Fruit

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Most of the stone fruit brought into our local farmers markets has been very late this year but they have good crops.  They are still bringing cling peaches (the early season varieties) and haven't started on the freestones yet.  Ken's Top Notch comes down from Reedely in Fresno Co, Murray Family Farms is outside of Bakersfield and Tenerelli Orchards comes over from the Antelope Valley. They all got lots of rain but were spared the devastating flooding we see on the news in the Tulare Lake area.  The winter stayed consistently cool with no heat waves and no big freezes so the trees got good chill hours without frost damage.  It was also a cool, mild spring and early summer which the growers say has made the fruit sweeter.  I hope the season continues to go well as it's warming up now.

 

 

That's very good news: first, that the Valley crops are doing so well and second, that those crops make it to farmers' markets. When I was growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, we went to fruit stands run by neighbors, unless our own trees had what we wanted. (We raised citrus, but had pet stone fruit trees.) In later years, after I moved to northern Minnesota, I couldn't get decent stone fruits until one memorable year in the 1980's when, suddenly, the local grocery stores started getting peaches and nectarines that actually smelled right for a week or two! The season and choices have expanded since then. What was very strange was that by then my family in California simply couldn't get decent stone fruits unless neighbors brought them from pet trees. Rock-hard and flavorless in the grocery stores. Same at the fruit stands! We never figured out why I could get decent fruit here when they couldn't get it from nearer the source.

 

I'm glad the farmers' markets are filling the quality gap that the fruit stands used to fill.

[ElsieD]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:17 AM, Smithy said:

At last, the California nectarines are coming into their own! Considering the weather in the San Joaquin Valley this year, I'm surprised and very pleased that any of the crop has survived. What's even better is that the "tree ripe" fruit finally is.

 

I'm wallowing in good, sweet, tart nectarines while I can!

 

 

I'm extremely jealous.

[weinoo]

On 7/22/2023 at 11:38 AM, BeeZee said:

cherries not so good, they have been from CA rather than WA, which I prefer.

 

I always felt they start out coming from warmer California and as the season progresses, we see WA cherries.

 

Either way, I've had some outstanding cherries - via Fresh Direct! I'm pretty sure that the ones I'm eating now , from Ranier Fruit, are Washington grown.

[ElsieD]

I was in Southern Ontario last weekend and bought some cherries at a farm stand.  If I had been blindfolded while eating them, I wouldn't have known they were cherries.

[TicTac]

5 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I was in Southern Ontario last weekend and bought some cherries at a farm stand.  If I had been blindfolded while eating them, I wouldn't have known they were cherries.

There are some amazing stone fruit coming out of Niagara now.  At the organic farmers market this past weekend, he had cherries, yellow plums, apricots and peaches. 

[BeeZee]

I treated myself to a handful of Rainier cherries since they looked good at Whole Foods. 8 cherries cost me close to $2., at least they were tasty.

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, BeeZee said:

I treated myself to a handful of Rainier cherries since they looked good at Whole Foods. 8 cherries cost me close to $2., at least they were tasty.

 

Just got a big bag of Ranier's from FD; haven't sampled yet - they look and feel in good shape. $7/lb.

[BeeZee]

31 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Just got a big bag of Ranier's from FD; haven't sampled yet - they look and feel in good shape. $7/lb.

At $7/lb, I hand picked those 8 cherries😁

[curls]

Interesting, cherries are on sale in Northern Virginia. I’ve been getting nice ones from Wegmans and Whole Foods for 3 per pound.

[BeeZee]

@curls, I've been getting red cherries at $2.99/lb or sometimes even $2.49/lb here in NJ, but they have been disappointing. I don't shop regularly at Wegmans, but they probably have better suppliers than ShopRite, I'll take a look. Red Cherries at WF were $3.99/lb (IIRC) yesterday. I'm stuck in the mental barrier of "last year I bought them $1.99/lb on sale"...😉

edit to add, next week’s sale flyer shows $1.99/lb!

Edited July 27, 2023 by BeeZee
Added note (log)

[lindag]

29 minutes ago, curls said:

Interesting, cherries are on sale in Northern Virginia. I’ve been getting nice ones from Wegmans and Whole Foods for 3 per pound.

Here the Rainier cherries were $1.28 per lb. last week.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, lindag said:

Here the Rainier cherries were $1.28 per lb. last week.

 

I just paid $6.99 per pound.

 

[ElsieD]

I can't even find any Rainier cherries.  Now, that's sad.

[curls]

14 hours ago, BeeZee said:

@curls, I've been getting red cherries at $2.99/lb or sometimes even $2.49/lb here in NJ, but they have been disappointing. I don't shop regularly at Wegmans, but they probably have better suppliers than ShopRite, I'll take a look. Red Cherries at WF were $3.99/lb (IIRC) yesterday. I'm stuck in the mental barrier of "last year I bought them $1.99/lb on sale"...😉

edit to add, next week’s sale flyer shows $1.99/lb!

