Food Facts

Aphrodisiac Foods

Chocolate - Contains central nervous system stimulants that make people feel better; rumors state that Montazuma drank 50 cups of chocolate every day to boost his virility so that he could keep up with his harem of 600 women. Ancient monks were forbidden to eat chocolate because of its potential to initiate sexual thoughts.
Tomatoes - The French believed tomatoes to be, "Love Apples." Several historians considered tomatoes to be the forbidden fruit described in the bible.
Strawberries and Raspberries - Associated with romance because of their abundant amount of seeds. They also keep the mind and body romantically alert and active.
Oranges - Known for their exotic and juicy appeal as well as their seeds of fertility.
Bananas - Creamy texture with an exotic twist, most often referred to in the cooked state foe their aphrodisiac qualities.
Vanilla - The ultimate aromatherapy for the soul.
Passion Fruit - Juicy, exotic and full of seeds with an appropriate name.
Ginger - Exotic appeal with soothing and relaxing qualities.
Truffles - Scent is similar to the human male sex hormone; their rarity and elusiveness adds to their allure.
Asparagus - Reputed to sir up lust in men and women.
Radishes - Ancient Egyptians believed in their aphrodisiac qualities

Apples

Fossil remains show that apples have been gathered and stored for over 5,000 years and likely to have been cultivated during Neolithic times.
Roman legions introduced apples to Britain
Early Colonists brought apples to America to establish orchards in MA and VA to become the foundation for most apples grown in the US today.
Today the top producers are WA, MI and NY
Almost half the domestic crop is processed in applesauce, jellies, juice and other apple products.
Apples are now stored in controlled atmosphere conditions of 30 degrees with high humidity to ensure that the fruit stays in good condition three to six times longer than standard cold storage.
Delicious, McIntosh and Rome Beauty fare best in cold storage.
Over 500 varieties are grown all all over the world. 16 varieties account for 90% of the domestic apple production, eight of them make up 80% and include; Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, McIntosh, Rome Beauty, Stayman and York.

Artichokes

Actually the bud of a large thistle plant. If left to flower, a gigantic lavender colored blossom appears with a sweet aroma. Although artichokes are available year round their peak season is in April. All shapes and sizes are grown from baby to jumbo. In Europe, Markets sell artichokes on the stem peeled to the heart soaking in fresh lemon water ready for cooking. We are pleased to bring this fabulous product directly to you listed as; Peeled artichokes in our market basket list. Try artichokes steamed, grilled, roasted, marinaded and fried.

Beets

Once a misunderstood vegetable, beets are finally seeing their rightful place on menus in the United States.
Available in a wide variety of colors including; red, candy stripe, yellow and white (limited.)
High in iron, very nutritious.
Try roasting beets for optimal flavor.

Brussels Sprouts

Originally named for the Chou De Bruxells Ordinaire, the primary variety available in France and Britain at the end of the 19th century.
The crop was listed by Thomas Jefferson in his garden book in 1812.
The crop was planted in Monterey County somewhere in the early 1900s by an Italian artichoke farmer. They’ve grown popular ever since.
98% of the Brussels Sprouts grown in the US are grown in Monterey County.

Cardoons

Becoming more popular in today’s fine dining restaurants. These unruly giant stalks taste like a cross between artichokes, salsify and celery. Make sure to remove the tough strings to unveil the tenderness of this European favorite. Cook as you would a potato for best results.

Cherries

The first variety to become available in May is Brooks. Sweet and firm with a nice tart finish, cherries have been cultivated for thousands of years beginning in Asia. The seeds to the trees were brought to North America by French Colonists and planted along the St. Lawrence River Valley and into the Great Lakes districts. The first commercial cheery orchard was grown in Michigan producing sour cherries for processing. Michigan still produces a significant amount of sour cherries for canning to this day. Sweet brooks and Bing cherries are now grown for hand eating.

Chervil

Regarded as the queen of the herb garden. Fragile with a delicate composition, we are fortunate that this herb is now available all year round. A member of the carrot family, like parsley, Chervil is cultivated mainly for its leaves alone. Toss together with baby lettuces and heirloom bean salads. Its mild minty flavor is the epitome of spring.

