russ parsons

hmmm, don't mean to be argumentative, but this is kind of a perfect example of what i was talking about. your intentions are certainly in the right place. and i'm all for supporting small farmers, but that doesn't mean organic. earthbound farms runs about 45,000 acres of lettuce. interesting varieties? that's a small farmer attribute, not an organic one. gmos? about the only food crop in the us with a significant gmo percentage is soybeans (watch out tofu eaters!). the gmo corn you hear so much about is field corn, not sweet corn.

have your friend order a copy of "agrarian dreams" by julie guthman. i think that a lot of the time when people talk about "organic" what they're really thinking about is small, family-owned farms that take care with their fruits and vegetables. this is true of some organic growers, but it is also true of some conventional growers (and there is a big gray area between organic farming and wanton use of chemicals). for what it's worth, in 10 years of testing fruits and vegetables, the epa has found chemical residues that exceed the regulated standard in less than 1% fo samples.

hey guys, it's important to remember, when criticizing whole foods' "committment to the local farmer" campaign that in most cases, there just aren't that many. particularly at this time of the year. that doesn't mean they aren't doing their best to get what's available. more than 60% of all the fruits and vegetables grown in the us come from california (and another 12% from florida). compounding this is the fact that whole foods is, after all, a chain and that it does move a lot of produce through the store. sure there may be small farmers near you, but in most cases their annual harvest would fill one store for about one week. and i don't know what the weather is like in new jersey right now, but remember that it takes a couple months to grow stuff. if they really only stocked locally grown produce, you'd probably still be picking through potatoes and cabbage (mmmm, cooked with some fatty smoked pork?). But again, let's not condemn someone who is making an effort to do a good job for not doing a perfect job.

it's the salame

speaking of ewwwww. was anyone else taken aback by the juxtaposition of clitoris and cuisinart in the pull quote on the back of the book?

i haven't done any side-by-side tastings, but the molinari dry sausage is always in my refrigerator. i find it has just the right mix of tang and fat for my taste.

if corporations were really motivated only by altruism, they would not be corporations, they would be monasteries.

adam, i hope i didn't sound too harsh. that wasn't aimed at you. but you raise some interesting points. we all weigh economic gain vs. lifestyle when we decide our careers and i would never suggest otherwise (me, a penniless journalist). talent is part of it, but so is a willingness to gamble on people being willing to pay more for quality. I'm not sure how the produce business works in the UK, but in the US, almost everything you see at retail comes from packing houses where individual farmers pool their produce into lots that are big enough to make sense to big supermarket buyers. so if you grow a smaller amount of fruit that is very good and your neighbor achieves minimum standards but grows a lot of fruit, guess who is going to make money? how often does this have to happen before you decide you're willing to accept slightly lower quality in order to get bigger harvests (it's a rough rule of thumb that high quality almost always equates to smaller harvests)? it's a funny thing: farmers consider themselves the last of the rugged individualists, but it really is the most socialistic business model around. for good growers, the only incentive is to go outside the system and try to realize an incentive through some kind of direct marketing--farmers market, CSA, mail-order, farmstand, whatever. that's the only way they can make more money than the average.

i think one of the realities those of us who care about food have to face is that the majority of people don't really give it a second thought. that's neither good nor bad ... there are plenty of things other people care passionately about that i don't. but it does mean that we're always going to have to work a little harder to find what we want. it will never become mainstream. white peaches are a particular problem. first of all, they show every mark (they're white ... duh!) so they have to be picked early in order to be shipped. but also, most of the current varieties of white peaches (and nectarines) are sub-acid because they were developed for the Asian market, where the big money is, and that's the type of fruit preferred there. we really need to get past the idea that farming is manufacturing and that therefore an ideal product is to be expected. farming requires talent, just like cooking or writing or so many other things. statistically, talent is poorly distributed among the population. this isn't to excuse the average farmers, but to emphasize that when you find a farmer who grows great stuff, you have found something special and you need to be willing to support him. excellence is not the default state and without incentive, it will find something else to do.

