4°C Market Report

Published Weekly

June 17th 2013


	Taste of London Festival 2013 As mentioned briefly last time, the Taste of London festival will be taking place from Thursday 20 th until Sunday 23 rdof June in Regents Park. This will be the 10 th such event and promises a 4-day culinary extravaganza dedicated to eating, drinking and entertainment. Among the celebrity chef luminaries in attendance at this year’s festival will be Tom Kitchen, Michel Roux Jnr, Raymond Blanc and Gary Rhodes. Highlights will include a Chef’s Theatre, a Taste Theatre, and an Explore The World Of Beer Experience, as well as various culinary masterclasses. With at least 40 of London’s top hotels and restaurants offering taster menus, plus over 200 artisan producers providing a veritable bounty of produce from Britain and around the world, this event can rightly be regarded as “the ultimate alfresco feast”! PLEASE NOTE : Saturday deliveries. Any issues regarding Saturday Deliveries should be reported on the day by using the *main order-line number* 020 8558 9708 between the hours of 07.30 and 10.30 a.m.


	PLEASE NOTE : Saturday deliveries. Any issues regarding Saturday Deliveries should be reported on the day by using the *main order-line number* 020 8558 9708 between the hours of 07.30 and 10.30 a.m.

THIS WEEK : The price of this year’s crop of Jersey Royal Potatoes has remained persistently and disappointingly high, which I suspect is mainly due to the after-effects of shortages occurring early in the season. For those of you who have a penchant for their unique flavour but lack the budget to satisfy it, larger-sized and ungraded Jersey Wares are perhaps the most cost-effective compromise. Alternately, why not plump for just-in-season Cornish New Mids instead, which I personally regard as a better spud by far than the over-hyped Royals – and at a fraction of the price to boot.

A recent spell of warmer weather in the Netherlands has meant that Dutch-grown Strawberries, Tomatoes and Peppers are thriving, which can only bode well in terms of both quality and price. Belgian Plum Vine Tomatoes continue to be an exceptionally good buy and, as mentioned a couple of weeks back, only marginally more expensive than regular plum tomatoes – which aren’t widely available at this time of year. Better late than never, new season English Spring Onions have finally arrived – and very nice they are, too.

Anyone who may have ordered Courgettes recently could be forgiven for thinking that the packer had mistakenly sent marrow instead. They’re enormous. They’re new season Dutch - which makes them more expensive than the old season Spanish they replace, but the quality is so much better.

The first new season English Broccoli is due to arrive this coming Thursday from our Red Tractor approved grower in Lincolnshire. However, initial volume is likely to be low, so for the time being we will have to supplement demand with late season Spanish imports. After a brief flirtation with Egyptian imported Red Onions prompted by concerns regarding quality, we’ve now returned to much improved home-grown crops.

English Purple Asparagus is now appearing regularly in the market, which means that, together with the English White and Green asparagus already available, we are now able to offer a veritable array colours with which to dazzle your diners.

English Strawberries have been around for a couple of weeks now, but this week sees them arriving in our warehouse direct from our grower in Kent. Spanish Flat Nectarines have begun to appear in the market, but at the time of writing I haven’t yet had a chance to sample any. Spanish Flat Peaches proved a big hit as our last week’s Fruit of the Week, so much so in fact that we’ve decided to continue with them for another week. What’s more, they’ll be even cheaper than the paltry sum we originally sold them for. Standard Peaches are growing in physical stature all the while. The quality and availability of Standard Nectarines is a little patchy due to widespread crop damaged caused by hail storms in the Spanish growing regions. North American Cherries have finished for the season, but with Spanish crops now well established and European volumes increasing overall, we don’t anticipate any adverse affect on prices. Whilst on the subject of Spanish cherries, for those of you with a hankering for something more substantial than the norm, we can now offer you a jumbo variety called “Californian”, the average size of which is around 28mm. Ask your order-taker for further details. We’ve now made the transition from Indian to new season Israeli White Seedless Grapes, which are providing larger-sized berries. The price of Lemons is down again this week.

PRODUCT ALERT:

As mentioned on the front page, the quality and availability of Nectarines has been affected by crop damage caused by hail storms in the Spanish growing regions.
The price of Costa Rican Pineapples remains high due to seasonal shortages.
With no new imports expected for at least another two weeks, New Zealand Kiwis are currently experiencing slight shortages.
With new season English Celery not due to arrive until June 21 st, expensive Spanish imports remain the only available option. There is some indoor-grown English celery available, but our grower only supplies the outdoor variety due to its superior taste.
Italian Radicchio is still very, very expensive.
The price of Courgettes is up slightly due to the switch form old season Spanish to new season Dutch crops. English crops are still not yet scheduled to arrive until the end of the month.
Both English and Dutch Red Cabbage is still very expensive and will remain so for the next couple of months in order to slow demand in preparation for the start of the new season.
An inter-seasonal hiatus means that Belgian Leeks won’t be available for the next few weeks, during which time we’ll be required to use more expensive French alternatives.
Portuguese Swede is still expensive.
Chervil continues to be in short supply.

SHORTAGES/QUALITY ISSUES MUST BE REPORTED BY 9:00AM


	Fruit of the Week For Point Of Sale info on this week’s Fruit of the Week, Flat Peach (Spain) contact carmel@4degreesc.com

Recipe

Broad Bean & Pea Risotto with Dolcelatte

Ingredients

Method

(serves 4)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves chopped
400g risotto rice
150ml dry white wine
1.2–1.5 litres hot vegetable stock
250g fresh or frozen garden peas
250g fresh or frozen broad beans, peeled
150g Dolcelatte, roughly diced

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion, garlic and thyme for 5 minutes until softened.

2. Stir in the rice, cook for a minute, then add the wine and boil vigorously for 2-3 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Pour in half the stock and simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed, stirring from time to time.

3. Add the remaining stock, simmer for 5 minutes, add the peas and beans, and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

4. Divide between bowls and top with the dolcelatte and black pepper.