Easter

Easter is celebrated as the primarily Christian Holiday commemorating the resurrection of Christ. Interestingly, many of this holidays customs are actually pagan in origin. The name Easter is derived from the Scandinavian goddess of spring and fertility, "Ostra". The pagan holiday was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox with symbols of fertility (Rabbits/eggs) and sunlight. In the west, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the spring equinox. In the East, Easter is still celebrated according to the date of the passover festival.
Easter is celebrated in many different ways around the world. In Germany, the first edible Easter Bunnies were made during the early 1800s out of pastry. Some Germans thought it was good luck to eat green food the Thursday before Easter (The night of the last supper.) - If they didn’t eat something green it was said they would turn into donkeys.
In the United States colored eggs are hidden for children to find as well as baskets being filled with candies and chocolates. Ham or lamb is traditionally served for a large brunch meal after church services.
Italy’s eggs are blessed by the priest and placed in the middle of sweet breads made into the shape of rabbits, chicks or dolls.
This is the highest religious holiday celebrated in Greece with midnight mass followed by supper of avgolemono soup of lemon, egg and rice to break the lenten fast. Sit down meals follow the next days serving specialties such as; Tsoureke bread (with crimson eggs representing the blood of christ) and baklava.
England, Ireland and Scotland fill their Easter baskets with candies and chocolates. Hot cross buns grace their supper tables.
In Eastern Europe, baskets lined with green leaves and the foods of the day to be served are taken to the priest for blessing. Eggs, butter, lamb, ham, sausage, horseradish, bread, poppy seed rings and kolachy cookies are served as well as plenty of chocolate for the children.
Scandinavia serves its Easter meal late int he morning and it is full of eggs, breads, sweets and scandinavian coffee.
In Australia, a beautiful meringue basket dessert is filled wtih fresh fruits, is tradionally served, probably due to the lovely fruits available this time of year in Australia including the green fid which symbolizes fertility.

Eggplant

Many varieties of eggplant are available this time of the year. We take our favorites and put together a farmer’s market mixed case for you which may include the following; Chines, Japanese, Italian and/or baby.

Endive

Farmer Jeff Lambrecht of Belgium in 1850 accidentally sprouted endive from a chickory plant by placing some potted cut chickory roots in his basement during the winter and forgetting about them. When he went down to his basement the following spring and brand new vegetable had been created. Without realizing it, he had created a new farming industry.
Try endive with sauteed butter or braised in orange juice for fantastic flavor.
Also use raw in salads for a crunchy fresh flavor.

Fava Beans

Also known as broad beans. Snuggly packed in their soft, fuzzy pods, fava beans look like the most comfortable vegetable in the garden. Look for bright, light green pods filled with young beans. We feature them pre-shucked. Even when pre-shucked, a final blanching and shucking is required to remove the second skin. Enjoy fava beans in a variety of dishes lightly sauteed or blanched.

Fiddlehead Fern

Any spring mushroom collector knows that the time is right when the fiddlehead ferns emerge from the forest floor. Tightly coiled fern fronds look somewhat like the spiral on the neck of a violin - hence the name - fiddle head. Saute these in sweet butter while they last for a few short weeks. Tasting green like asparagus with the texture of okra, fiddleheads make a good accompaniment to delicate fish and fowl.

French Melons

The one thing that really struck us as being different in France is their obsession with perfectly delicious little melons. Last April we brought back French Melon seeds for one of our favorite farmers to grow for us and the harvest began. Looking similar to tiny cantaloupes with orange flesh, these melons taste like the real thing. Keep them at room temperature for one day or until your kitchen smells like caramelized honey - then enjoy!

Heirloom Tomatoes

This refers to any tomato variety that is more than 50 years old. More than 80% of the old varieties that existed in the 1940s are, unfortunately, now extinct. The bulk of all heirloom tomatoes are grown in California. There are hundreds of varieties of heirloom tomatoes grown in backyard gardens and a smaller selection grown by small farms. We mix up a wonderful selection of seasonal heirloom tomatoes that may include; Brandy Wine, German Stripe, White Wonder, Green Zebra, Yellow Banana Legs, and/or Purple Cherokee. Mixed for your convenience so that you can enjoy all the different flavor sensations of these old time varieties.
Banana legs grow in 4" long clusters of long golden fruit that is shaped somewhat like a banana. (Hence the name.) Their texture is crunchy and flavor mild.
Brandywine is an Amish heirloom beefsteak dating back to 1885 with beautiful burgundy color, smooth silky skin and sweet solid flesh.
German Stripe is a large, sandwich-sized tomato with red-yellow skin that cuts striped. This one has a good taste balance of acidic and sweet.
White Wonder is a white skinned tomato with low acid.
Green zebra are small and round with a sweet flavor. Their green skin sports white stripes! This variety is becoming extremely popular.
Purple Cherokee is a Tennessee heirloom of Cherokee origin. They are small, dark pinkish-purple in color with very rich flavor.