@BeeZee I understand not wanting to buy them for so much more than previous seasons.  I have that issue with zucchini.  Some years I grow zucchini but when I don't,  I am unwilling to spend more than 79 cents a pound for it (and I haven't seen it for that price in years). Not enough squash growers in the neighborhood because no one is dropping of bags of squash & zucchini in my car or on my porch.  🙂

[liuzhou]

Found these today.

 

黄皮 (huáng pí, literally 'yellow skin') Wampee, Clausena lansium. This fruit is native to SE Asia, especially southern China,Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is very popular in Hong Kong, where it picked up its English name from the Cantonese pronunciation, wong4 pei4*2.

 

 

Wampee is the fruit of a smallish tree (no more than 20 metres tall). The fruit is about the size of a large grape and up to 50% consists of seeds. The seeds are said by some sources to be edible; others say to discard them. I tend to eat the small ones but not the larger. Wikipedia claims that the skin is edible but people in China and Vietnam seldom eat any fruit's skin.

 

The flavour is initially sweet, but in the aftertaste sourness predominates. They kind of remind me of slightly sweeter gooseberries.

 

These are often confused with the similar looking and related chicken skin fruit, Clausena anisum-olens (Blanco) Merrill which I mentioned here a whole nine years ago. Both are good.

 

In the southern U.S. the term 'wampee' is sometimes used to refer to pickerel-weed. There is no connection.

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liamsaunt]

All of the stone fruit in MA was killed this winter by a brief but extremely cold Arctic blast.  I'm in a sweet corn and fruit share offered by my CSA, and typically the fruit part is large amounts of nectarines, peaches, and apples, with smaller amounts of other fruits.  We got a note saying that due to the freeze, they were working on growing their own melons for later in the season, and they'd be supplementing with other fruits as they could, sometimes relying on nearby farms.  The first delivery came yesterday.  We got a quart each of strawberries and blueberries, and 19 ears of corn!  It made me laugh because last year customers were complaining that there was not enough corn in the corn and fruit share.  It does not seem like that is going to be a problem this year!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I just had a red nectarine that was worth eating.  I ate it over the sink and still managed to get it up my nose.

 

[heidih]

37 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I just had a red nectarine that was worth eating.  I ate it over the sink and still managed to get it up my nose.

 

Dribble down chin and onto top but never up the nose. You never cease to surprise

[liuzhou]

One Indian Village, More Than 100 Varieties of Mangoes

 

Gastro Obscura

[KennethT]

 

My favorite Chinatown fruit seller has green mangoes again. The label said Nam Doc Mai (a Thai variety) but I think they were grown in Vietnam and they seem way too big to be NDM.  Of course I had to make some chilli salt to go with.... Heaven.

[liuzhou]

I'm putting this here as, although not technically the fruit, it is from a fruit tree. We are looking at 桃胶 (táo jiāo), peach gum or peach tree gum. This is the sap of the tree and is used in Chinese sweet soups and desserts especially with silver ear fungus.

 

 

It arrives looking like the above. Around the size of a large raisin or larger and sticky but rock hard. These lumps require soaking overnight and then being boiled for 30 miutes before use.

 

Post soaking preboiling

 

They are considered to have numerous health benefits, but they say that about everything here. Not however, recommended for pregnant women or children under eight.

Much more information and recipes here.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

A couple of friends paid a Chinese New Year visit yesterday, bearing fruity gifts as is traditional. Among their gifts was an introduction to a new addiction.

These are 耙耙柑 (pá pá gān), a type of giant tangerine / orange hybrid from Sichuan.

 

They are the size of a regular large orange but have that easily removed loose skin that tangerines have. They taste sweet but balanced with a citric edge.

 

There were eight, China's lucky number, but I quickly reduced that to these four before remembering to take a picture.

 

They too are critically endangered. I'll buy more tomorrow.
 

 

 

 

Edited May 6 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

...and some grapes from Hainan Island 

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

Of course, we also get regular oranges. When I lived in Hunan, oranges were almost free. 7 cents (USD) a kilo. It was said to be the world's largest orange producing area.

 

These are a bit more expensive and grown locally.

 

 

 

Edited February 16 by liuzhou (log)

[Smithy]

28 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Of course, we also get regular oranges. When I lived in Hunan, oranges were almost free. 7 cents (USD) a kilo. I was said to be the world's largest orange producing area.

 

These are a bit more expensive and grown locally.

 

 

 

 

Those have such a high polish on them! Out here, that would be associated with a run through a packing plant (with food-grade wax finishing the process) but then they wouldn't have the leaves. How is the fruit handled there, to give it such a shine?