Hot Shots - March 25, 2022
Hot Shots - March 25, 2022
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
This past week has been a very very wet start to spring on our coast, but the temperature is definitely rising and the blossoms are coming.
I was out for a dog walk earlier this week, clad in gortex and rain boots, and my dog decided she just had to jump in a huge dirty puddle (she is a water dog, after all) and pull me down a hill with her. Down I went, hook line and sinker, and before I know it I am sitting at the bottom of a muddy hill with Roma looking at me politely like, "Oh, did you fall? Why are you on the ground?".
Luckily she is cute, so I wasn't too upset, but it did remind me of when I was young and at recess I would go out in the rain and get as dirty and wet as humanly possible. No clue why this was my goal, but I distinctly remember putting my head under the stream of freezing cold rain water that was cascading down from the roof. Maybe I thought if I was wet and dirty enough they would send me home? News flash: I was never sent home. I did however get in trouble constantly for talking too much, but was never given that sought after golden ticket of , "Severin, we are sending you home".
Last night, we were over at a friends for dinner, and of course, the topic of work came up. As is my custom, I started talking about two of my fave produce items, cucumbers and potatoes. I know, it isn't super unique or exciting, but these two have never failed me. Potatoes? So versatile! Cucumbers? So refreshing!
One of the seven dishes made (yes, I know, we were spoiled) was a smashed cucumber salad from the cookbook 'Every Grain of Rice' by Fuchsia Dunlop. Delicious, tangy, sweet & spicy. Sharing a table and food with friends (and family) is one of the main reasons I made my way into the produce industry, and have stayed for 11 years!!
Lemons.
A popular item, on almost every customer's order, in everyone's cart at the grocery store, and always an added zest of flavour in thousands of recipes.
Available at Disco in 115ct, 140ct, bagged, meyer variety, and a 10# repack! Both Eureka and Lisbon lemons are the most popular varieties that are grown in North America for commercial use.
A town on the French Riviera, Menton, is famous for its lemon festival. Happening annually since 1928, there are giant parade floats and garden art pieces made from lemons. This festival lasts a full month, attracts 240,000 attendees, and over 140 tonnes of citrus are used for these floats and art.
If you want to see the most beautiful sea side town, google Menton, France. It is European perfection.
Lemons were introduced to Egypt sometime before 700 CE, and to the Mediterranean before 1000 CE. Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought lemons to the Americas, and were officially grown in California and Florida starting in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A farm that is near and dear to Discovery, is Agrofresco (the ranch) / Ecocampos (the label), and we have a new shipment of their lovely produce. Included in this arrival was green kale, celery 24ct & 30ct, romaine, red bunch beets, radicchio chioggia and green/red leaf.
Gustavo Gaya & Discovery have worked very closely together for many years, with Disco staff visiting the very fields that grow the beautiful product on their fields a few hours northwest of Mexico City. Gustavo attracts his crew members from neighboring indigenous communities, and provides them with safe transit to and from work every day. Additionally, Agrofresco employees are paid over minimum wage, and they have around 650 employees.
On their fields, flowers are planted between crop rows, which is very helpful in pest management on organic farms, drip-irrigation is used with water coming from their three wells, and large amounts of land are set aside as buffer zones to protect the local ecosystems.
Do you know we could all stand to eat more sprouts? Well, look no further than Eatmore Sprouts!
Eatmore is located on Vancouver Island, and is run by the team of Glenn and Carmen, who together head up a team of 45 employees, some of who have been at Eatmore for over 10 years. Growing sprouts for more than 15 years, Eatmore's entire operation is grown efficiently on three acres of land that includes an intensive market garden farm. Throughout the winter there is careful cover cropping done, and specialized composting and waste management systems.
The two owners are quoted saying, “We love what we do because we are able to feed people in British Columbia and the Western Provinces 365 days a year!” Their values include: people, planet, sustainability, creativity and you!
Chat with a Disco sales rep on the sku's we have available. They are sure to level up any salad or sandwich you make, and pack a nutrition punch.
Green onions, or scallions, add the ever-important onion flavour to any dish, but add a freshness that other storage onions cannot.
Pictured here are the green onions from one of our California farms, Boskovich. In 1915, Stephen Boskovich emigrated from Croatia, and began farming on seven acres of land in the San Fernando Valley in California. Fast forward four generations, the Boskovich family is still stewarding this land, but has expanded to 18,000 acres in both California, Mexico, Nevada and Arizona. In 2011 this farm added a small section of certified organic land, and now produces around 30 different vegetable crops annually. They are still mostly conventional but are seeing increased growth in their organic business.
Pictured above is one of the Boskovich fields.
Parsley.
I will admit, this herb is hardly ever on my culinary radar, but it has made a resurgence recently in my day to day cooking.
Both curly parsley and flat parsley are common, but the curly is most popular in the Mediterranean areas of Europe, where a doppelgänger for flat leaf parsley is actually a poisonous weed called 'fool's parsley'. Use of parsley in Ayurvedic medicine started in India, and the root & stem have various medical properties.
Parsley has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years, and historians believe that this herb made its grand entrance into the culinary space in the Middle Ages. Other historians credit its popularity to Charlemagne, who reportedly had it growing in his own gardens.
Lakeside Organic, just like parsley, has a rich history. In the late 1800's, the Peixoto family started farming in the Pajaro Valley in California, and became experts in growing conventional produce throughout the 1900's. Their farm turned organic in 1996 and gained the name Lakeside Organic Gardens. Lakeside now farms on approximately 1,200 acres of certified organic land in Mexico, and an additional 600 acres in California. To this day, Lakeside is still family owned, and employees over ten family members from the Peixoto family.
Thanks for reading along this week, and as always - stay safe & healthy! Chat next week.
Big love
Severin R-B Danieli