let's not let the perfect become the enemy of the good. i don't normally shop at whole foods--it's too far from my house and i don't think their produce is that much better. but they are moving down the right road and while i don't think we should be throwing them any parades, neither should we be tossing stones. i do know from my reporting that in some cases wf has altered their distribution practices to allow local farmers to deliver directly to the stores rather than to the warehouse. this is just about earth-shattering in the supermarket business. and in the case of tomatoes, it allows a pick that's two days later than it otherwise would be--a potentially significant improvement (all other things being equal). at the writer's conference i was just at, there was a representative from wegman's in the new york state area who said they were doing much the same thing. the world is changing, folks. it's not there yet, but compared to even 2 or 3 years ago, things in the produce department are much improved (this, of course, does not apply to all produce departments--change starts small and then when it proves possible--and profitable--moves quickly.)

that sure sounds like the blenheim. it's a great apricot and we still get them at farmers markets here. it is fairly small by today's standards; the industry seems to look for something the size of a tennis ball. most of the blenheims we get are only a little bigger than a ping pong ball, but then most of them are coming from very old trees. and if you find someone who cares enough to stock good fruit, you have to give them your business--even if you don't feel like fruit right then. it's like giving to npr.

always here with the bad news: apricots just suck. there is a great old variety called blenheim (or royal, or royal blenheim, depending on whom you ask). but it is problematic: fruit tends to be very small, freckled, fragile. plus, it often ripens from the inside out, so by the time the surface feels soft, the inside is spoiling. plus it tends to alternate-bearing (heavy crop one year, almost nothing the next). you can still find these at california farmers markets and a good one will remind you of what apricots can be. most of the commercial crop these days are castlebrites and pattersons. they ship well. and they're not too bad dried (trader joe's customers can find dried blenheims if they'll look). in fact, apricots are so bad generally, that i'm not even including them in my produce book. if you're looking for a great spring fruit (and too early for local strawberries where you are), cherries are a really good bet. the bing is a commercial variety, ships well, etc., but if you pick good, dark ones that still have taut skin, that is about as good as any sweet cherry i've ever tasted.

just to be the season nazi here, when strawberries aren't in season, i like citrus, or apples and pears, or cherries, or apricots, or melons. it's a big wide world out there and you usually don't start to really understand how wonderful many ingredients are until you learn to push yourself beyond those momentary cravings.

pinot is a problematic example. a lot of pinots will improve, but the price point of pinot is such that a $12 one i'm not sure about. basically, the thing to look at is the structure of the wine. it should have at least moderate tannin structure and it should have noticable acidity, even when very young. those are the things that will provide the framework for aging. i do cellar a lot of wines, but for different periods. i find 2-3 years is wonderful for most chianti (which i drink a lot of) with some of hte more traditional ones going way longer. most california cabs will reward 5-7 years, pinots 3-5 years. i even have a couple of california chardonnays i collect in verticals: stony hill and mayacamas. taste every once in a while and see how it's developing. i find the acidity is usually the first thing to go.

driscoll's may once have been a family operation, a long long time ago. today it is more closely related to a grower's cooperative like sunkist. they do have a parallel strawberry breeding program--there is no one "driscoll berry", but rather a series of varieties depending on season and location. watsonville is one growing area in california. it is further north, so typically it is harvested in the later part of the season. right now, california's harvest is centered in orange county/ventura county and some in riverside, iirc. note that typically the label on the clamshell reflects not the harvest site but the headquarters of the company doing the packing.

russ. well noted - these suckers are the offenders that I cited in a post upthread as being over-sized styrofoam-tasting nightmares... u.e. ← it sounded to me like you were talking about camarosas (another UC variety), which make ventanas look like fraise des boises. right after they were released I was making a recipe where you crush the strawberries with the back of a fork (then serve them in a lavender-scented meringue nest). only problem with the new berries? they bent the fork. that is no joke. growers have since found that you need to let them mature until they are almost black in color before harvesting. when they are a pretty red, they are still under ripe. not taht they're any great shakes when they're perfect.

just fyi: that's a university of california variety as well. they're everywhere.

this isn't hypocrisy at all, but merely sensible behavior. i think most of us when we talk about "local and seasonal" are talking about it as a goal, not as a dogma. the only time it would be hypocrisy would be if you were constantly complaining about the bananas you get not tasting as good as the ones you remember from grandma's.

