At the Farmers' Markets

I've found lots of great veggies and fruits at the local farmers' markets I frequent in recent weeks, but the greatest find was Sam Consylman's t-shirt, pictured here at the South Street market a few weeks ago, where Sam helps staff Earl Livengood's stall.

Sam may tolerate squirrels partying, but don't let any groundhogs try it in front of him, especially during hunting season. His wife makes a mean fried woodchuck!

I've never been a big fan of summer squashes. I don't dislike them, but I'd never wait for their appearance with baited breath. Still, now that I'm trying to emphasize vegetables in my diet, I appreciate the role they can play. Lately I've been adding them to the onions and peppers I sauté for a pasta topping. And when done on the grill with a little olive oil they make a great accompaniment to grilled meats.

At Headhouse this past Sunday, Beechwood Orchards had plenty of black raspberries, which I've been mashing into yogurt. Proprietor Dave Garretson warned me that he's not had a great cherry crop this year simply because of the wet weather: the crop is good, but rain has caused excessive cracking. Still, pretty tasty and sweet, even if slightly water-logged; but don't let cherries that have skin cracks hang out in the fridge too long. I would have picked up some pie (sour) cherries, but since I'm going to be out-of-town a lot over the next month I've had no time for baking or sorbet making, two excellent applications for tart varieties of cherries.

Blueberries, especially from South Jersey, are making their annual appearance. The pint I picked up from A.T. Buzby at Headhouse were another fine addition to yogurt, as well as in cobblers and all sorts of other goodies.

The snow peas and sugar snaps from all the vendors I've tried, both at the farmers' markets and the Reading Terminal Market, have been superb. Mostly, I just munch on them as snacks, though their desireability in stir fries is obvious.

Apricots should be the next summer fruit to appear, along with a broader range of raspberries.

Tom Culton had a limited range to offer Sunday, but he was particularly long on garlic scrapes, which he was giving away to any takers. I picked up a fresh-dug onion from him.

Garden notes: Just last week I cut back my chive pot to the dirt; the shoots are already six inches high! The sage is taking off, too.

Reading Terminal Market Expansion

More room for more vendors in planned $4.5 renovation

With all possible space completely leased for the first time in more than 16 years and other entrepreneurs wanting to join its roster of vendors the Reading Terminal Market Corporation has drawn up plans for carving out about 3,500 square feet of additional retail space from its existing footprint. It would expand the selling floor by nearly 9 percent from the current 40,000 square feet.

Closer collaboration with Bob Pierson's Farm To City, which operates many of the area's farmers' markets (including the recently inaugurated Sunday market outside the RTM) is part of the plan; that organization is expected to move its staff to enlarged office space at the market.

A Farm-to-City/RTM collaboration augers well for the market's desire to bring some farmers back into the market for direct sales to shoppers. (For more on that see Replacements for Livengoods, below).

Paul Steinke, now in his eighth year as the market's general manager, hopes funding for the expansion and related renovations can be secured by the end of the year and work begin in 2011.

Another benefit from the expansion will be larger restrooms, with a significant number of added stalls for the ladies who form a long line in the aisles when market traffic is heavy.

The genesis of the project was the need to rehabilitate the existing obstreperous freight elevator, which had merchants accessing basement storage areas cursing. The additional retail footage will be created by relocating to the basement current storage and prep space on the market's east side after the existing elevator is fixed and a second elevator installed in an existing unused shaft.

The market's Avenue D aisle, which provides access to the current storage areas, restrooms, and two vendors (Miscellanea Libri and the shoeshine stand) would be moved further west to create the retail space.

The new restrooms would occupy space currently occupied by the market's floor operations staff, La Cucina at the Market and part of the aisle known as 11th Street. Seating and event space would be added next to the relocated La Cucina along Avenue D.  More retail space would be carved out on both sides of the new Avenue D.

The additional office space for market office staff and Farm to City would be created by extending the existing office loft over the remainder of Tootsie's Salad Express.

The expansion would take place in phases, starting with the elevator work, after which storage would be moved to the basement. Restrooms would then be expanded, followed by the new retail space and the extention of market office space.

The new Avenue D would temporarily jog around the rear of Flying Monkey Patisserie and L. Halteman Family's meat, deli and produce stall. Eventually, after their leases come up for renegotiation in a few years, Avenue D could be straightened out.

Replacements for Livengoods

No doubt about it, both market shoppers and managers miss Earl Livengood's Saturday-only produce standing selling fresh Lancaster County produce from his farm in center court. Earl declined to return this year, favoring his existing presence at the Bryn Mawr farmers' market and adding King of Prussia on Saturday.

To fill the void Steinke said he is close to adding a rotating series of producers to Livengood's spot. Two produce growers and one non-artisinal cheese-maker are in discussions to occupy the space on Saturdays.

More Summer Veggies

Sugar snaps and various summer squashes were much in evidence at the Headhouse Square Farmers' Market today.

Although leafy greens predominated at most vegetable stalls, Culton Organics featured large, brightly-colored varieties of yellow summer squash along with garlic scapes and a few other items. Blooming Glen's sugar snaps (sampled once I got to the car) were fresh and sweet. Savoie Farms had some new potatoes; in previous weeks they only had seed potatoes from last year. A.T. Buzby displayed excellent-looking medium-sized Kirby cucumbers, crispy-fresh whether eaten as is or pickled; these are the first of this season's Kirby crop I've seen. Buzby was also selling South Jersey hothouse tomatoes.

Buzby didn't have any strawberries, at least when I arrived at 11 a.m. The strawberry season is just about over, but Beechwood Orchard and Three Springs had plenty, Dave Garretson of Beechwood was selling his for $6/quart.

With the warm spring, other summer fruits have already started to appear. Garretson brought a few apricots and raspberries to Headhouse (they quickly disappeared); Dave said he could have picked a few cherries, but decided to pass them by. Expect to see more of the stone fruits as well as raspberries starting this coming week.

 

Hothouse tomatoes, cherries, strawberries at Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce

Berries to Cherries

Summer is drawing nigh. Just look at the produce at the Reading Terminal Market. At Iovine Brothers' the peaches have crept up from Georgia to South Carolina (and one local farmer said his early varieties will be ready in just a couple of weeks). Strawberries are starting to get soft with a little more mold and will soon disappear, but the first cherries have appeared.

The cherries could be found today at Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce where proprietor Ben was selling pints for $3.95. His English peas, in the hull and snow peas were $3.90/pound, red new potatoes $2.95/pint. Over at the Fair Food Farmstand, snow peas, sugar snaps and English peas were $3.50/pint. You could save considerably on sugar snaps by walking over to Iovine's where they were $1.99/pound; although their provenance was not marked, the one I sampled tasted as about as fresh as what I've found in farmers' markets.

The Grill at Smucker's

Barb & Suzy's Kitchen, the eatery attached to S&B Meats at the Reading Terminal Market, has a new name: The Grill at Smucker's. No change in menu: fried veggies and grill items.

Ownership of both stalls remains in the hands of Moses Smucker. Moses was among the Amish businessmen featured in a recent Time magazine article titled "Management, Plain and Simple" about the success of his co-religionists as entrepreneurs.

Thieves Hit Farmers' Markets

Vendors at city farmers' markets have been hit twice in recent weeks by quick-strike thieves. The thefts took place last Thursday at Fairmount and 22nd Street, and earlier at the Saturday Rittenhouse Square market.

The M.O. is for the thieves to wait until closing time when the vendors have the most cash. As they close they tend to leave their cash boxes unattended in their vehicles: that's when the low-lifes strike.

It's happened at least four other times over the last few years at three different markets.

The vendors have previously been warned about the need for caution in their cash-handling procedures, and those warnings were restated with the recent thefts. Part of the problem, particularly with farmers from rural areas, is that they have to reshift their mind-set to an urban environment.

It appears that the thieves case the markets for likely targets and then strike. One thief grabs the cash, usually out of the vendor's vehicle, then makes an escape in a car driven by an accomplice.

Stringbeans on Sale

After a winter of $2/pound string beans, Iovine Brother's Produce featured good looking ones for 99-cents this weekend.

