Also known as lamb’s lettuce, feldsalat or corn salad, mache is deliciously mild, and has possibly the softest texture of any salad green. This tasty plant grows wild in Europe, where it is considered a pest in corn and wheat fields, but here in the United States it is often grown and shipped still living…
One of our favorite cookbooks, not just for the inspirational recipes but also for sheer reading pleasure, is Judy Rodgers’ The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Chef Rodgers introduces a Minutina Salad recipe with: “I fell for minutina the first time I mistook it for lawn clippings–this at Eastertime in a three-stall market in Impruneta, not far…
When everybody and their brother serves spring mix, it’s time to look for something that sets you apart from the pack. HEIRLOOM LETTUCES will do just that. One of our favorite family farmers has turned growing HEIRLOOM LETTUCES into an art form. The Coleman family is currently harvesting several varieties, including Black Seeded Simpson, Grenoblase,…
Grown organically on a family farm in California’s San Fernando Valley, OSAKA PURPLE MUSTARD GREENS are as flavorful as they are colorful. The top side of each heavily-textured leaf is a lovely purple-red color, but the flavor packs the biggest punch. Perfect for salads, OSAKA PURPLE MUSTARD is great when paired with milder lettuces and…
You’ re probably very familiar with baby red oak, but here is the same lettuce all grown up (12-16 inches across). RED OAK LETTUCE has the beautiful oak-shaped leaf and the rich dark red color of the more familiar baby heads. An heirloom, oak leaf lettuce has been a popular variety from at least the…
The specific heirloom variety that our farmer is growing is Parella Rossa (also known as Rougette Montpellier). It’s a lovely French butterhead we’ve discovered with perfect rosett shaped heads that are loosely formed with dark ruby accents at the leaf tips. Red Perella has the soft, tender, butter-textured leaves with sweet, succulent flavor typical of…
Batavian lettuces are heirloom varieties that were developed in France. Today, they are also grown outdoors in Italy and Western Switzerland, in greenhouses in Holland and Germany, and by our own favorite grower in Ventura County. The Batavian variety pictured here is SIERRA. An heirloom Batavian with thick-fleshed, slightly curly leaves with a crisp and…
Also known as Claytonia, WILD MINER’S LETTUCE credits part of its charm to the small white flowers that bloom from the tiered, spriggy leaf clusters. Tinged with red through its leaves and stems, WILD MINER’S LETTUCE is as tender as can be and has a mild flavor. Add it to salad, but keep the dressing…
These beautiful Mangoes are super high in sugar (21 to 23 percent!) and grown in California’ s Coachella Valley. Our farmer’ s father dreamed of growing Mangoes on his California farm, but experts said it couldn’ t be done. After his death, his daughter took up the torch and fulfilled her father’ s dream. But…
Melon mavens assert that tourists in France have been known to pull to the side of the road, drawn to a halt by the incredible scent of a Charentais Melon field. We have not witnessed this phenomenon first hand, but can believe it to be true. Charentais melons (also known as Cavaillon melons) are a…
The Galia Melon bears the name of the family in Israel attributed with its creation, and is a relative of the Ogen melon, another Israeli cultivar. Small and round, with cantaloupe-esque netting over yellow rind, Galias have pale green, almost white, sweet, juicy flesh and can be powerfully aromatic. Galias have been gaining in popularity,…
When a melon is ripe, we mean truly vine-ripe, nothing can beat its sweet, juicy, complex flavor. The problem is that commercial growers, in their attempt to provide melons to the consumer 365 days a year, have lowered the cook’ s expectations. The cantaloupe and honeydew have been relegated to salad bar and drop-a-slice-on-a-leaf-of-kale-and-you’ ve-got-your-garnish…
The Sugar Baby Watermelon is another pint-sized watermelon variety. Five to six inches in diameter, Sugar Babies are extra sweet and their exterior color is a solid, dark green. Quarter a Sugar Baby and you’ve got single servings that present the lovely shape of their much larger relatives. Thinly slice a Sugar Baby on a…
An old friend with a new twist, Tendral Melons are the new and improved version of Spanish Melons. They are super sweet (13 to 14 on the refractometer), and a great addition to the Melon line up. Similar in shape to Crenshaw Melons, they have a heavily ridged exterior and an interior similar to Canary…
As the wood upon which Shiitake Mushrooms is grown gets older, the mushrooms it produces become smaller and smaller. The result? Adorable little Baby Shiitake Mushrooms, grown in California. Each Shiitake has a cap that’ s no bigger than one-inch in diameter…the applications for a diminutive, tasty mushroom like this are myriad and fabulous!
Black Trumpet Mushrooms (Craterellus cornucopiodes) are a member of the chanterelle family, one of the most beloved wild mushroom groups. Black Trumpets are a favorite for cooking. They are great in soups, stews and casseroles, with a buttery woodsy flavor. Good partners for mushrooms include butter, sour cream, cream, olive oil, dark sesame oil, garlic,…
Also known as the Pied Blue, the Blue Foot is cultivated in France. The blue stem is topped off with a wavy whitish cap slightly tinted blue throughout. About two inches in diameter, its firm flesh is supported by a lavender-blue stem that thickens toward the base. Though mild in flavor when compared with its…
Shimeji is a widely used word for several types of delicious mushrooms grown and consumed in Japan. The true shemeji, which the Jananese refer to as hon-shimeji, is really Lyophyllum shimeji, which ironically is not a cultivated type. The cultivated species, shown here, is known as BROWN CLAMSHELL or BUNA-SHIMEJI (or bun-shimeji). BROWN CLAMSHELL is…
Cauliflower Mushrooms are considered a wood mushroom, and can grow to fifty pounds or more apiece. They are considered one of the gems of the mushroom family with a texture similar to jelly fungi but not quite as firm. They need to be cooked for at least an hour in chicken broth to become tender…
Gold Chanterelles are among the most favored of all the forest mushrooms. Distinguished from Hedge Hog Mushrooms by their prominent gills under every cap, Gold Chanterelles grow on the forest floor. Very visible in the forest especially after a heavy rain this wild mushroom is typified by a very fragrant, woodsy apricot aroma. It is…