Heirlooms

Generally considered to be a variety passed down through several generations of a family because of its valued characteristics - they fall into four main categories:
Commercial Heirlooms - Open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940
Family Heirloom - Seeds that have been passed down for several generations through a family.
Created Heirlooms - Crossing two known parents (Either two heirlooms or one heirloom and a hybrid) and dehybridizing the resulting seeds for however many generations it takes to remove the undesirable trait - Sometimes taking up to eight years to develop.
Mystery Heirloom - Varieties that are a product of natural cross-pollination of outer heirloom varieties.

Herb, Basil

Your summer table would be incomplete without fresh basil pesto. Considered to be a royal herb by the ancients, this popular herb is essential to any kitchen with a Mediterranean and/or Asian flair. Basil is a summer herb that likes to be grown in sandy soil. As a fresh herb it freezes well for flavor, but not for color. We recommend only using fresh. A must accompaniment with summer garden tomatoes.

Morel Mushrooms

How I miss Virginia in April to search for Morels! Blond morels start the season at the beginning of April followed by brown then black. Known in the back woods as merkels, they pop up from the dead fall at the same time as the fiddlehead fern. Best prepared simply sauteed with spring garlic and paired with eggs, pasta, polenta and fava beans. Their flavor is extremely delicate so don’t overdo it with additional elements.

Mushrooms, Chanterelles

Shaped like trumpets with frilly caps ranging in color from golden yellow to orange.
Gathered in the wild in the Northern Pacific, US
Also cultivated domestically in Europe.

_{Mushrooms, General}

Surprisingly high in nutrients including protein, vitamin B, copper and other minerals.
Low in calories; 1=20 Calories
Studies have recently discovered mushrooms also contain an antibacterial and anti-tumor substance.
Technically not a vegetable, but a fungus because they do not have roots or leaves, do not flower or bare seeds and do not need light.
Produces spores instead of flowers.
There are over 38,000 varieties of mushrooms, with only a few edible and a few toxic.
Their earthy flavor has been appreciated since Egyptian times when Pharaohs declared them a royal delicacy.
The French began cultivating mushrooms in caves beginning in the 17th century.
By the late 1800s, mushrooms were being grown on a commercial scale in Europe and the US.
Mushrooms in the US are now cultivated in specially designed buildings with environmental controls. The French still cultivate their mushrooms in caves and the Japanese cultivate shiitake mushrooms in forests.
Wild mushrooms are those that cannot be cultivated.
Mushrooms are members of the most primitive foodstuffs being related to molds and yeasts.
Many mushrooms are found only in symbiosis with the roots of trees where they extract sugars from the roots while giving the soil phosphorus.
Mushrooms cannot be planted like other vegetables.
Traces of puff ball mushrooms have been found in stone age settlements.
A french team actually cultivated a truffle in 1978
Truffles produce a musky chemical that is also secreted in the male pigs saliva, prompting the mating behavior in the truffle sow.
Men also secrete this chemical in underarm sweat.
Perigord France is known for Black Truffles
Northern Italy is known for White Truffles
Mushrooms have an abnormally high content of glutamaicacid (The natural version of MSG) giving them the ability to naturally intensify flavors in dishes.

Mushroom, Lobster

Large and Meaty
Red in color similar to a cooked lobster
Firm texture with a nutty flavor.

Organic

Based on the new organic standards.
Organic crops are grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or herbicides.
These chemicals are health and environmental hazards that affect not only their growers, their families and land, but also their consumers.
Organic agriculture focuses on building healthy soil through composting, inter-cropping and natural pest controls.
Organic produce is easier to come by than most people realize because the demand is getting much stronger.
Who uses organics around the country? Chefs like Gwen, Charlie Trotter, Alice Waters, Nora Pouillon and many other chefs around the country. In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association about 57% of all upscale restaurants in the US offer organic items on their menus.
Many grocery stories such as Whole foods and Kroger also offer organics.
One reason why organic foods taste better is because they often get to the market faster.
Organic products are grown in soil that has been free of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides for at least three years.

Passover

Passover is the Jewish Holiday commemorating the Israelites release from slavery under the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. Ramses ignored the first nine plagues of god (Rivers of blood, frogs, vermin, flies, blight, boils, hail, locusts and darkness.) Only the tenth plague of slaying the first-born male - the plague that passed over the Israelites homes - did the pharoah agree to the freedom of the slaves. Once free the Israelites fled quickly into the deserts but the pharoah sent his men to capture the slaves once again, lieing to them. Upon reaching the REd Sea, god intervened with a miracle, parting the sea before the Israelites allowing them safe passage. As they reached the other side, the sea closed upon the Pharoahs army, destroying them. The holiday of Passover is celebrated with two nights of lavish seder meals full of special foods.
Matzoh is unleavened and symbolizes the haste in wh ich the Israelites fled upon being granted freedom from the pharoah - They had no time to bake bread before leaving and brought the unleavened dough with them to the desert which was baked with the heart of the sun. Haroseth is a mixture of chopped walnuts, wine, cinnamon and apples that represent the mortar the Jewish slaves used to assemble the Pharoah’s bricks. Parsley is served to symbolize springtime and when dipped in salt water it is to remind us of the tears of the Jewish slaves. Eggs are used as a ymbol of spring. Shank bones serve as a symbol of the sacrificial lamb offering. Bitter herbs signify the bitterness of slavery, horseradish for example. Fives glasses of wine are poured. The first four glasses symbolize the four stages of the Exodus; Freedom, Deliverance, Redemption and Release. The fifth is poured for the priophet Elijah.