Other items that drew my attention today were small Georgia peaches, 89-cents, and Kiwis, 5/$1. Green peppers were 99 cents, reds and yellows $1.99, orange peppers $2.99, frying peppers $1.99. Also, beautiful thin bulb  scallions (a.k.a. green onions), 2 bunches for $1.49.

DiNic's Goes Whole Hog

Well, acually a piglet, a 30-pounder to be precise.

Undoubtedly influenced by the popularity of the roast pig from Canulli's he helped carve for the Reading Terminal Market's Italian Festival, Tom Nicolosi, the roast pork mecca's proprietor, will be roasting a whole pig later this week. If all goes well, you can taste it Friday or Saturday.

But it won't be a special item on the menu. As son Joe Nicolosi explains, they'll be using the pig for their regular pulled pork sandwiches.

Cooking time, however, will be considerably longer than the normal seven or eight hours for the butts that make up the standard pulled pork. That's because in addition to the whole pig, it will be stuffed with butts. Cooking time will likely be upwards of 15 hours for the pig and and butts. The pig is being supplied by RTM butcher Charles Giunta who will be giving the Nicolosi's boning instructions as well.

This won't be the first experiment for Tommy Nicolosi. Last year he tried roasting butts with the skin on to provide some extra crunch, but he wasn't pleased with the results. Other experiments have fared considerably better, such as shen he added brisket and the Italian-style pulled pork to the menu a few years ago. If the whole roast pig works out in terms of taste, customer acceptance and economics, expect it to be a regular part of the menu.

Tommy doesn't limit his experimenting to his center court store. Earlier this spring for his South Jersey backyard he purchased a Big Green Egg cooker. He's quite happy the results, even going so far as to cook Sunday gravy (that's Italian red meat sauce) in it. The ability to control temperature is outstanding for a charcoal-fueled grill, he said.

Holiday Weekend Curtails RTM Farm Vendors

Maybe it was the Memorial Day weekend holiday, maybe it was better opportunities elsewhere, maybe it's just the price of gasoline, but only three produce vendor served customers at the 12th Street farmers' market opposite and sponsored by the Reading Terminal Market.

In addition to the three produce sellers, Shellbark Hollow Farm was there peddling their goat cheeses, Johh + Kira held forth with artisinal chocolates, and Twisted Lemonade was selling, well, lemonade.

Rittenhouse Square

A broader range of vendors showed up at Saturday's Rittenhouse Square farmers' market, where I purchased strawberries, sugar snap pea, and summer squash from Rineer Family Farm. The line of vendors was full for the block along the park from 18th to 19th street.

Rineer at Rittenhouse

Daryl Rineer has cut back a bit on the farmers' markets he serves, but he was at Rittenhouse Square today with strawberries, asparagus, snow peas, lettuces and other produce. I walked away with a pint of snow peas ($3.75), spring mix lettuces ($3.25) and berries ($3.75/pint, two for $7, three for $10).

Rineer's used to be a regular at the Tuesday South Street market, but he's going to the Tuesday Rittenhouse market instead this season. They also have a stall in Chestnut Hill on Saturdays and Suburban Station on Thursdays.

Fahnestock Fruit Farm was also at Rittenhouse today (they also go to Clark Park on Saturdays) with hothouse tomatoes and basil plants. Hilltop Farms was at Rittenhouse today, too, with strawberries for $3.50/pint ($6/quart) and other produce. Another Rittenhouse produce vendor today was Down To Earth Organics with a variety of spring vegetables, mostly greens and green onions.

Grilling Season!

Martin's Quality Meats at the Reading Terminal Market has got you covered for grilling season, now that recent temperatures have hit the high 80s (though today it's a tad nippier and wetter).

Featured on a low key sign were lamb ribs, $3.29, and beef back ribs, $2.99, in addition to Martin's usual highly varied assortment of sausages.

I took to the grill a couple of days ago with some loin lamb chops I purchased back in early January from Harry Ochs. These two beauties held up well in the freezer. After defrosting I lightly salted them and placed them in a bag for another hour in the fridge, then immediately before grilling applied a dry rub of pepper, rosemary, thyme and garlic powder. Cooked to just half a step beyond rare to an even rose they were incredibly deep in flavor.

A better seafood buy at John Yi's than the New Zealand salmon I disparaged in the previous post is the Boston mackerel. The very fresh looking dressed fish sold for $2.99/pound. Had I not consumed a smoked, peppered filet from Duck Trap for dinner last night I might have indulged.

One of the pricier fruits at Iovine Brothers today were the black figs at $3.99 apiece! They were next to similarly priced rambutan, a "hairy" relative of the lychee.

Over at Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce, Benuel Kauffman was selling strawberries at $6.95/quart, about the same as the A.T. Buzby IPM quarts over at the Fair Food Farmstand. (You can buy the same Buzby berries Sunday at Headhouse for $5.50/quart). Ben's asparagus was $2.95/bunch.

Is That Wild Salmon Truly Wild?

At John Yi's in the Reading Terminal Market in recent weeks "New Zealand Wild King Salmon" has been displayed at $17.99/pound.

Despite the sign, I have little doubt it's anything but farmed salmon.

Although in the late 19th century California kings were successfully raised from eggs in a New Zealand hatchery, released into the headwaters of four South Island rivers and took to the wild, virtually all salmon exported from New Zealand today are farm-raised, including the kings.

Does it make a difference?

I won't address the environmental issues here, but if you're only concerned about availability and price, farm-raised salmon are generally a better buy. When it comes to nutritional value, however, farm-raised salmon are a distant second. Whether king or Atlantic, farmed salmon are heavy on Omega-6 fatty acids, and low on Omega-3's; the former are deleterious to health, the latter beneficial. From a nutritional standpoint, you'd be better off with the cheapest canned wild salmon (most, but not all, canned salmon is wild) than farm raised fish.

Yi's does have Alaskan king salmon. Though the 2010 commercial in-shore  king salmon season has barely started, the Alaskan king you're likely to see is frozen from last year's catch. Yi's looked good. Most of the frozen Alaskan salmon I've had, both king and sockeye, have been of excellent quality and texture and closely resemble the fresh. In some respects, since it's usually frozen shortly after landing, what's available to us in Philadelphia can be considered superior to fresh wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest which has made a trans-continental trip.

Although much of the Alaskan salmon you see during the winter is frozen, there is a significant ocean-caught fishery. Southeastern Alaska fisherman brought in 32,000 kings this past season at an average of more than 13 pounces apiece.

In case you're wondering, the 2010 Copper River season began last Friday, May 13 with catches of both king and sockeye (a.k.a. "red"). Another low-catch season for Copper River kings is expected, fewer than 17,000 fish. Sockeyes, on the other hand, are expected to be plentiful, with better than 30 percent more fish this year than last, with an expected 2010 Copper River catch of 1.27 million fish, vs. 900,000 last year, according to Laine Welch, writing in Stories in the News, Ketchikan, Alaska.

For the first time in three years there will be kings from other West Coast states, primarily Oregon and Washington. The catch from the lower 48 has been set at just under 195,000 fish after a hiatus to let the stock rebuild.

Fresh Air at RTM
Outdoor Farmers Market Opens

Butch Dougherty and Vinnie Iovine of iovine Brother's Produce flank Tom Nicolosi
of DiNic's shortly after the outdoor venue's opening ceremony

The Reading Terminal Market unveiled its Sunday outdoor farmers' market with nine stalls along the side of the 12th Street parking lot.

Although traffic was light on the market's first day, RTM General Manager Paul Steinke found customers who came from as far as the Northeast to sample the farmers' output. As word gets around and more farmers participate as the growing season progresses, he expects traffic grow.

You'd think that year-round market merchants would be against the market. But you'd be wrong. Vinnie Iovine of Iovine Brothers Produce was there, looking to buy some New Guinea impatens from one vendor -- and finding out if she sold any of her produce items wholesale, perhaps for adding to his growing list of local farmers whose fruit and veggies he and brother Jimmy sell.

About a month ago, Jim reasoned that if shoppers come for the farmers' market, they're likely to cross the street into the RTM to fulfill the rest of their shopping needs. That was the case with many of the shoppers Sunday, including me. After buying some excellent kale at Jack's Farm (photo at right), I headed into the RTM to buy a slab of Country Time ham steak at the Fair Food Farmstand. Together with some corn (frozen kernels I purchased last summer at the height of the season) it made a wonderful Sunday dinner.

