasn't very tasty. Mabe they need to ripen more.
Saladette (Roma) tomatoes dropped to the ridiculously low price of 5 pesos a kilo. I haven't eaten any of our last purchase yet.
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Post by imec on Jun 16, 2011 16:21:29 GMT
Oh Imec, I love fiddleheads, I have not had in so many years! Can I ask how you prepared them, they look so delicious. Cheers, Mich mich, I just boil or steam them and toss with butter. No need to mess with something as good as this! |
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Post by mich64 on Jun 16, 2011 16:28:25 GMT
I thought it was not too difficult. I think mom and dad would boil and then put them in a cast iron frypan coated in olive oil to crisp them a bit then add the butter, salt and pepper. I will have to look for them hear and give them a try again. A little toss in some parmesean might be good too...
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2011 16:58:41 GMT
Thanks to Bixa, the Roman bean seeds she sent us sprouted and are pushing up green leaves. Very good, because our Sugar Snap Pea plant yielded generously but briefly, and now is part of the compost. Ha! I came into this thread to report on my harvest. Yep, I've eaten the first crop of the precious darlings. They were so good and so tender that I didn't even dress them -- just steamed & salted them slightly. This was particularly amazing because I'd feared I didn't pick them soon enough, plus had to string them. (well, the strings were baby fine) They should be a perfect stand-in for the snow peas. There are more coming along on the plants. DonC, the plants will seem to do nothing, then suddenly one day you have pickable pods. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 5:27:25 GMT
I bought some somewhat exotic aubergines yesterday.  |
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 30, 2011 6:54:34 GMT
I've seen a lot of old ladies selling honey these days so at lunch today I bought this ;D  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2011 10:47:21 GMT
Er, what exactly are you supposed to do with that? Lick the honey? Suck out the bee larvae? Chew the wax? All of the above?  |
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Post by lagatta on Jul 4, 2011 17:05:46 GMT
I cooked a nice local Chard (bette à carde), first separating the white stalks from the green leaves (as the stalks take longer to cook) just seething in a bit of olive oil and the water remaining on the stalks and leaves from washing them. It may just be a green vegetable, or I might make a tart from it for a picnic. In any case it is there.
imec, I see the fiddleheads are late this year. They were late here too, but that was a few weeks back.
I just love casimira's choice of produce.
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Post by hwinpp on Jul 5, 2011 6:40:01 GMT
Er, what exactly are you supposed to do with that? Lick the honey? Suck out the bee larvae? Chew the wax? All of the above? I called my girlfriend when I saw it and asked her if she wanted the honey or the whole comb... he wanted exactly that and commenced snacking on it the moment I gave it to her. Next time I should choose a piece with more bee larvae |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2011 10:29:21 GMT
Er, what exactly are you supposed to do with that? Lick the honey? Suck out the bee larvae? Chew the wax? All of the above? I called my girlfriend when I saw it and asked her if she wanted the honey or the whole comb... he wanted exactly that and commenced snacking on it the moment I gave it to her. Next time I should choose a piece with more bee larvae Oh,it's fabulous HW!!! Yes,as a child,my uncle would give us pieces of the honeycomb,it was sheer bliss to chew on. Good for you HW,and wonderful for your girlfriend to enjoy with the same enthusiasm I would have!!!  At yesterday's market here. It was a slow day there,being the day after our Independence Day holiday here. I can safely say,this is our peak season here.I went gaga!! Although, we suffered a long, late spring early summertime drought here,the folks who comprise the majority of the growers at the market,are from just North of here,where they did get more rain,well,rain period.         |
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Post by tod2 on Jul 6, 2011 12:22:35 GMT
My that looks good! I spotted Kerouac's exotic aubergines, with what I think are also round aubergines next to them.
I was wondering if the little crabs were called "Blue Swimmer" crabs or are those "soft-shell crabs?
We only get frozen crab pieces here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 6, 2011 15:31:22 GMT
Oh, Casimira ~~ that looks heavenly! I could almost smell the peaches.
The price for okra seems really high. Is that because of the weather this year, or because it's still early in the season?
Tod, the crabs from Louisiana & Maryland are sometimes called blue crabs. They are Callinectes sapidus. The blue swimmer crabs are from a different family -- Portunus. Do you mean you only get frozen crab where you live, or in all of S.Africa?!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2011 17:38:40 GMT
Thanks ladies.  The peaches have been fabulous this year. They are from Chilton County. The real deal is the really ripe ones that the lady sells me off the truck,some minor bruises, but ,perfect for cobbler,ice cream etc. For $5.00USD she gives me a 1/4 of a bushel of them. I asked one day if she per chance had any really ripe ones and she summoned me to the rear of the kiosk and score I did. I suppose that's high for okra,it may be because it's early in the season. Dunno. I generally don't buy okra at the market because it's one of the things I do grow and only because T. likes it. I could live without it. Must be the Yankee in me. What I did buy,and, were extremely, exorbitant in price, were some exotic peppers. The vendor let me mix up the selection. I bought them for the sole purpose of saving the seeds to grow my own. Although,I did use one of the Indian Jwala peppers in a rissoto dish I made last night and adored the taste mingled with lemon juice stuffed into an ichiban eggplant.(the same skinny looking long guys that Kerouac pictured). Too bad about the unavailability of fresh crabs Tod. These are a tad on the small side and I didn't get any. I will hold out for the bigger,fatter ones. I did buy some of the beautiful shrimp offered though. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 6, 2011 18:39:49 GMT
Oh, good for you about the peppers! That will probably turn out to be an economical buy in the long run. You know the seeds are fresh, there was no p&h, you'll have tasted & judged the pepper before growing it, plus you know they'll grow in your area.
Those look like heirloom tomatoes in the bottom row of the pepper picture. They seem expensive, too. Are any of them worth buying to get the seeds?
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