blue_dolphin

Yeah, it's interesting (or maybe only interesting to me because I used to live next to one 🙃) that bananas and other refrigerated stuff have developed their infrastructure (refrigerated warehouses and distribution) in smaller niche ports. So Wilmington instead of New York/New Jersey and Port Hueneme instead of Los Angeles/Long Beach out here on the west coast. This map is outdated but shows the comparison between banana boats and container ships at US ports.

My local TJ's increased their banana prices from 19 cents to 23 cents each for the regular bananas last month. Organic bananas went from 25 cents to 29 cents each some time ago and that wasn't changed in this round. TJ's reports that 19 cent price had been in effect for 20 years so not really that surprising to see an increase and at 23 cents each, that's probably still less than the 63 cents/pound that's been the average for the last 2 years (see graph below) On a year-over-year basis, retail banana prices in the US have been pretty stable. Obviously supermarkets often price them super low in their ads but there haven't been any huge year-long price swings. When I look at this graph and think of the big price bumps in other food items, my first thought is that banana prices should probably increase so the farmers and workers can be paid more. Graph from here I don't believe we're seeing any huge price swings from either global warming or disease just yet but I'm sure we will, sooner or later. The disease thing could be sooner but both will happen. NPR's Science Friday had a piece today on the efforts of a North Carolina biotech working with Dole to develop a strain of Cavendish banana plants that are resistant to the TR-4 fungus. They've been working on it since 2020 and are just now ready to test plants in the field, still years away from production. Chiquita is also working on this and Australian regulatory agencies have recently approved a similar plant. These are all GMO bananas where genes from bananas that are naturally resistant to the TR-4 fungus have been incorporated into Cavendish bananas. I wish they'd end the big Cavendish monoculture but it seems that after decades of being top banana, the Cavendish has become so productive and so ingrained in consumers minds as THE banana that moving away from it is an uphill climb. On Science Friday: Fighting Banana Blight In A North Carolina Greenhouse and: A North Carolina company is trying to make a fungus-proof banana Australian approval: Genetically modified banana resistant to Panama disease given approval for Australian consumption

i always thought it was the fat but gluten could well be part of it, too.

I hope you like it. I wasn’t planning to get the book but the shrimp and coconut grits made me buy it. Not everything has been perfect but it’s earned a spot on my bookshelf!

Ditto the Masienda masa harina recommendation. This doesn't help @ElsieD in Canada, but for those in the US, Masienda masa harina is available at Whole Foods. Most stores have the white and blue. I've also seen the yellow at my local Whole Foods but not the red. Since I'm usually a solo cook and eater, I like that I can easily scale the recipe to make the number of tortillas I want without having to make a big production out of it.

Looks like we're safe from this one here on the left coast. I usually get herbs at the farmers market but do occasionally pick up Italian parsley or cilantro at TJ's. Both are from a local grower in Oxnard.

@ElsieD, another source of excellent taco ideas would be to search the forums for posts by @C. sapidus that include the word taco and scroll through the list of posts. He's shared tons of them over the years from delicious looking tacos in the breakfast topic that might feature leftovers as well purpose-built tacos in the Dinner topic and else where that might be traditional Mexican or fusion cuisine!

I know exactly what you are asking and don't have the answer but this sort of query always reminds me of a comment by Niloufer Ichaporia King in her book, My Bombay Kitchen: 🙃 Edited to add that because I'm a looker upper, I looked it up and I think this response to the question touched all bases: That last line cracks me up!

The Global Pantry Cookbook is this month's book for the cookbook group I participate in so I tried their version of avocado toast sprinkled with a gremolata made with orange zest and furikake in addition to the usual parsley and garlic. It was OK but if I want a "global pantry" ingredient on my avocado toast, kimchi gets my top vote! The poached egg was not part of the recipe but I can never resist the opportunity to add a runny yolk!

No need to make them if you like what you can buy. In my case, I can buy flour tortillas that I like but have to go out of my way to get great tasting corn tortillas. You don’t need a press for flour tortillas, I’ve always rolled them out with a rolling pin. A press does make corn tortillas quicker and easier but no need to go there if you like the ones you’ve got. Sometimes I go with the classics as @FrogPrincesse described, sometimes I mix it up, using a slaw instead of plain cabbage and if the slaw is spicy, like a kimchi slaw, I might skip the pico de gallo or hot sauce. I aim for something crunchy (cabbage or other veg julienne), something tangy (pico de gallo, pickled onion, hot sauce) and something creamy (crema, avocado)

Yesterday's lunch was the Virtuous Vegan Harissa Tofu Bowl with Farro from The Global Pantry Cookbook. Yes, good grief on the recipe name. And yet, I made the leftovers even more virtuous by cooking up more vegetables to throw in with my reheated bowl:

Are you making both corn tortillas and flour tortillas for your tacos? Or are you buying them and looking for filling ideas? I'm a big fan of breakfast tacos and love using flour tortillas made with bacon fat. Potato & egg is a great combo. Chorizo, avocado, eggs and cheese. Bean, cheese and bacon. Also, of course, fish tacos, generally with freshly made corn tortillas.

Eat Your Books shows it in the 1975 Sixth Edition and the 2006 75th Anniversary Edition

Harissa tofu bowl with farro from The Global Pantry Cookbook This cookbook is about cooking with "global" ingredients in different ways, using those ingredients purchased for one cookbook or recipe. I'm generally pleased with the recipes and the results but some of the recipe names irritate me. For example, this one is called Virtuous Vegan Harissa Tofu Bowl with Farro. Others use unnecessary superlatives - "creamiest" is included in the recipe name for grits, hummus and a curry. Obviously, I'm trying to get over it 🙃

Eggs for breakfast but perhaps not in the typical manner. Cabbage Carbonara-ish from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon. No meat but a bit of miso adds a hit of umami that makes this taste surprisingly carbonara-ish. I made this per the recipe except for using 2 oz pasta/serving instead of 4. With about 150g of cabbage/serving, I didn't miss the extra pasta.