The vendors I saw the market included:

• Cherry Grove Farm, cheeses and meats
• Two Ganders Farm, honey, lettuce, other vegetables
• Bowes Family Farm, berries, greens, radishes, other veggies
• Shelbark Hollow, goat dairy products
• O&F Farm, asparagus, summer squashes (Yes! Already!), greens, flowers, plants
• Sweet Rose's Twisted Lemonade
• John & Kira Chocolates
• Jack's Farm, plants for garden, veggies
• 4mula, succulent and other plants for urban settings

Old and New Vendors
at Headhouse Market

Blooming Glen Farm made its seasonal bow at the Headhouse Square Farmers' Market Sunday.

Chard (a beet variety grown for its leaves) added colors beyond green with its many-hued rib, as you can see from the photo. Blooming Glen always has one of the most overflowing stalls at Headhouse. Lack of early produce is why they usually skip the first few weeks of the season, instead waiting until they can begin to display a cornucopia of produce.

Blackbird Heritage Farm made its first-ever visit to  Headhouse. The Townsend, Delaware, farm grows produce and raises sheep, pigs and turkeys for meat sale. Since they're located a tidewater farm, it would be great if they could let their sheep feed on the salt marsh, which lends a distinct tang to the meat. As it is, their sheep are raised on ewe's milk and pasture and, according to the website, have a mild taste due to low levels of lanolin in the breed.

Tom Culton, after a week's absence, was back, this time with plenty of strawberries, including the $8/half-pint tiny French fraise de bois (forest or wild strawberries). His considerably larger and more conventional berries were priced at $7/quart, essentially the same as at Blooming Glen and Three Springs ($3.50/pint). The best berry bargain could be found at A.T. Buzby, whose IPM berries, large and sweet, were $5.50/quart (two for $10).

Saturday Markets

The Food Trust's Saturday market at Headhouse Square has always played second fiddle to the Sunday version and today, with only four vendors, was no exception.

As the season progresses, however, expect plenty of additional vendors, says Nicky Uy, who manages the farmers' market program for the Food Trust. Today, however, only one produce vendor (Two Ganders Farm), two flower/plant vendors (one who's still thinking what to name the stand, the other Sunday regulars Pam and Russell Young), and Amaranth gluten-free bakery showed up.

What Headhouse has going for it which the other Saturday market I visited today, Rittenhouse, do not is easy parking for those of us who live a tad too far away to walk or don't want to cope with multiple SEPTA buses.

Headhouse, however, was chock full of vendors this morning, filling up the portion of Rittenhouse Square between 18th and 19th streets. Joanna Pernick, who runs this and other farmers' markets operated by Farm to City, said that as the season brings more produce to market, and hence more farmers, the market will likely "turn the corner" onto 18th street.

I limited myself to a pint of strawberries and bunch of asparagus from Rineers, a regular at this and other city markets, but there were more than a dozen vendors to visit.

Among the vendors I chatted with were two sellers of pig meat: Cherry Grove Farm of Lawrenceville near Princeton and Rabbit's Run of Quakertown in Bucks County. Both farms specialize in cheeses (Cherry Grove from cows, Rabbit's Run from goats), which means they've got a lot of whey left over from their cheese-making. It makes a great, cheap pig feed, so they both raise pigs. Rabbit's Run (which also sells goat meat) uses a commercial mix of pigs (Duroc and Yorkshire among them) while Cherry Grove sells meat cut from Berkshire hogs, a heritage breed admired for its fat and flavor and priced accordingly, i.e., very expensive).

Among the other vendors was Fahnestock Fruit Farm, which brought hothouse tomatoes to market. Fahnestock sells at another Saturday market as well, Clark Park (year round) in West Philly, which is probably the busiest of the Saturday venues.

Other Saturday markets include the Piazza at Schmidt's, Chestnut Hill, and Fitler Square (year round), with more to open later in the season. Suburban markets currently open include Bryn Mawr, Phoenixville and Wrightstown.

Peonies in Bloom

Peonies in bloom join strawberries at Earl Livengood's stall at Thursday's
Fairmount market. That's Lauren Swartz, who occasionally helps staff the stall,
and Jon Glyn of the Food Trust.

Flower vendors at local farmers' markets are flush with peonies. Earl Livengood had them Thursday at Fairmount, and Pam and Russell Young at the Saturday Headhouse Square market today.

SWMBO has always told me that ants are essential for the tight peony blooms to blossom. I asked Russell, and he told me that, in this one instance only, I should disregard my spouse. Just cut the at the bottom before placing the stem in a little water in a vase, and they'll open up, though it may take a few days.

RTM Farmers' Market Opens Sunday

When the Reading Terminal Market inaugurates its farmers' market this Sunday, some producers new to the city will field stalls.

Although Cherry Grove Farm's cheeses have been available at the RTM's Fair Food Farmstand for a couple of years, the Lawrenceville NJ producer has never sold directly to consumers in the city, to the best of my knowledge. Their cheeses are excellent, but they'll also be selling organic beef, pork, lamb and eggs.

Other vendors in the early lineup (more may be added) include:

• Steve Bowes Family Farm. Eggs along with vegetables, berries, tree fruit, eggs, cut flowers, seedlings and other plants.
• Jack’s Farm. Organic vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, seedlings and chicken.
• Derick's Orchard. Preserves, baked goods, vegetables, berries and, as the season progresses, tree fruit and melons.
• ShellBark Hollow Farm. A familiar name to city farmers' market shoppers. Goat cheeses, yogurt, and milk.
• Two Gander Farms. Produce, eggs and honey.
• John & Kira. Chocolates.
• Sweet Roses Twisted Lemonade. Herbed lemonade.

The RTM's farmers' market will run Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. directly across 12th Street from the edifice. Working with RTM management in organizing the market has been Farm to City.

Fairmount, South Street Markets Open

Visits to both the Fairmount and South Street farmers' markets confirm that, indeed, spring has arrived.

Earl Livengood (right) made it to Fairmount last Thursday, along with Sam Stolfus (photo below left) and Wild Flour Bakery. Bill Weller, an orchardist who sells plants for the garden in spring, was scheduled but didn't make it; he's expected either this week or next.

Among the although the strawberries weren't Earl's, which are a couple weeks away from harvest, the veggies were. Most unusual were the baby collard greens, which Earl classified as a mistake. Seems Earl didn't get around to pulling out last year's collard stalks and, what with the warm and early sprint, they started putting out new growth. So Earl harvested the young greens and has been selling them both here and, via a farm-to-chef service, to New York City restaurants where they are a big hit. (Those collards are  pictured below right.)

Sam Stolfus (that's Sam with the Food Trust's Melissa Immerman in the photo) started out selling baked goods at the Fairmount market, but in the last few years he's added more and more produce. He had plenty of early vegetables, but even though I arrived just an hour after the market opened, he had already sold out of beets.

Instead, I picked up some storage beets at today's South & Passyunk market at Livengood's stand there, manned by son Dwain Livengood, friend Sam Consylman (who supplied the beets from his cellar), and farmhand John, recently back from his honeymoon. (It's the first time Ive seen Dwain since late 2008. He and wife Audrey spent all of last year on a Mennonite mission in Honduras, where Audrey taught and Dwain established a vegetable garden for a school.)

Normally this time of year Sam calls me to say he's got some morels. He went looking, but few were to be had. He kept all he gathered (hardly half a pound's worth) for himself.

The only other vendors at South Street today were Big Sky Bakery and Taproots Farm, a new produce vendor, who had great looking tat soi greens; I bought baby asian turnips, with greens. They'll accompany carbonnade flammande for dinner.

Ye Olde Butcher

Pierce and Schurr once occupied Stall 820 at the Reading Terminal Market where Martin's Quality Meats continues the butchers' tradition. But they live on through this American Angus Association beef chart poster, which adorns the exterior wall of Martin's walk-in refrigerator. If I recall correctly, Pierce & Schurr lasted until circa 1980 at the market.

Ramps, Fiddleheads Still Here

The Fair Food Farmstand at the Reading Terminal Market had plenty of fiddleheads $16/pound) and ramps ($4/bunch) this afternoon. They are considering adding a ramp supplier from a more northern area of the region, which means at least a few added weeks of availability. Both ramps and fiddleheads were quite fresh and in good shape. I'll be combining the ramps I bought today with mushrooms (both roasted) to accompany leftover flank steak.

Bunches of different greens were prominently displayed at Fair Food today, too, all supplied by Paradise Organics. In addition to a variety of tender greens for salad, you could obtain Lacinato and Curly kales, rainbow chard, collard greens and mustard greens.

A.T. Buzby's Jersey strawberries, available at $5.50/quart Sunday at Headhouse, could be had today at Fair Food, with a markup to $7.

Simply for comparison's sake, I picked up a pint of strawberries at Iovine Brothers' Produce, $2.49, from their contract Bucks County grower, Shadybrook Farm. These berries are smaller than Buzby's giants, but still nice sized. They get the taste test for dessert tonight.

Beyond berries, Iovine offered plenty of other local produce, especially various green things from Flaim Farm in South Jersey. Bunches of spinach were featured out front for 99-cents, but there was also green and red leaf, Boston and romaine lettuces, arugula, dandelion,  green chard, leeks, basil, cilantro, radishes and sweet potatoes from Flaim and other South Jersey growers.

They weren't local, but the 'C' sized red and yukon potatoes (photo above) sure looked tempting, especially at 99-cents/pound. Might be time for some potato salad.

Busman's holiday?  Tom Nicolosi, proprietor of Dinic's, can't get enough of the heat from his ovens. So he went out and bought himself one of the Green Egg outdoor ceramic barbecues. He started experimenting last weekend and loves it; he even is going to try to make red gravy (Italian tomato meat sauce) in it!

In my garden, the chives are starting to flower. They should be fully open tomorrow when I'll add the edible blooms to salad.

Rotisserie Update

The chickens were going round and round on Charles Giunta's rotisserie today, but they weren't for sale. Charles is still testing and tweaking the device, but hopes to offer birds for public sale this weekend.

Farmers Return to Fairmount

When the Fairmount Farmers' Market opens for the 2010 season Thursday afternoon, regulars from past seasons will return.

Leading the way will be Earl Livengood. If we're lucky he'll have his gorgeous lilacs to provide color and aroma, and morels gathered by neighbor Sam Consylman.

Sam Stoltzfus who sells both produce and Amish style baked goods will also be back, as will Bill Well from Orchard Hill Farms in Pennsylvania's Northern Tier, though at this time of year Bill only brings plants for home gardens.

Wild Flour bakery is also expected go be back at the market, which begins its run at 3 p.m. at the corner of Fairmount Avenue and 22nd Street.

Rueben Lapp of Country Meadow Farms will be back with his meats in another two weeks, according to Katy Wich, who manages the market for the Food Trust.

Giunta Ready to Roast

Giunta's Prime Shop should begin roasting chickens soon at the Reading Terminal Market, now that proprietor Charles Giunta's legal battle with market management over whether he could add that item to his inventory has been won.

As of yesterday, the rotisserie had been installed, but needs a bit of tweaking before the birds start turning. Expect to see them cooking sometime later this week.

Given the diminutive size of the countertop appliance, it hardly provides significant competition to Dienner's, which has rotisseries lining its back wall.

Strawberries Galore, and Local
Headhouse begins new season

At today's opening of the Sunday Headhouse Square market the biggest surprise came from A.T. Buzby. Despite my prediction as recently as yesterday that local strawberries had a few more weeks before they made a solid appearance. Buzby had loads of them, grown out-of-doors. The quart I purchased ($5.50) is destined for dessert tonight, but the single berry I tasted -- admittedly, the reddest in the bunch -- was real. Good flavor, and it will require only the smallest boost from some added sugar.

Tom Culton of Culton Organics had a line of fawning purchasers for his pricey produce today. He also flashed a small quantity of morels at me, which he said he should have available next Sunday (figure north of $100/pound, which would make them expensive, even for fresh morels which usually sell for about $65). The ones Tom displayed looked big and clean. Whether I'd pay that much for them is an entirely different matter.

Ringing the opening bell for the 2010 Headhouse Square Farmers Market were Lindsay and Brad Lidge. The Phillies' reliever and his wife have long been active in local charities both here in Philadelphia and, before that, in Houston when pitcher was an Astro. Lindsay, who has a background in nutrition, will be writing healthy eating tips weekly for the Food Trust's web site.

There were plenty of vendors at Headhouse today, though Blooming Glen, which usually anchors the southwest entrance to the Shambles, was missing. Katy Wich, manager of the market, said the farm has skipped opening day in recent years because they just don't have enough to sell so early in the season. Among all the produce vendors at Headhouse, Tom Murtha and Tricia Borneman's Blooming Glen usually has the cornucopiest stall, overflowing with great looking produce, so it's worth the wait.

Strawberries Push the Envelope

Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce offered local strawberries at the Reading Terminal Market today. But only technically. These berries, priced at $5.95/pint (two for $10) were raised indoors, according to Benuel Kauffman. Don't expect to see outdoor grown local strawberries for at least another two weeks, more likely three.

Ben also had some gorgeous looking indoor-grown seedless cukes, at least a foot long each.

Both Iovine Brothers Produce and the Fair Food Farmstand are selling veggies from New Jersey's Flaim Farm. Both, for example, had Flaim's leeks ($1.75/pound at FF, $1.95/pound for smaller examples at Iovine's).

As I wrote last year when Iovine's began carrying Flaim's produce (sometimes marketed under the name Panther), the Vineland farm produces romaine, kohlrabi, spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, swiss chard (green, red), rainbow kale, turnips, napa cabbage, squash, eggplant (four varieties), peppers, escarole, endive. tomatillos and scallions on 450 acres. The farm was established in 1934 and is now operated by brothers Kevin and Bob Flaim. They also sell at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market.

Iovine's is also handling another producer's output in common with Fair Food: eggs from Natural Meadow Farms, Lancaster County.

Fair Foods still had fiddleheads today, $16/pound. No sign of ramps anywhere at the market, but FF had some rather pungent fresh spring garlic. IPM asparagus was $3.30/bunch, chemical-free stalks $3.50.

Most of the halibut I see at the Reading Terminal hails from Alaska, usually frozen. Today, at a savings of $7/pound vs. the $18.99 for the Alaskan version, John Yi had firm white filets from Canada. I bought some to try tomorrow. One of the fishmongers said it's slightly "fishier" than the Alaskan version, which is no sin in my book so long as it's fresh. Boston mackerel also made a reappearance at Yi's, $2.99/pound for whole fish.

Jim Iovine was touting tomatoes and corn this week. I tried the former, and they weren't bad: $1.49 pints of cherry tomatoes that, if they didn't quite taste like summer, came close. 

Seasonal Markets Start Opening
Headhouse, Fairmount among the first for 2010

The Headhouse Square Farmers' Market begins the new season with its opening tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Fairmount market, also sponsored by The Food Trust, starts its season Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m.) at 22nd and Fairmount. From then, other markets will start their seasons through May and into June.

For full schedules, visit these websites:

All Markets, Farm To City
Philadelphia Markets, The Food Trust
Suburban Markets, The Food Trust

When Headhouse opens tomorrow, one of the new vendors will be Renaissance Sausage. Basically, a lunch truck. They'll be offering Country Herb, Mediterranean, Chicken and Vegetarian sausages.

Here's the expected roster of other vendors:

• Produce: AT Buzby, Queen's Farm, Three Springs Fruit Farm, Savoie Organics, Weavers Way Farm, Culton Organics, Happy Cat Organics
• Meats: Griggstown Quail Farm, Mt. View Poultry
• Dairy: Hillacres Pride, Patches of Star Dairy, Birchrun Hills (Birchrun also offers some meats)
• Baked goods: Wild Flour, Ric's Breads
• Flowers, plants: Longview Farm, Young's Garden, Hurley's Nursery
• Other: John & Kira's Chocolates, Joe Coffee, Busy Bee Farm, Stargazers Vineyard, Talula's Table

Italian Festival Almost Wasn't

Today's Italian Festival at the Reading Terminal Market nearly didn't happen.

