Dear Chef,
I hope you are well; here is the upcoming week’s seasonal offering:
Wild Mushrooms & Truffles
I have some lovely Spanish cep coming in next week; 95% maggot free (I would never promise 100% on European cep), a good size (bouchon cep can be found in the case), though don’t be surprised by larger mushrooms in the box, which is to be expected this time of year.
American Girolles: like everything American they are big but good colour and nice aroma for Americans.
Grey-legged Chanterelle fromSweden; my favourite in the warehouse at the moment. Sturdier then their French cousins so they stand up on the plate better after cooking, a little colour on the stem and great flavour (as tasted in Vivita’s risotto last week – flipping fantastic!
Turkish Trompette de la Mort is in steady supply; very popular mushroom with our chefs and demand is high after a difficult growing season. These are in great shape (and mostly recently featured on a new dish at Danesfield House with cod, mussels and cauliflower which looks stunning). Turkey is also offering a small supply of Pied de Mouton.
Pied Bleu is back, a cultivated wild variety, a little larger than earlier in the year but a good, standardized quality.
Here’s the wild & cultivated mix for next week:
American Girolle
King Oyster
Shimeji
Chanterelle
Pied de Mouton
White Umbrian Truffles are going strong; please contact your account manager directly to pre-order. Autumn Truffles are clinging on, but it is becoming hard to find as the season comes to a close that will be the Wild Harvest standard and quality. We have seen samples of Winter/Perigord Truffles but we still feel the need to wait a week or two to give the truffle more time to mature in the ground.
Seasonal produce
Fresh Cranberries
Sprouts
Season End:
Coloured Cauliflowers
Turkish Figs
Angelino Plums
Crab Apples
Planifolia Vanilla from Papua New Guinea
As an ex-pastry chef, this is my favourite product in the warehouse.
Wild Harvest stock the Planifolia, A-Grade variety, which has the highest concentration of natural vanillin in comparison to Tahitian vanilla. As you are probably aware, Madagascan is well known for its high quality vanilla, however, as we source our vanilla fromPapua New Guinea, which is the same grade as Madagascan but not over produced, due to its smaller status in the spice world. Because of this little demand on vanilla fromPapua New Guinea, we can over a competitive price.
For the first 10 customers that reply to this weeks update we will send out a sample of our Planifolia Vanilla.
Make some good custard with it or, my favourite, vanilla pound cake and let us know what you will think.
As always chef, if we can be of any further assistance please do get in touch with myself or your account manger. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter.
Have a fantastic weekend – I’m off for mulled wine inWinchester, which should be fun; best wishes,
Louise Thomas
Wild Harvest Ltd
Units B61-64 NewCovent GardenMarket
London
SW8 5HH
[email protected]
Tel: 0207 498 5397
Fax: 0207498 5419