the modern strawberry and the red delicious apple is an almost perfect comparison. the exception is the reason they have become the way they are. the red delicious was bred strictly for eye appeal--there is no reason why a good-tasting apple can't ship. but that is not so for the strawberry. strawberries are among the most fragile of fruits. they are extremely difficult to grow--they are susceptible to many more pests and diseases than most other fruits and vegetables (that's the reason they are sprayed, not because the farmer just feels like spending the money). and the very things we love about them--their melting texture and high sugar--means that it is very difficult to truck them across the country. but there is money to be made in doing that--and even more money to be made in doing that 11 months out of the year--and so that's what farmers do. i get tired of getting up on this soap box, but we have to understand that farming is a business, not a lifestyle choice. farmers have bills to pay for land, seed, water, labor, etc. and they have the same desires as the rest of us: cars that run and kids they want to put through school. these are not extravagent wishes and it is getting harder and harder to do, as more and more people shop only on price (we have the cheapest food in the industrialized world yet a recent roper survey found that for more than half of americans, their biggest concern about food was the cost). if you want great strawberries, stop buying them at teh supermarket and go to your local farmers market and buy what is grown locally, without needing to be shipped across country. that will, usually, mean that you'll only be able to have strawberries a couple of months a year. it will be inconvenient (supermarkets are not set up to be supplied by small local farmers). and it may well mean you'll have to pay more for them (small growers can't get teh same economies of scale that big ones can). but at least you'll have great flavor. if you're not willing to do that, then you have no reason to complain.

interesting thread and i'm glad it got bumped because i'd missed it the first time. i've covered ag for a long time, i'm billed as "the california cook" and i am a great supporter of high-quality small farms (and even "eat seasonal/local", but i am extremely skeptical of organics, which shocks most people. there is a terrific book called "agrarian dreams" by a santa cruz prof named julie guthman that analyzes (from a very sympathetic, quite liberal point of view) organic farming in california. it would be unfair to her to try to summarize her argument in just a few sentences because she sets up the context and explanations so well, but suffice to say that her subtitle "the paradox of organic farming in california" pretty much says it all. a few things: 1) most of the best farmers i know are not organic, though they have adapted many organic practices. they reserve the right to spray when absolutely necessary. (this is important context given them Manichean "organic vs. heavy chemical" argument that is usually posited). 2) almost all of the good organic farmers that i do know freely admit that they do it primarily as a marketing device, hoping to use it to get a premium price for their produce (as opposed to believing that it is safer for themselves or their customers). 3) i think the "fine food world" (chefs/media, etc) did a great disservice to farmers by early on adopting the word organic as shorthand for high-quality small farming. they are not the identical. perhaps "artisanal" or some other such word is of more use.

interesting question about the smell. two thoughts: there is a smell to old citrus, but it's more of a fermented kind of odor than "tired". on the other hand, oranges should not have the same amount of "brightness" as lemons and limes; they are far lower in acid and much sweeter. the best tests for buying citrus are whether the skin is taut and firm and whether the fruit feels heavy for its size.

i use a food mill a lot--it gives you a great texture in tomato sauces, etc. but that does seem like a lot of money for one. try "food mill" on bizrate. they had a bunch of them for about $20. i can't imagine it would make that much difference (i picked mine up at a yard sale about 30 years ago).

Thanks for that correction, Russ! Isn't science wonderful? I'll blame my mis-statement on recent developments rather than faulty memory. ← yes, well, at least your correction didn't come in front of a million readers the way mine did two years ago. seems the university that did the research is in our area. (UC Riverside and to be serious, they were quite wonderful and have been amazingly helpful with all things citrus. if you can ever wrangle an invitation to their experimental station, it is heaven--more than 900 varieties).

actually, the latest dna testing has meyers being a cross between lemon and sweet orange. but i do agree that the closest approximation in flavor would be lemon and tangerine--maybe 2-3 tablespoons per cup.

well, after a weekend of experimenting, preliminary findings (and some success!). the barkeeper's friend worked ok, but not well enough for this particular pan, i'm afraid. remember, we're talking about 15 years of burned on grease. i had better luck with the carbon-off (thanks andie), but it still didn't get it all off. however, it did clean it enough to restore some amount of domestic bliss. i think i'm going to go back now with a barkeeper's paste to try to get the rest off. for the record, it's a master-chef (brushed aluminum exterior).