IN FRUIT
Hot weather means great flavour in our summer fruit. All the grapes have now started, including my favourite the natural sultanas, as well as black muscatels and currants. All are great quality and well-priced. White seedless grapes are now easing in price and are my pick of the grapes this week. Rockmelons, figs, limes, lychees, apricots and peaches all continue to be in abundant supply and are very well priced. Still lots of net passionfruit available however that will change next week. Citrus options have definitely improved this week. Limes are still cheap, Australian lemons have recommenced in volume and imported navels are at their absolute best. Don’t go past Australian Valencia’s, they go green with the intense heat we are having but the flavour doesn’t change. As I said a few weeks ago, this is the best Valencia season I can remember.
IN VEGIES
Extreme heat continues to play havoc with vegetable quality and prices. As discussed last week, corn is extremely resilient to the heat and is probably the vegie bargain of the week. Beans, especially our bagged line from Tasmania (a bit cooler down there), are still good quality and good value. Surprisingly the baby cucumbers seem to have stood up to the heat quite well, however, a lot of the standard Lebanese cucumbers look quite heat affected. Tomato quality is struggling, but there are still bargains to be had in cherry tomatoes and the Sampari offer, plus of course our imperfects are very well supplied. With back to school, look for great specials early next week on our Snackables carrots, perfect for the lunchbox.
