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MARKET REPORT - Wednesday 9th April, 2008 (10-Apr-08)
Veg:
Veg has been a little more difficult with Cauliflowers shorter and good quality harder to find.
English Primo and Savoy are starting to fade away and will shortly be replaced by French and Portuguese produce. White cabbage is still highly priced.
Portuguese Hispi is well worth trying at the moment, it is excellent!
Purple Sprouting broccoli is still with us but can be a little “hit and miss”.
Jersey Mids and Royales are still high in price but are gradually dropping. King Edward potatoes are selling quite well and seem to be a popular choice.
English Jerusalem Artichokes are coming to an end are going to be replaced by French shortly.
Bunch Carrots and Beetroot are still coming through very good. English Carrots are still very good for this time of year.
Fresh Peas are in London but are very “hit and miss” so it’s advised not to use them as part of your main menu for now. Italian Broad Beans are now in the market.
Flat Beans and Balloty Beans are available
Marrows are still available.
Salads:
No real changes in salad.
Dutch produce is well underway and by the middle of next week we should be on Dutch Tomatoes full time.
Celery has become a little harder with some of the Spanish Celery quality not being too great.
The first of the English “Iced” Spring Onions are in London but they are still very thin and we won’t be switching to them just yet.
Lollo Rosso, Endive, Bionda etc are all coming though very well with no problems.
Cherry Vine Tomatoes are still a very big seller and are very nice.
Fruit:
Lemons have hit the headlines again as they risen in price yet again. Limes have risen in price as they have started to tighten up a little.
The first of the South African Lemons have arrived but they are very small, this is what’s pushed the price of the older Spanish crop up.
Oranges still remain the same with no movement.
Moroccan Ortaniques are still in front of the new crop South African Satsuma’s, because the Satsumas are still very small and full of water.
Water Melons are still selling well.
Honeydew and Galia still need plenty of time to ripen.
We need to give Peach’s a miss now as they are very dry and brown inside.
Some new crop Nectarines are now available but they are very hard and go very soft before they ripen.
We are still using Spanish Strawberries but we will be moving over to Dutch as soon as the price comes down.
Cold store Bramley Apples are now very short as they normally are this time of year.
We’ll also see the first of the Chilean Apples by the end of this week.
Cape Golden Delicious have now arrived.
Size 6 Galia Melons are very short at the moment as there has been a slight problem with Carmel supplies.
Size’s 7 and 8 are much easier to get hold of.
We have now moved over to Moroccan Charantais melons.
Fresh Meadlers are now in season
English Rhubarb is a very popular choice this time of year and is plentiful but may have been slowed down a little due to the recent cold weather.
Exotics:
We are now on local Baby Turnips and Fennel.
Red Currants, Blackberries and Blueberries still remain very high in price.
Girolles Mushrooms have become very short this has made the price rise dramatically. Mixed wild Mushrooms are selling very well and there is a very good selection.
Fresh Button Onions and Banana Shallots seem to be very popular recently and are readily available.
English asparagus is coming through now but not on a daily basis but it’s worth noting that the price is still very high.
Wild Garlic leaf is at its best this time of year but has also been put back slightly by the cold weather
New season garlic is looking good.
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