Pears

First cultivated four thousand years ago.
Over five thousand varieties developed.
Slightly more nutritional than an apple - the skin has fiber.
Slightly sweeter than an apple.
Much shorter shelf life than an apple.
Native to Europe and Asia, brought to the US by colonists.
Pear trees can live up to 100 years.
98% of the domestic pear crop is grown in CA, OR and WA.
Due to the almsot melting quality of the ripened fruit, Europeans named some varieties butter pears.
Varieties include:
Anjou - Leading winter fruit, stubby, yellow-green skin, creamy flesh.
Barletty - Leading summer fruit. Most popular variety being the Principle pear for canning, the only pear sold commercially dry for canning. Available in gold, green or red.
Bosc - Firm and crunchy, long tapered neck, holds its hape well when cooked.
Comice - Often called the sweetest, dull, squat and green.
Seckel - Named after the 18th century farmer who introduced it. Small and crisp
Forelle - Small, golden skin with freckles. Bright red stripe when ripe.
Ya Li - Green chinese pear with freckles and a long tapered neck.
Asian - Most popular types sold are twentieth century, large, yellow skinned fruit shaped like an apple. Low acid, lightly sweet, very crunchy - firm to the touch when ripe.

Peas, Shoots

These have been available in good China Town markets for years and they are finally available commercially to chefs. Before the pea is formed these beautiful greens, complete with tendrils, climb their way up the vine. Treat them as yo u would any understated green by cooking quickly or by serving raw. Their fresh pea flavor is exceptional.

Peas, English

English peas become sweet in March and April. Before then fresh peas tend to be starchy instead of sweet.
Be sure to buy enough ~ the yield of the finished product is about one fourth the total weight with pod.
If you are lucky, you can find a vendor, like us, who will shuck them for you so you can really have fun with them on your menu!

Pomegranate

From the Latin word, pomum granatum, meaning apple or fruit of many seeds.
Smooth crimson skin with jewel-like seeds (aril) enclosed in a white pithy membrane.
Best cleaned underwater, the seeds float to the top and the juice won’t stain your clothes that way.
Referred to as an ancient fruit; readily grows all over the Middle East and California.
Persia appears to be its origin.
Will store for several weeks refrigerated.
Seeds can be frozen for up to two weeks, after that they become watery.
Dried pomegranates make lovely decorations.
Ancient Romans used to tan the tough skin and use it for leather.

Ramps

A favorite spring ingredient with the shortest season would have to be the wild ramp. Ramps are grown wild on the east coast from Canada to the Carolinas and also in the Midwest. Some call them wild garlic, or leeks, and will attest to their strong flavor, but we find them delicate and delicious. Simple saute in sweet butter for the best results.

Spring Garlic

The secret of the California Farmer’s Markets is now available to you, from us! Get your hands on some and replace all your garlic and green onions with it until it is no longer available. This is one of the finest ingredients grown for chefs. Looking like a small leek, spring garlic has a fresh garlic flavor that compliments almost all savory dishes. Seek this special ingredient out and it will change your life forever!

Starfruit

Known to many as carambola, this highly seasonal fruit thrives in Caribienne climate, hawaii, South America and parts of Asia. The flesh is shaped likea five-pointed star when sliced. Crunchy and watery, this unusual fruit makes a good addition to tropical fruit salads and is fun for garnishing.

Vidalia Onions

Grown in the sandy lome soil of south central Georgia. Due to the natural aeration of the soil during their long eight-month growing season, these onions are always naturally sweet and only harvested once a year. Incidentally, all Vidalia onions are still picked by hand.

White Asparagus

Chefs all over the world wait for the day they can feature this king of spring. Fortunately for us, farmers in California have started growing these mighty spears. Chilean and Holland spears are aviailable throughout the season as well. Most white asparagus does need to be peeled before cooking to ensure its succulent finish. Try grilling for a surprising delicious flavor or clasically poaching. Serve warm or cold, just make sure to get it somewhere on your menu this month.