Hot Shots - August 12, 2022
Hot Shots - August 12, 2022
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
August is well underway, and the good produce times are rolling. The sun is shinning, the afternoons in particular are bustling with local pickups, and local fruit and veg is overflowing. Some would say that these are the best days of produce all year. Let's enjoy them and eat all the delicious BC fruit and veg!
We had a friend visiting us from Italy this past week, we met her while I was studying there, and last weekend we did the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, pictured above, and Pemberton and Whistler on Sunday. Needless to say, it was an action packed weekend.
The Sunshine Coast is always a treat, it has the slower pace of life that you immediately feel once you dock in Langdale. We had a delicious brunch at The Gumboot Cafe, and then drove up to Madeira Park. There, we ate some ice cream, listened to some live music, got our Italian friend hooked on ruffles all dressed chips (a personal triumph for me), and then went swimming in a beautiful lake.
On Sunday, we took the always stunning Sea-to-Sky highway into the mountains and up to Pemberton. There, we stopped at Laughing Crow and The Beer Farmers. Drinking a cold foamy beer and munching on freshly fried fries from Across the Creek potatoes, was the highlight of our day. We took a stroll through the village, stopped to watch the mountain bikers rip down the hill, and then headed back to the coast and home to North Van.
Fresh corn on the cob, organic and non-gmo, has landed for the first time this season at Disco. We have corn form both Two EE's, bi-colour, and yellow corn from Crisp.
One of my favourite treats in the summertime is BBQed corn on the cob. I lightly boil, then toss them onto the BBQ with some seasoning, and cook till lightly charred. Slap some butter on the cobs, sprinkle with salt, and you're on your way!
Corn comes from Mexico, and its first varietals were domesticated by the indigenous Mesoamericans back in prehistoric times. Remains of corn were found in the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico, and dates back to 2750 BC, approximately 7,000 years old.
Dragon fruit!
Coming up to us from sunny Southern California and Rainbow Valley Orchards, this magenta dragon fruit is a show-stopper. Grown commercially in California, Florida and Hawaii, and coming from a cactus, dragon fruit is native to Mexico, Central America and South America.
Thought to have been brought to Asia in the 1800s by French missionaries and planted in Vietnam. After the introduction to Asia, the dragon fruit received is whimsical name, and legend has it that the red dragon fruits came from the final breath of a slain dragon. Once the dragon had fallen, the fruit was taken and presented to the Emperor as a symbol and gift of victory.
To eat this unique fruit, simply peel the skin off and enjoy! Best eaten raw, blended into a smoothie or in a fruit salad.
Pictured above is a grower from Rainbow Valley Orchard with their first crop of dragon fruit.
This image is from Rainbow Valley Instagram page. Check them out - @rainbow_valley_orchards
Cantaloupe.
Actually, let me correct myself, local cantaloupe! Grown right here in BC at Secrest/Covert Farms. These melons are so sweet, rich in colour, and wonderfully fragrant.
Originally believed to be from Persia and Western Asia, melons were brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1494 and given to First Nation communities to cultivate. Later, in 1800s, melons reached commercial success from W. Atlee Bee Company which introduced various melon cultivars to the USA.
I came across an interesting recipe while doing some cantaloupe research, and I will link it here. It is a spiced cantaloupe tea loaf that has seasonings of cinnamon, ginger and vanilla, alongside the star: cantaloupe.
Thomcord grape.
A late summer grape with high sugar content and grape jelly-like flavour. Vitamin A and C as well as calcium and iron are packed into these purple guys.
Because of these grapes jelly like flavour, they pair very well with savoury dishes. Such as: roasted on top of flatbread or focaccia, with onions, rosemary and olives.
These grapes were developed in 1983 down in California by the Agricultural Research Service. Thomcord grapes were then tested for seventeen years before making themselves available to growers in 2003, and then were commercially available in 2008.
German butter nuggets.
Delicious. A crowd favourite. A classic.
These potatoes come to us from Helmer's Organic Farm in Pemberton. Helmer's offers 18 heritage varieties of organic potatoes, and this fits, as Pemberton Valley is known for their virus and disease free seed potatoes.
Walter Green built up his homestead as one of the earliest Europeans to make their way up to the Pemberton Valley in the 1920s. Years later, in 1980, his grandson, Doug Helmer and his wife Jeanette Helmer, cleared the land for their own organic farm. And thus, Helmers Organic Farm started.
Our last two items this week are both from Secrest/Covert Farms, and I purposely put them together as tomatoes and garlic go together like peanut butter and jelly! like yin and yang! like .... chocolate chip cookies and milk?
The cherry tomatoes are in an ecopack, and are deep red and juicy, and our new lot of red russian garlic.
Whenever I see these two items, as well as some fresh basil, my mind immediately goes back to Italy, to fresh pomodoro sauce and bruschetta (pronounced BROO-SKE-TTA a la my father-in-law). Those bottom two photos are my best attempt at spaghetti la pomodoro while I was in Italy, and it was next level delicious.
Now all I want is spaghetti al pomodoro. Perhaps a weekend meal ...
On Saturday, I am attending my third and final permaculture course, and am very excited for that!
Everyone stay safe this weekend, eat some delicious food, hang with some friends and family, and I will talk to you all next week,
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli