At the risk of sounding repetitive, vegetables continue to be a hard slog. Lettuce, Cos lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, zucchini and kumara are all still proving difficult to obtain in large quantities.

Lebanese cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, carrots, avocados, asparagus and snow peas are all representing good value this week. In particular, local Cherry tomatoes from greater Sydney are deliciously sweet to eat. For something a bit different, Pine mushrooms hit the stores this week. Pine mushrooms tend to grow under pine trees and pop up in late summer/early autumn after warm sunny days and a good downpour. With a full, roasted nut flavour, these mushrooms are perfect with fresh pasta and egg based dishes and will provide a unique eating experience. 

With the new apple season just around the corner, we are anxiously waiting our first crops to be delivered. The unusually warm weather has played havoc on new season Gala apples and as a result, they may not keep as well as in previous seasons.  However, the weather has been kinder to Red Delicious, Bonza and Jonathan apples. Recent cool nights have coloured those varieties well and at this stage we are happy with crop loads. More will be revealed when we start to pick these varieties later in the week.

The old fashioned Jonathan apples are the next new season apple. We have had a few from Queensland, but the better eating Batlow Jonathans have started again for another season and are now in store. This apple fell out of favour for some years but is now quite popular again; the secret is to eat them in season when they are fresh and not later in the year.

In season we now have fresh pistachios, but hurry as they are only around for a few weeks. When purchasing the nuts, chose those that are split at one end as the unopened shells are an indicator of immaturity. A native nut of the Middle East, Pistachios are great on their own or added to stuffings and desserts.

A few products which are great to eat even if they are little left field include Mangosteens, Custard Apples and Rambutans. All of these products are coming down from Far North Queensland. Mangosteens and Custard Apples in particular are a great fruit as they are really sweet and refreshing. If you have never tried them I suggest you give them a go, as you will not be disappointed.

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posted by: David Harris at 6:21 PM  0 comment(s)

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