Dave's Market Update
In Veg
- David Harris
In Fruit
With apples, the old-fashioned Granny Smith are now eating well. They are not as sweet as the new varieties, however there are plenty of our customers who not only don’t mind but actually prefer that. The old timers (like me) in the markets always say, “You start to eat Grannies from Anzac Day onwards.”
- David Harris
Dave's Pick of the Week - Imperfect Black Zucchini
"Zucchini is an extremely versatile vegetable and can be eaten cooked or raw. In our house, we sometimes slice them thinly into ribbons with a mandolin and put them in lemon juice with olive oil salt and garlic, which cooks them nicely.
They grow very quickly especially in warm weather with rain, so picking them can be a daily task. Miss a day and they end up in our Imperfect stack, miss a week and they can be a metre long! Ideally, they should be 10 to 14 centimetres long. This size will be tender and flavoursome. Much smaller is not desirable either.
At this time of the year, there is still some from local growers. However, the cooler nights mean we start to look to Queensland; areas such as Bundaberg in central Queensland. Often our Imperfect zucchini are incredible value and right now is one of those times. They have halved in price since last week so take advantage of this bargain.
HOW TO PICK
In our premium fruit, you would normally look for zucchini that's around 10 to 14 centimetres in length and still relatively thin. Most of the imperfects are somewhat larger. The zucchini should feel heavy for its size. The skin should be dark green and smooth and free of blemishes. If the skin looks slightly shrivelled, it likely wasn't picked fresh.
HOW TO STORE
Store zucchini in the fridge, whole, dry and unwashed. Store them in a paper bag with one end open to encourage air circulation and pop them in the refrigerator crisper drawer. They'll keep there for 1 week or more, though you'll probably see the skin start to shrivel over time."
- David Harris
