Hot Shots - May 27, 2022
Hot Shots - May 27, 2022
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
Hope everyone's week and weekend were relaxing. I had a lovely time up in Whistler with some family and then a wedding in West Vancouver this past Victoria Day long weekend. The usual exodus out of the city was in full force on Friday for the long weekend, and an added bonus was that there was pure sunshine from Friday to Sunday.
While up in Whistler, my aunt, the amazing chef, had some delicious meals cooked up for us. These included: stuffed mushrooms with pesto, goat cheese! Roasted mini peppers! Gorgonzola gnocchi! Breakfast burritos! I could go on and on.
While I was studying in Italy, I was in the Piedmont region, and there was a specific Piedmontese potato gnocchi with Castelmagno cheese sauce that was to die for. This cheese, Castelmagno, has a protected origin status in the EU, is a semi-hard cheese and is aged for 60 days. I'm fairly certain that I have spoken about this dish before, but alas, it is just that good. The closest I have gotten to this level of deliciousness has been the gorgonzola gnocchi dish my aunt makes.
An easy, time effective, and delicious way to eat mini sweet peps is to roast them whole.
Just give them a quick rinse, toss them onto a pan, add whatever seasoning and oil you desire, and roast till their skin is lightly charred.
Wilson Produce mini peppers grow on plants that reach up to 6 feet tall, each plant produces between 150-250 peppers, and each pepper is individually hand picked off the plant and packed with a couple of their colourful brothers and sisters into one pound pouches.
On a daily basis, Wilson Produce has their third and fourth generation working in tandem on the farm, they are committed to regenerative agriculture, and have a beautiful video you can watch on their website - I'll link it here!
Stone fruit! A true sign of summer!
The peaches, nectarines and apricots we have in house at Disco are all from Homegrown Organics in California. Homegrown is an employee-owned business, and has been producing organic fruits and veg since 1998. They are made up of over 100 different farms and over 7,000 acres of organic production.
Peaches come from China, with earliest evidence of domestication tracing back to the Zhejiang Province in the southeast. Fossilized peach pits were carried via the Silk Road to the Mediterranean region, and flourished in the warm climate. Either Spanish or French explorers introduced peaches to the Americas, and arrived in Florida in the mid-1500s.
Worldwide, China is the biggest producer of peaches, followed closely by Spain and Italy. Peaches gained popularity in the USA, and Thomas Jefferson himself had over 38 varieties of peaches in his Mount Vernon home.
While in Italy, I would only really brave the weekly markets with a semi-fluent Italian speaker as I had little to no confidence in my Italian. I got my husband to come with me one Friday morning when I had a break in classes, and it was that day that we realized that the Italian word for peach and fish are basically the same.
Peach - pesca
Fish/fishing - pescare/pesca
Luckily, we were pointing at a peach while we were saying it so we did not end up with a fish - though they were being sold a few stalls down!
Lesson learned.
Delicious peaches next to the Sicilian lemons! Oh man, my Italian fruit bowl is making me equal parts nostalgic and jealous.
Nectarines! Arguably my favourite fruit of all time.
Nectarines grow on trees that reach heights of 9 meters, are available in early summer through the fall, with their peak season in the middle of summer. Thought to be a natural genetic mutation of a peach, the origins of the nectarine are hazy. The one and only genetic difference between peaches and nectarines are that nectarines contain a recessive allele that causes the skin to be smoother and brighter than their peach counterpart.
The nectarines in Italy were, as you would expect, otherworldly. When we arrived in Italy, we had the mandatory two week quarantine, but we were able to get in touch with a food delivery guy, Franco, and he kept us supplied with fresh produce, bread, cheese and meats.
This week is apparently just a highlight reel for my aunt, but that same aunt also makes a delicious nectarine or peach and basil pizza that she cooks on her BBQ.
Pictured on the left is the Italian nectarine that got me through quarantine, and on the right is that A+ pizza from my aunt.
The third and final stone fruit for this week, the apricot!
Believed to have originated in China, they have also been cultivated in Armenia (the apricot is their national fruit!) and India for centuries. Apricots arrived in Europe via Armenia, and Alexander the Great is credited with introducing these stone fruits to Greece, and King Henry VIII's gardener brought them to England from Italy. Arrival to the US market was in the 18th century, and apricots have found a permanent and bountiful home in California.
Speaking of apricots, have you all seen the documentary "The Biggest Little Farm"? It follows John and Molly Chester and their farm, Apricot Lane Farms that is located 40 miles north of Los Angeles. I've watched a few times, and it never fails to give me chills!
Sunburst squash!
Also known as patty pan squash, is a bright yellow summertime squash variety.
Like most squash, sunburst/patty pan squashes have their roots in Italy, and made their way to the America's in the 1920's. The 'baby' variety of vegetables - such as baby corn, baby carrots, baby squash - reached commercial popularity in the 1980's when chefs on televised cooking shows began to use these ingredients.
Cooking with sunburst is best done while the squash is fresh, as its skin is very delicate. Roasting is a popular way to prepare these yellow beauties, as well as sliced raw into salads, throw them on the BBQ or just stuff em with cheese! Ya can't go wrong with that!
This week is a special one as we are saying our Disco farewell to a staff member who has been with us for many many years - Mr. James McLaughlin,
Starting at Disco in 2015 in the banana department, he moved over to picking shortly thereafter, and became Lead Picker and Shipping Manager at our Vancouver warehouse. After many years of that, he boldly took on the task of heading up our new Calgary warehouse.
Of course, I had to ask James the burning question on every produce minded persons mind:
What is your favourite fruit? Raspberry
What is your favourite vegetable? Potato
He will be missed here at Disco, but we wish him all the best in his future endeavors, as well as happiness, health and success for him and his family as they embark on their new adventure.
Thank you, James!
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli