Market Report - UK seasonal update 5 January 2015

The Staff Canteen

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

This week's market report from Wild Harvest features blood oranges, the old favourite - ceps and oca tuber as well as a whole host of other fruit and vegetables currently in season which you can see below:

Wild Mushrooms and Truffles

A South African contact of ours is mid cep flush. Torrential rain however has delayed picking and we wait for fair weather to ship.Cep A test 1Kg shipment of early crop US morels was disappointing. We will be tracking quality and price however to decide if we go to The States before Turkey this year to kick start the season on one of spring’s most significant seasonal shifts. With colder climes now lying fallow, we are enjoying the following wild mushrooms from both the USA and Portugal:
  • Grey & Yellow Legged Chanterelle
  • Girolle
  • Pied De Mouton
  • Trompette
Winter truffle quality improves as always into the New Year. We are busy passing on fine specimens of both Perigord and Italian. You can never be sure with such heavy reliance on weather, but I suspect we are into the last week or so of the mighty Italian white truffle season. And what a joyous season it has been.

Fruits

Blood orangeBlood levels are yet to reach the heights of the poster boy above, but blood oranges from Sicily are up and running. It’s only a matter of days before bitter Seville oranges hit our shores for their limited season, so dig out your marmalade and sorbet recipes. Here’s an abbreviated list of other fruits in fine form in January:
  • Cranberries
  • Bergamot oranges
  • English apples
  • Passe crassane late crop pears
  • Comice pears
  • Quince
  • Clementines
  • Kaki
  • Exotic finger limes and Buddhas hands
  • Italian unwaxed leafy lemons

Vegetables

Rhubarb being forced in the Yorkshire TriangleWith some old friends (such as certain baby veg varieties) going on their annual break, we eagerly await the arrival of the following any day now. Forced Yorkshire rhubarb January king cabbage Monk’s beard aka barba di frate or agretti Forced cultivated sea kale. A no show last year, so fingers crossed for this unusual stem. As with the fruits above, here’s a list of some hardy crops in good shape:
  • Crapaudine, golden and candy adult beets
  • Chervil & parsley rootsOca Tuber
  • Crosnes
  • Oca tuber
  • Helianthes & the related Jerusalem artichoke
  • Punterella
  • Cima di rape
  • Wild sea purslane
  • Iron bar pumpkins
  • UK grown mixed coloured kale
As usual, this is just a small selection of what we have on offer. Call in on 020 7498 5397 to speak to the team about what other treats we have in store for you today.
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The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 5th January 2015

Market Report - UK seasonal update 5 January 2015

IN ASSOCIATION WITH