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An exciting new take on Live from Rungis

Fruit & Mushroom

The range of late autumn fruit continues to grow and this is being helped by the slowly dropping temperatures in Spain. Citrus fruit is beginning to colour naturally with great sellers like the leafy clementine now starting to lose the green tinge to the skin. European Kiwi have started with the first variety - a French one call Summerkiwi. It is a little sweeter than the traditional green Hayward which comes along soon. Red Label fruit, with its guaranteed percentage of sugar, is available from November 15th.

Lemons are more colourful too and the popular cell-packed trays of full colour fruit are available again.

Mushrooms are becoming a little more interesting with the arrival of yellow and grey chanterelle from France. Other varieties are still very short because of all the dry weather, but hopefully we will begin to see a little more over the coming weeks.

As a foot note, there are a few boxes of cocktail avocado appearing. These  thumb sized fruits have no stone.

Vegetables & Salad

So we have had our first frost in the early morning, which on the veg side means we have got to go to southern Europe, Spain or Italy, and even as far as Morocco to find some decent peppers, chillies, aubergines, courgettes and broccoli. All these products are now really good and will be with us until next Spring.

The frosty mornings have put an end to salads from the north, in particular the frizee which is now coming from Provence. First sendings have been good with a nice yellow heart and tender leaves.

Italian produce is starting to take over the market a little and we are seeing some interesting varieties appearing like the vegetable Puntarella which makes us think a bit harder for recipe ideas. The long Verona and the more traditional Chioggia Radicchios are bringing colour  and we will soon be getting our first Tardivo (spider), Castelfranco and Precocce Radicchios.

Wild Roquette from Italy is now beautifully thin and has replaced the French.

French baby bunch onion is also coming to an end and we are replacing them with some lovely Italian ones.

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These are dried Muscat grapes which come up from Spain. They are the whole grape, dried, so they still have the pips!

The inevitable arrival of one of the best know winter fruit. Cranberries are very versatile and great with meat dishes.

Fresh Deglet Nour dates are arriving from Algeria. The picture shows Régime as all the branches are still attached to the main branch.

Custard apples are around again. The fruit contains sweet white flesh and large black seeds.

Bunched Lisbon onions from Italy in cases of twelve with five bulbs per bunch.

A member of the chicory family, Puntarella has short asparagus like spears in its heart.

Sweet red pepper, or Corne de Boeuf, from Morocco look great this week.

The most common and best know radicchio from Italy - chioggia.

An addition to the mustards that we offer this week is this truffle mustard. It contains 3% truffle and truffle arome.

Panettone, the tall, cylindrical, fruit-filled sweet bread from Milan has become an essential part of the Christmas season.
You can make panettone two months in advance, wrap it tightly in heavy-duty foil and freeze it. Since the bread making
begins with a starter dough, or sponge, and requires a long rising time, it is best to begin the process the evening before
baking or early in the day. During the Christmas season, Italians eat panettone at breakfast with coffee, between meals with Marsala wine, and after dinner with spumante.
Panettone can be toasted and spread with butter  or mascarpone cheese for breakfast or used to make a wonderful French toast.