Kindly supplied by Oakleaf European

An exciting new take on Live from Rungis

Fruit and Mushroom

We are starting to see a bit of change now in the fruit and the biggest one is in stone fruit. Moroccan yellow peach is now large and being calibrated in A and even AA sizes and the fruit has a good flavour. White flesh peach is available but we are not listing it yet as it tends to cut a little green still. Nectarines are in a similar way with fruit still being a little small and not great in flavour. We would prefer not to rush into these products and wait until they are worth raving about! Cherries have become less fragile and the smaller calibre Brooks from Spain is probably the better choice despite the flavour being a bit thin. A couple of weeks and cherry stones will be under all our feet! The soft fruit offering is growing down our list and we are getting great feedback on the Clery variety of strawberry that although it is a classic soft fruit, it is packed with flavour. Gariguette is good but not exceptional and we have seen the first of the Mara des Bois - again this will be better in a week or two. Baby vegetables are still tricky but we are doing our best to cover all your requirements, sometimes a punnet for bunches.

Vegetable and Salad

This week we have the first new season French Wet Garlic.  Just pulled from the ground, the heads are not even fully formed! The French like to send them to the market bunched in a 10 kg Chandelier. We won't argue with that as we think it's just spectacular. Most of the local growers around Paris are now back in their dedicated shade and we are now offering the range of specialist herbs from one of them. This includes Angelica, Absinthe, Bronze Fennel, Hysope, Lovage, Marjoram, Oregano, Pimprenelle, and Lemon Thyme. Other varieties such as Lemon Verbena should start shortly . This week saw our first delivery of Fine Frizee from Perle du Nord, grown in the North of France. The size and the percentage of white will improve over the next dew days. The first tiny Mangetout from Madagascar are back on the list. They are about as long as your little finger. They are the smallest Mangetout we can get during the year. They are usually around  until the end of June and are then followed by some from Guatemala.

Featured Fruit Products

Moscatel grapes are coming down in price so now is a great time to use this full flavoured sweet grape. Red William pears could produce a splash of colour. Be aware they are a delicate product. We can also supply them with a wax tipped stalk. We are right at the start of the season so Mousseron St George is scarce but we have found some. More for next week. Tulamine raspberries are superb right now. The Portuguese fruit still has the edge over the French being sweeter and fuller flavoured.

A Feature on Products from Provence

It is great to feel the sun back on our faces, or in some cases back on our legs! The shorts are going back on and as the temperatures in the north go up, it is clear to see from arrivals that it has been warmer in the south for a wee while. As a little celebration of this, we are showing off some of the products that are arriving from Provence. Some are yet to be listed as only a few boxes have arrived but keep looking and asking as they will each be promoted over the next few weeks.