The reason: what many merchants consider a harassing approach by the city's Health Department.

Even the pig paid a price. The roast pig from Cannuli's couldn't be served from a single piece. Instead, the Health Department insisted it be cut up in smaller pieces. Hence, Tom Nicolosi of DiNic's and Rich Foley of Martin's took their knives over to Tootsie's to do the dirty deed. Ostensibly, according to RTM GM Paul Steinke, the inspector thought keeping the animal whole would not allow it to keep at a safe temperature.

The bureaucrats' insistence that one merchant submit a special HAACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Plan for squeezing orange juice just for this occasion, something he does at his stall with Health Department approval, caused that vendor to withdraw from the festival.

As Steinke delicately told me, there was intense "interaction" with the health inspectors. Some of the merchants were less delicate.

Nonetheless, despite the diffficulties, center court was filled with tables displaying and dispensing Italian goodies, from espresso  from Old City Coffee to Italian style beef chuck roast from Dinic's.
It was not, however, the market's first-ever Italian festival. Dom Spataro said one was held in the early 1990s.

Of course, given the number of Italian-American merchants, every day is an Italian festival at the Reading Terminal.

Ramps and Fiddleheads

The Fair Food Farmstand at the Reading Terminal Market had great ramps and fiddleheads this week. Thursday parboiled the fiddleheads, completed cooking by steaming, then finished by tossing them in a little olive oil and garlic. Great accompaniment to some sockeye salmon from Trader Joe's I had defrosted.

Tonight the ramps will be roasted with fresh mushrooms, then added to kasha (buckwheat groats) to accompany some grilled country style pork ribs from Country Time Farms. Asparagus from Fair Food will complete the meal.

Both Fair Food and Iovine Brothers Produce offered two types of asparagus today. At Fair Food it was certified organic vs. the less expensive IPM (Integrated Pest Management). At Iovine's New Jersey stalks were $3.99 vs. $2.99 from those from California.

Over at John Yi's the soft shell crabs are back, pricey as usual: four for $20.

A Week in Wisconsin

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I returned Wednesday from what has become an annual spring trip to Madison and Racine, Wisconsin.

In recent years, the Madison part of the visit coincided with opening day for the Dane County Farmers' Market around the state capitol building. It also coincided with some early tulips, as seen in photo at right.

The pickings were slim last Saturday, as should be expected since spring in Madison is about two weeks behind Philadelphia. Cheese, of course, was plentiful, as was its sibling, curds, which only Wisconsinites and those seeking poutines can appreciate. Meats were available, and plenty of baked goods, but produce was largely limited to some greenhouse and root cellar items. Even with a paucity of produce, however, a trip to the market in Madison is always worthwhile.

The culinary highlight in Madison for us was a new restaurant, Cooper's Tavern on the north side of Capitol Square. It's billed as an Irish pub, but it's a lot better than that. (Though the one pub item I tasted was disappointing. More on that later.)

Beer is essential for any pub and Cooper's doesn't disappoint. They didn't have one of my fav Wisconsin brews, Spotted Cow, so I opted for its stylistic equivalent, Lake Louie Cream Ale. Tasty, but I still prefer the unfiltered Spotted Cow. Overall a lot of nice choices both on tap and in bottles: not an overwhelming number of beers like you'd find at Monk's but a broad selection to satisfy just about any craving. Speaking of Monk's, their Flemish Sour Ale, made in Belgium, made the draft list; Victory and Dogfish were represented among the bottles.

Bone Marrow!

For food I could not resist the veal bone marrow appetizer, a longitudinally sliced femur of fine fat. The lengthwise butchering of the bone made it easy to spread the marrow on points of pumpernickel. The whole dish was made even better by half a dozen cloves of roasted garlic to add even more depth to the marrow flavor.

With my diet blown between the marrow and the beer I went with a bowl of bacon-studded cabbage soup as my second and last course. Not exactly a diet dish, but no carbs beyond the cabbage's. It was a rich, vegetable soup that I'd gladly consume on a cold winter's eve.

My companions (SWMBO and Executive Chef Tim Larsen's mom, Marlette) went for the sliders, a salad and the cottage pie

SWMBO's sliders were made high quality meat and served on small rolls that seemed to be a cross between brioche and biscuit, accompaied by hand-made potato chips hot from the fryer. Her salad, one of four on the menu, was spinach with crunchy, sweet and savory accents provided by brandied cranberries,
walnuts, pear, apple, and crisped goat cheese in a balsamic vinaigrette.

The cottage pie was a bit odd on two counts. First, it wasn't cottage pie. Where shepherd's pie is traditionally made with minced lamb, cottage pie is beef. This cottage pie, however, was made from lamb. And it wasn't really a pie at all, or even a casserole where the meat and veggies form the bottom layer topped by mashed potatoes. Instead, this was a large lump of the potatoes topped and lamb and gravy. Certainly satisfying, according to Marlette, but not what I would have expected.

Highlights of the appetizers I intend to try on future visits include house made soft pretzels (strictly to compare with the Philadelphia version) served with a Belgian beer-Dubliner cheese dip; twice-fried Belgian fries (also done as poutine with gravy and curds); and, rounding out the appetizers, a take on Scotch egg using a local bratwurst patty as the wrapper. Among the sandwiches (all the popular meats plus burger, the latter accented with a couple strips of pork belly rather than bacon), I'd opt for the lamb on sourdough with tomato jam, caramelized onions and provolone. For an entree, I've definitely have to try the Pork Belly Mac with porter-glazed fresh bacon, Dubliner cheddar mac and cheese and baguette. Fish and chips, curried chicken (British style), goat cheese polenta and bourbon salmon with cranberries, truffled mushrooms, mashed and veggies are also on the entree list.

The lunch menu is pretty similar, less the entrees.

Coopers Tavern has only been open for a couple of months and still has kinks to work out: the server screwed up the order of service and, of course, blamed it on the kitchen. Tim wasn't in the kitchen, since we met him outside leaving as we were entering; my guess is he wouldn't be amused no matter where the failure originated. Still, that wouldn't keep me from returning. Larsen has created a something for everyone gastro pub menu that would be admired for both creativity and execution anywhere.

The following night we dined with an old friend of SWMBO, Jerry Minnich who long held tenure as the restaurant review for Isthmus, Madison's alternative newspaper. (Then again, everything in Madison is alternative; it's like Ithaca with a state capital thrown in.) Jerry took us to Bandung, a local Indonesian restaurant where he's a regular.

To start we shared an order of Otak-Otak, a fish cake grilled in banana leaf served with a spicy garlic peanut sauce. I would have eaten two orders myself: clean fish flavor and great texture set off nicely by the sauce. Jerry and SWMBO selected Krakatoa as their mains, a sizzling platter of lightly battered chicken breast (you could also get shrimp or tempeh) served on a bed of steamed veggies and bean sprouts with garlic sauce. Back to my diet, I ordered a bowl of Asse Cabe, shredded chicken attop soft mung bean noodles, lemon grass and jalapenos served in a candle nut and sweet soy sauce.

Bandung also offers a rikstaffel daily.

Kringles!

On to Racine, a city that until recently had more Danes than any other in the world save Copenhagen. And where there are Danes there's Danish.

The highest expression of the baker's art in Racine is the Kringle, the oval pastry pictured here at Bendtsten's. They come in myriad flavors, though the most popular for very good reason is the pecan; my favorite, though, is the almond macaroon.

Bendtsten's is one of three bakeries in Racine known for their kringle (the others are O&H and Larsen's), and each has their partisans. I'm in Bendtsten's camp. Maybe it's the 1920s era oven shown here. More likely is the fact that while the other bakers introduce vegetable shortening to their pastry, at Bendsten's is strictly butter, and lots of it. Whether you get one of the smaller single-serving pastries, a large kringle or any of their other goodies, Bendsten's has what my in-laws admitted is a flavor that "is how kringles used to taste".

Which is not to say that you should pass by the other bakeries. If cke is your thing, Larsen's is tops, especially their Danish layer cake, a soft yellow cake with raspberry filling and a luscious butter cream icing. Over at O&H, SWMBO adores the poppyseed sweet rolls (your basic Danish pastry). However, at O&H's Danish Uncle specialty store I make a beeline for the deli counter where I order the rollepølse, a brined, pressed lamb cold cut. Two pounds are now sitting in my home freezer.

Judge backs Giunta in chicken case

The chickens have come home to roast. For Charles Giunta that's a good thing.

A ruling today by Common Pleas Court Judge Mark I. Bernstein gave Giunta the right to sell hot rotisserie chicken from his stall at the Reading Terminal Market, Giunta's Prime Shop.

Giunta had been seeking to sell the cooked birds for more than a year, but was turned down by RTM General Manager Paul Steinke on the basis that Giunta's lease did not permit him to sell hot foods. Giunta sued the market and today Judge Bernstein ruled from the bench that there's nothing in the lease to prevent the butcher from selling the rotisserie chicken.

The market's board holds a regular meeting tomorrow and will consider whether or not to appeal.

Steinke said Giunta's lease was written to allow the vendor to sell pre-cooked meats for consumption at home as well as prepared meats (for instance, stuffed meats) for cooking at home, much as Harry Ochs & Sons does.

Also influencing Steinke's initial rejection of Giunta's request was concern it would harm the existing business of another merchant, Dienner's Bar-B-Q, which deals primarily in rotisserie chicken.

The suit has been simmering for about a year, but unlike the highly publicized and emotional battle with Rick Olivieri of Rick's Steaks, which took on the dimensions of the personalities involved, this was "strictly business". It totally lacked the histrionics of the earlier case which resulted in a settlement in the market's favor in which Olivieri left the market.

Livengood's Leaves RTM
But Farmers' Market to Start in May

After 17 years, Earl Livengood is leaving the Reading Terminal Market. But come May the market will add a farmers' market on Sundays with up to 14 growers and value-added producers.

In recent years the Lancaster farmer hauled his produce to the market, leaving his wife Joyce to staff the stall with a helper while he trekked to the Bryn Mawr farmers' market. This year, prompted by declining sales at the RTM, he decided to avoid the mileage by continuing at Bryn Mawr on Saturdays while adding a new market at the Upper Merion Township Building in King of Prussia.

The market's fees may not have been the major reason for Earl's departure; his rents ranged from $25 to $75/day, with the higher fee levied at the peak of the local produce season. A bigger influence my have been the competition due to the availability of local produce at the Fair Food Farmstand, Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce, O.K. Lee and Iovine Brothers

Livengood will continue to sell his produce (and son Dwain's beef) Tuesedays at South and Passyunk and Thursdays at Fairmount.

Paul Steinke, RTM general manager, learned of Livengood's decision Thursday. At the spot in center court where Livengood has sold since 1993 Steinke installed a table and a commemorative book, which shoppers could sign wishing the Livengood's good fortune in their non-RTM endeavors. No doubt Steinke wants to keep in Livengood's favor, should Earl find the other Saturday venues not as profitable and wish to return. Steinke would welcome him back with open arms.

The farmers market will begin either the second or third week of May across 12th street, next to the outdoor Parkway parking lot between Arch and Cuthbert streets. There's space for 14 vendors (no sandwich vendors). Farm To City, which will manage the market for the RTM, has lined up nearly half a dozen sellers so far, and hopes to fill it out by opening. Hours will 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, with possible expansion to another day if demand warrants.

Jim Iovine, who owns Iovine Brothers with sibling Vinnie, told me he welcomes the competition. If it draws additional shoppers to the RTM, Iovine figures he'll get more business from buyers who can't meet all their needs at the outdoor venue. Iovine said Sunday remains one of his busiest days, third behind Saturday and Friday.

At the Reading Terminal

Wan's Seafood has the first Boston mackerel I've seen this season, but it was pretty wan-looking, and pricey at $3.49. Better to wander over to John Yi's or Golden Seafood: both were selling Spanish mackerel, $2.99 at the former, $3.49 at the latter. Spanish mackerel is just as tasty as the Boston variety, and quite similar in taste and a tad more meaty.

Speaking of seafood, you could get your shrimp and grits for breakfast today at the Down Home Diner. The Rock Shrimp Scampi and Grits special was $7.99.

Iovine Brothers Produce still had ramps, $1.99 for a bunch of four to six. Earlier this week I par-boiled the whites, chiffonaded the greens and added them to a foil package of halibut, carrots and parnips before baking for 17 minutes at 425F.

In addition to the ramps Iovine's had another sign of spring, California strawberries, $1 for a one-pound clamshell. And to go with them you could buy intensely ruby-red rhubarb from the Pacific Northwest, $3.99/pound.

A new item at Iovine's is Tropicana-branded clementines. It's the end of the season, but this Califormia citrus, selling at $5.99 for a five-pound box, had an intense, alluring aroma when you break them open.

Piazza Perseveres

The farmers' market at The Piazza at Schmidt's in Northern Liberties is going strong, at least to judge by the number of vendors. I counted 23 vendors this morning, though customers were few and far between during the market's opening hour beginning at 10 a.m. One vendor told me his shoppers tended to sleep in and not show up until noontime or soon thereafter.

Whether the vendors keep up their presence when other farmers' markets open and their selling opportunities multiply in May is yet to be seen. But those I spoke with have been happy with sales since the market opened in January

Producers participating today included:

• Shellbark Hollow goat cheese
• Highland Orchards, produce
• Birchrun Hills Farm, cheese and meats
• Weaver's Way, produce
• Landisdale Farm, produce (also at Clark Park on Saturday)
• Whimsical Farm, mushrooms, wool products (will add produce later this season, as well as their beef, pork, poultry and lamb come fall)
• Culton Organics, produce, including fresh garlic
• M&B Farview Farm, meats
• Natural Meadow, meats
• Hillside Nursery

Plenty of bakers and sweets-makers were there today:

• La Baguette
• Big Sky Bakery
• Market Canele (sharing a stall with Joe's Coffee)
• Amaranth Bakery (gluten-free)
• Ian's Baked Goods (sharing stall with Culton)
• John + Kira Chocolates
• Wild Flour Bakery
• My House Cookies

Other vendors:

• Joe's Coffee
• Verain-Savon, soaps and body goods
• Barbie-Lu's Sassy Salsa
• Penn Herb
• Just Dogs Gourmet
• Philadelphia Phaithful Sports Apparel

Produce was primarily root vegetables and storage apples, though some offered greenhouse greens. Culton was selling early spring garlic, dandelions and other greens.

More Goose for Gras

Tom Culton, whose Culton Organics supplies lots of regional chefs as well as shoppers at Headhouse Square and other farmers' markets with produce in season, is ordering more goslings to meet demand for foie gras.

This year marks Culton's first into foie gras production. When he first told me last month he had purchased 300 geese for his humanely raised foie gras his entire production had already been sold out, primarily to restaurateurs. Based on growing interest he'll be adding to his gaggle, therefore, there will be more geese for us to gander for gras.

Ramps
Return

It must be spring, because Iovine Brothers Produce touted the first ramps of the season this week.

They're only $1.99 a bunch . . . but the bunches are very small. The one I picked out seemed the heftiest, and it weighed out at only two ounces. That puts the cost at somewhere around $16/pound. It's a good thing a little goes a long way. I plan to use them with some halibut tonight.

Also featured at Iovine's this week:

• California strawberries, $1 for a one-pound pack
• Lettuces, 99-cents a head (romaine, iceberg, green and red leaf)
• Asparagus (U.S.), pencil thin, $1.99/bunch
• Seedless grapes, $1 for one-pound pack

Rittenhouse Going Strong

The Rittenhouse Farmers' Market, which went year-round this past winter, is attracting more vendors as spring arrives.

Last Saturday the market, operated by Farm To City, boasted four actual producers of produce or dairy products, along with two bakers and a chocolatier. Daryl Rineer had four tables worth of root veggies, storage apples and a few other goodies. Davidson Exotic Mushroom provided fungi. Hail's Dairy brought their cow udder output, in both fresh and cheesy forms, and Linden Dale Farms offered goat cheeses and products. Breads, rolls and pastries were supplied by La Baguette while Amaranth offered its gluten-free equivalents. John + Kira were there with chocolates.

In future weeks before the spring produce arrives (which isn't that far away) you will probably see two more cheese makers. Cherry Grove, from the Lawrenceville NJ area, is renounded for their tomme and other cow milk cheeses. Rabbits Run specializes in aged goat cheese; that's a rarity in these parts, since most goat cheese producers in these parts stick to fresh cheese.

Nolia Chocolates
Add to your list of fine truffles made locally

We're blessed in Philadelphia with some excellent chocolates made in the region. John + Kira, Neuchatel, Eclat and others, including those made in-house at Lacroix.

Now add Nolia to the list.

From somewhere near the Old Kensington-Northern Liberties demarcation line, Kristin and Samantha are concocting some great flavors using single origin Carenero beans from Venezuela.

She Who Must Be Obeyed attended a tasting Saturday at the home of one of the principals in Fairmount and was bowled over. This is a lady who, when asked for her favorite chocolatier, answers: Marcolini of Place du Grand Sablon, Brussels.

I tried a few from the small box SWMBO brought home.

Rosemary Goat. Inspired by a flavor fav at Capogiro, the rosemary comes on just strong enough without overpowering the other components.

Bourbon Cherry. Simply put, the best damned cherry cordial I've ever tasted. The cherry itself, as well as the filling, have an intense bourbon flavor which, again, augments rather than overpowers this bonbon's cherryness.

Raspberry Champagne. 'Nuff said.

Lemon Pepper. The hit of Saturday's tasting, and my No. 2 behind the cherry among those I tasted; the bits of pepper pepper the top of the chocolate. iirc, SWMBO said she was told the pepper comes from a single estate of one of the principals' acquaintances in Costa Rica.

SWMBO also tried a Mango Buttercream which she found appealing.

There are lots of other flavors, as well as those they make when prime ingredients become available; these aren't listed on the website, but when you order an assortment a couple of these will be included.

Nolia appears to be priced competitively for high quality chocolates. The 12-piece assortment SWMBO brought home for $20 weighed out at 7.5 ounces, which works out to less than $43 a pound. The 24-piece box, assuming it weighs in at 15 ounces, would be priced at less than $41/pound.

I didn't try them, but Nolia is offering a variety of filled Easter eggs, including a large hollow egg filled with truffles.

You can order online, with shipping charges (First Class or Fedex) extra, though you can avoid those by arranging to pick up your order in town.

For any Manhattanites reading this post, another tasting will be held this Thursday in NYC. Although it's by invitation, my guess is you can wrangle an invite to contacting Kristin via the website; just tell her I sent you.

More About Meat

I had a chance to talk a bit about beef today with Nick Ochs of Harry G. Ochs & Sons (shown at right getting into the spirit -- and garb -- during the Pennsylania Dutch Festival at the Reading Terminal Market a few years ago).

The Ochs stall has long been known as a purveyor of prime beef, but given my conversation with Charlie Giunta a few days ago (see earlier post) I wanted to know a bit more about his beef.

Nick said he uses the same suppliers in Lancaster County as his dad Harry did. He exclusively buys USDA prime beef sides, which was a mild surprise to me, since I thought only some of his inventory was prime. The only time he orders choice, he said, is when a customer specifically requests it; an example he gave was someone who wanted ribs with a bit less fat on them.

His suppliers hang the sides he selects for four weeks, which is as long as most butchers and restaurants selling or serving dry aged beef. Even the meat that goes into his ground beef ages that long since it's all coming from the same sides and ground at the store.

A few customers like their beef for steak and roasts aged longer, and Nick obliges. Lynn Abraham, for example, goes for six weeks. He's even had a rare customer (a Manhattanite who forsook Lobel's for Ochs via mail order) who asked for eight weeks. Beyond eight weeks, says Nick, the beef becomes way too livery tasting. Occasionally, when his supply at the store is low, he might pull some sides from his suppliers' aging rooms at three weeks, but that's the exception, not the rule.

All of Nick's beef and poultry comes from Lancaster County. The lamb and pork come from farther afield.

Nick said his sales of prime dry aged beef have held up pretty well, even though they took a dip early in the recent recession. Five or six years ago a lot of market shoppers thought the lack of bright red color like they find in supermarket wet aged beef indicated poor quality. Today more shoppers are aware of prime beef and its characteristics, Nick said.

Benuel Kauffman

Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce has been a fixture at the Reading Terminal Market for 20 years. Benuel is among the handful of greengrocers who work directly with area farmers to bring their fruits and vegetables to the Reading Terminal Market. (The others are Iovine Brother's Produce and O.K. Lee, who have contracts with farmers to provide certain produce, Fair Food Farmstand and, to a lesser extent, L. Halteman.)

Ben says his customers have been asking when they'll start to see green things at his stall, which is now stocked with beans, canned goods, preserves and other packaged foods. If the weather cooperates he expects asparagus to show up in about three or four weeks.

Don't curse all that snow we had this winter. Ben says the thick layer of white stuff melted slowly, which was very good in prepping the soil for planting and for those crops already in the ground waiting to spring up with longer days and moderate weather.

Ben's been working in the market since the early 1980s when he helped out a fellow Amishman who operated a produce stand at the market, originally located where the Down Home Diner rules today. With the improvement of the market during convention center construction his predecessor moved to the seating area closest to Arch Street. A few years later he left the market, so Ben established his stall where Moyer's Pork Products of Blooming Glen was ensconced for a few decades. (You can still see the lettering for Moyer's stall at Ben's; we both lament the loss of Moyers and his superior hams, the best either of us have ever tasted.)

Although Ben obtains most of his produce from neighbors, he outs in a few crops himself, including green beans, peas and a few other vegetables.

Vernal Equinox
At Clark Park

The first day of spring -- and a gorgeous one at that  -- drew plenty of shoppers, vendors and a couple of music makers Saturday to the year-round farmers' market in West Philly operated by The Food Trust.

Even the daffodils cooperated by coming out in bloom.

If you wanted a few salad greens, they could be obtained from Brogue Hydroponics. The York Country grower, after an experiment for a few weeks last year, added Clark Park to their regular rotation of farmers' markets this year. They also sell at Eastern Market in York, Anselma Mill Market in Chester Spring and Bel Air Market in Bel Air, Maryland. The six-greenhouse operation, which also wholesales to restaurants, utilizes integrated pest management.

Other produce vendors at Clark Park (whose fresh offerings were mostly restricted to root vegetables and storage apples) included Eden Garden, Hail's Family Farm (dairy), Mountain View Farm (poultry), Landisdale Farm, Keystone Farm, and Noelle Margerum.

Also on hand were Forest View Bakery, Market Day Canele, John & Kira Chocolates, Slow Rise Bakery, and Honest Tom's Tacos.

Farmers' Markets: Early May

Although a couple year-round farmers' markets are open (Clark Park, Rittenhouse Square and the Piazza at Schmidt's, Saturdays, Suburban Station on Thursdays), the full range of city and suburban markets will start to open in early May, starting with Headhouse Square on May 2 and Fairmount on May 6.

As I wrote last spring (see post) the Reading Terminal Market is considering sponsoring a farmer's market. Although nothing's set in stone at this point, it's looking likely for opening sometime this spring or summer, probably in cooperation with Farm To City. It would be open on Sundays and located on the sidewalk adjacent to the open air parking lot across 12th Street from the market.

More Strawberries

Earlier this week Iovine Brothers Produce featured California strawberries at $1.99 for a one-pound clamshell. Today they added Florida berries at the same price. As good as they looked and smelled, I'm still holding off until our local berries appear in May.

WiFi Back

WiFi was back in service at the RTM this morning when I checked.

Giunta Tries Again

When Charles Giunta opened Giunta's Prime Shop at the Reading Terminal Market a couple years ago his goal was to offer natural, hormone-free meats. It didn't work. As Charlie has complained to me on numerous occasions, customers like all-natural, hormone-free, no-antibiotics beef, but few want to pay the freight. Price beats all.

As evidence, he points out that the Reading Terminal Market has the highest volume of food stamp purchases in the state, and these shoppers have to be particularly thrifty. Shoppers who are fortunate enough not to need food stamps are just as thrifty. With few exceptions they also buy on price, though just like food stamp shoppers they seek the best possible quality for their buck.

