Hot Shots - June 16, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli

Hello all,

Happy June and welcome back to Hot Shots!

I've had quite the three weeks: travelled to California, arrived back home, went to a wedding, got sick, twisted my foot, had my 30th birthday, all while growing a baby! Needless to say it's been busy - but we are back in action. This week we've got some California stone fruit, some asparagus from the sea, some grapes from Mexico and some lettuce from BC.

California was a lovely trip, filled with delicious food and some surprisingly good thrifting. We made it to the art walk on Balboa Island which was even better than expected, and bought a gorgeous painting as a gift for our friend's wedding. I also snagged a pair of very psychedelic earrings, and finished the day with a delicious taco dinner.

While walking the boardwalk, you get an up close view of the beautiful balconies and patios of the homes on Balboa Island, and their vibrant array of flowers and plants. The various flora that hugs the coastline of the Pacific Ocean is one of the main reasons I love this little corner of the world so much. From the statuesque Douglas Firs in BC, down to the abundant succulents in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest never disappoints.

They are having very interesting weather down there right now, very overcast with a few sunny breaks, and temperatures topping out at 20C max, and the Californians are truly confused. Whereas in Vancouver we had a few days of 30+ degrees and our province is low key on fire. If you want a bit more information about weather around fruit and veggies available here at Disco, take a look at the Buyer Notes that are sent out with Disco's weekly pricelists.

Sea asparagus.

Have you ever wanted to take a bite out of the ocean? Well, if you have, sea asparagus is the food for you. Coming from West Coast Wild, sea asparagus is described as 'with a crisp and succulent texture, they deliver a briny, salty taste with hints of mineral undertones...distinctly marine and delightfully fresh'.

Sea asparagus can be eaten raw, tossed in a salad, sautéed with garlic and butter, or added into a ocean centric dish to highlight its flavour profile. A co-worker of mine likes adding sea asparagus to raw oysters, for a pop! Or, if vegetarian dishes are your game, a simple pasta dish - I'm thinking some linguine with oysters? Fresh lemon and grated parmesan?

High in vitamin A, C and B complex (B-6 and B-12 specifically), a source of omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, iodine, iron and folic acid.

Cherries.

A summertime favourite of mine, these cherries come from California and Ferrari's Organic farm. Ferrari Farms is a 500-acre farm, family owned and operated, and certified organic since 1982. Wayne and his father George started farming in 1963, and currently, Jeff Ferrari and his family run this farm.

Jonathan and I are getting prepped to move in the next month or so, and we were going through some totes yesterday, some Christmas stuff, some school stuff, and we came across three, candy apple red, Ferrari model cars that Jonathan has had since he was a boy. I'm not gonna lie, Ferrari's are pretty slick cars, and so are Ferrari's deep crimson cherries.

Orchards at Ferrari farm & their solar power installations. The packing facility is almost completely powered by solar installation, as well as their irrigation pumps.

Romaine lettuce.

A crisp, crunchy, classic lettuce, we've got local romaine from Two EE's Farm & Myers Farm.

The superior lettuce, in my opinion, romaine adds the satisfying crunch to a salad, and can complement any other vegetable or fruit it is paired with. Add it in with a classic bell pepper, red onion and cucumber? Delicious! Add it in with some cubed up nectarines, orange slices or mango? Summertime delicious!

Romaine is thought to be the oldest lettuce variety in the world, and has been cultivated for thousands of years. Painted onto tomb walls in Egypt, and given to Persian kings to use as edible spoons as they eat dips, spreads and salads like tabbouleh.

Throughout the summertime and into autumn, Two EE's Farm and Myers Farm keep us stocked with their beautiful locally grown produce. From lettuce to kohlrabi to rainbow chard to cipollini onions, give these local veggies a try.

Grapes.

Heading south from BC kohlrabi, we land in sunny Mexico and grapes. We've got the flame variety of red grapes from Llano, and perlette green grapes from Masters Touch.

The flame variety is a heavy bearing table grape that is a hybrid of thompson seedless and cardinal, and the perlette, the green grape season opener, is a light green, medium sized table grape. Both delicious & crunchy!

I have personally taste tested both red and green, and I will say the red from Llano are crisp, sweet and fresh. If you can see in the photo, the blush is still on them and the stems are thick and green.

Nectarines.

Cherries and nectarines play a tug-a-war on my heartstrings when I try and decide what my favourite stone fruit is. Nectarines have a special place in my heart for two reasons.

The first: the nectarines in Italy were the most delicious fruit we had while there, had the deepest golden flesh, the juice would run down your hand as you are it, and they were about the size of a grapefruit.

The second: my aunt, who I have talked about many times in these write-ups, has a nectarine, basil pizza that she cooks on her BBQ. I've also talked about that pizza on here as well, so if you've heard about it, well, it deserves a re-telling!

She starts with fresh pizza dough, forms it into a circle, places the sliced nectarines (or peeled peach slices) and big basil leave on top, drizzles olive oil, sprinkles salt, and then tops the pizza with a mix of cheeses (mozzarella, pecorino & parmigiano reggiano).

These nectarines are from Homegrown Organics, located in Washington, and are available May, June and July. The sizing we have at Disco range from 60/64ct, 54/56ct and 48/50ct.

It feels good to be back! Thank you for reading along, and I hope your weekend is relaxing.

Happy Father's day to all the fathers and father figures in our lives!

Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli

Hot Shots - June 16, 2023

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