The market for the premium meat remains small. Either of the city's two Whole Foods store, which carry hormone-free, natural meats exclusively, sell only half the dollar volume that he does each week, Giunta estimates. Even Harry Ochs, long renowned as the market's premier butcher specializing in prime meats, doesn't move much of the good stuff: look at Ochs' cases and you'll see nearly half the space taken up by prepared foods and Boar's Head deli meats; much of the fresh meat that remains, while certainly of high quality, is conventionally-raised.

Although Giunta has concluded he can't make a living if he relied on all-natural product, that doesn't mean he won't stop trying to make it work, at least for part of his business.

This weekend, you can expect to see all-natural, hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats from Peterson & Shaner, a small-scale operation in Douglassville, not far from Pottstown.  Peterson & Shaner raises about 50 head of Black Angus for slaughter each year, as it has since the 1950s. The beef is grass fed until shortly before slaughter, when they are switched to corn and other grains grown on the farm. They are shipped only so far as a Quakertown slaughterhouse for processing, with the carcasses sent back to Douglassville where individual customers can order whole sides which are they butchered while they watch (and the customer does his or her own packing). They hang the beef for two weeks before they let the customer do the packing.

Because Peterson & Shaner doe not use growth hormones, the sides are smaller than most commercial beef, which means the steaks and other cuts will be smaller (though you can always get a thicker cut of steak if you want more meat). It also means don't expect any filet mignons, since the tenderloins are much too small.

Giunta made a trip Sunday to Douglassville and came back with three sides, which he's starting to cut today. As of this morning, he's still figuring out the pricing, but expect them to be a few bucks a pound more than his usual product.

If you want have access to this type of quality beef at the Reading Terminal Market, bite the bullet and go buy some this weekend. If Giunta doesn't move it at a price at which he can make a fair profit, don't expect to see it in the future.

Conch at Golden

First time I've ever spied it at the Reading Terminal Market, but Golden Fish had conch today, $12.99/pound.

A Little Bit of Spring

The chives in the backyard container started to shoot up last week, enough so I could clip some as a soup garnish last evening. But that doesn't mean we'll see local produce anytime soon. Maybe we'll see ramps (and they won't be local) by late March, and perhaps some tiny potatoes from Earl Livengood by mid-April, but asparagus will have to wait for late April, and strawberries another three weeks or so beyond that.

But if you're hankering for spring, there's alway Mexico and California. Iovine's Brother Produce offered asparagus and strawberries this week at reasonable prices, and the quality didn't look bad.

The Mexican asparagus, $1.99 for a one-pound bunch, was thin and bright green; though the purple-topped local variety will no doubt be tastier, these didn't look bad.

The California berries were huge, if not fully ripe. $2.50 for a one-pound clamshell.

Cacus pears must be in season in Mexico and Southwest. Both Iovine's and O.K. Lee have been selling them at bargain prices. The former had slightly smallish ones today at five for a buck today.

Beignets Are Back!

Bill Beck of Beck's Cajun Café says he's solved his beignet problem and assures me they're light and fluffy inside, and crispy on the exterior. I haven't tried them to confirm yet.

They are available on Wednesdays and Sundays only. Bill's beignet man (who comes in the night before to prep the dough) makes only enough for 30 orders each day.

Beck tried the beignets last year, but the results were inconsistent at best. He shut down beignets until he could invest the time to figure out what was goint wrong and fix it.

Foie Gras for Locavores

That goose egg flamboyant farmer Tom Culton displays at Monday's Fair Food Local Grower Local Buyer event isn't just for an omelet. His 300-goose gaggle is geared for foie gras production.

But don't go looking for the luxe liver at any of the farmers' markets he frequents. Culton has sold out his entire production to local restaurants.

Tom says the geese, which he regards as among the more intelligent food birds, are being humanely raised. The foie gras will be produced without force feeding.

Choptank Oyster Farm

Among the purveyors trying to increase its local market at the Fair Food Local Grower, Local Buyer event Monday was Choptank Oyster Farm of Cambridge, Maryland. They've been doing "sweet" Chesapeake oysters for a number of years, but recently started taking some of the bivalves and finishing them off in saltier water, hence, Choptank Salts, an erstwhile competitor to the Cape May Salts which have found favor with local restaurateurs.

Choptank Salts aren't quite as briny or minerally as the Cape Mays, but they remain a nice oyster for half-shell eating.

Bubba Parker, who was shucking and serving Monday evening, said Choptank is aiming at the local restaurant market, where they hardly have a presence. Because Samuels & Sons distributes their products, they figure they can make some inroads here.

Capon Battle

There's a bit of a discrepency in the prices of a particular poultry at the Reading Terminal Market.

At Godshall's Poultry, capons are priced at $3.99/pound while across the aisle at Giunta's Prime Shop they are $1.99. Giunta is selling birds produced by Eberly, which are free-range and surgically altered (which is more expensive for producers than chemically altered). I don't know whose birds Godshall's is selling, they they were marked free-range and naturally-fed, so I suspect they were surgically altered also.

If the birds weren't so big (capons usually run somewhere around 8-12 pounds), I'd do a taste test.

If you haven't tried one, do so. particularly if you favor breast meat, since capons, due to their alteration, have significantly larger breasts. Roast them just like a chicken; they'll just need more time because of the size.

Plumogranate?

American industrial agriculture, in its never-ending quest to sell more and meet perceived needs that really aren't, has unveiled a new fruit, the plumogranite.

Vinnie Iovine of Iovine Brothers Produce, Reading Terminal Market, says it should arrive sometime in July from California. It's basically a pluot (a plum-apricot hybrid) which has been endowed through botanical science with high anti-oxidant levels similar to those of pomegranate, hence the triple-combo name.

I didn't spy much else that's new at Iovine's during a visit yesterday. Green bell peppers are still more expensive than reds ($2.99 vs. $1.99), and the Chilean grapes still haven't reached bargain levels. Maybe it's just disruption due to the earthquake that should start to get back to normal soon.

We've (kind of) moved

Due to customer-unfriendly changes at Google, the location of the host server for this blog had to be changed. If you bookmark us, please update your bookmark for our new location: http://robertsmarketreport.blogspot.com.

Local Growers, Local Buyers

Fair Food held its seventh annual gathering of local producers and local buyers at the Reading Terminal Market Monday evening, bringing together buyers for about 175 restaurants (including Jose Garces, at right), food stores and institutional kitchens with about 50 different growers and makers of produce, meats, seafood, baked goods and other food items.

"There's been more and more interest each year, it's amazing," said Deb Bentzel, who runs Fair Food's outreach to institutional food buyers, including hospitals.

Another Fair Food staffer, Leticia Garcia, called it "the best year yet" for the annual event, which affords producers and buyers the opportunity to hook up, making it easier for farmers and producers to sell their goods, and local buyers, primarily restaurants, to find sources aimed at pleasing locavores.

The Garces Group was well represented, and not just with the eponymous Iron Chef.  The chief buyer for his Philadelphia operations, Adam DeLosso, and Robert Scully, manager of Village Whiskey and Tinto, were also roaming center court.

A number of representatives from Whole Foods could also be found making the rounds, tasting the offerings and discussing possibilities with suppliers. Lankenau and Cooper hospitals, LaSalle and the University of Pennsylvania were among the institutional buyers attending. Restaurants, which represented about 80 percent of the buyers attending, represented the full range of Philadelphia eateries, as well as chefs you would expect to support local food endeavors, like Mitch Prensky of Supper.

Among the locavore "wholesalers" attending were James DeMarsh of Common Market, which distributes local produce out of its Hunting Park Avenue warehouse, and Casey Specht and of Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop in Leola (whose produce is displayed at left). DeMarsh and Specht both agreed that the annual gathering gives them a chance to meet new potential customers and let them know how they can meet some of their supply needs.

Although institutional customers represent a small market for local growers and producers -- they've been most successful in supplying restaurants -- hospitals, schools and other institutions with food service responsibilities represent significant growth potential. Schools look to be a particularly important aspect of this market, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House (through the First Lady Michelle Obama's efforts) are beating the bushes for better nutrition, and more produce, in school food programs, according to Fair Food's Bentzel.

Wifi Whiffs at RTM

The free WiFi network at the Reading Terminal Market has been down for about a week. So bring your 3G card if you want to surf or retrieve your email.