Cherries Almost Done

Jostaberries at Beechwood Orchards

Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards, selling today at Headhouse Square Farmers' Market, says don't count on seeing any local cherries this time next week. In past years he's brought in some from New York State, which run a few weeks later than ours, but he's goint to skip extending the season that way.

Today he was the only vendor I spied with cherries -- none were visible at Three Springs Fruit Farm, the other usual stall carrying them and where I picked up a quart of Montmorencey pie cherries last week. Garretson had both sweet and sour cherries today. The red and rose sweets were selling for $4/pint or $7.50/quart.

I took advantage of the sour cherry season while I could, since they tend to be here for only a few weeks: three quarts of sorbet, a couple cobblers, and a tart. Time to move on to blueberries and blackberries. (The raspberries look good, but too pricey for anything but a garnish or mixed with yogurt when they're $4.50 for a half pint.)

The last few weeks fruit vendors have been featuring a number of different gooseberries and their close relations. Last week Beechwood had Jostaberries, a triple cross of North American coastal black gooseberries, European gooseberry, and black currant. Best in cooked applications or jams and preserves.

Some of Beechwood Orchard's stone fruits

Other varieties of stone fruit are supplanting cherries now: peaches, plums and apricots. The peaches I picked up yesterday at Fair Food (from Beechwood) had good flavor, though just a tad watery. I expect they'll intensify with the weather we've had lately.

Although they don't usually show up for another week or so, since every other crop is advanced this season, why should apples be different? Beechwood had Lodis (best for sauce and cooking rather than eating out-of-hand) for $2/pound today.

North Star Orchards, which specializes in apples and pears, usually doesn't start selling at Headhouse until August. Maybe if their crops are as early as everything else seems to be this season, we'll see them back in a few weeks.

Pot Pie Savings

Chicken and turkey pot pies are more of an autumn or winter thing for me, but if you enjoy them in the summer. you can safe $1.75 on a small pie if you head over to Martin's Quality Meats in the Reading Terminal Market. Where Fair Food sells the small pies for $12.50, Martin's asks $10.75, iirc.

Lobster Tales at Reading Terminal Market

New neon sign on John Yi Fish Market let's you know they've got live lobsters

Live lobster at John Yi

John Yi Fish Market has got live and cooked lobsters, but no lobster tank, at least not yet. Golden Seafood has a new tank, but it isn't filled. Both intend to rectify their respective situations soon.

Live lobsters are once again regularly available at the Reading Terminal Market, something that hasn't happened since Coastal Cave closed with its owner's retirement April 1.

At $11.99 a pound, John Yi's lobsters are a trifle dear, but that's pretty much the standard once you get away from the Maine and Nova Scotia coasts. In Portland, Maine, last week, 1-1/8 pounders were selling for $3.99 at wharfside fish markets, 1-1/2 pounders $4.99, some of the lowest prices in years for softshell (newly molted) lobsters, which are more common that hardshells during the summer months. (And no, you can't eat the shell of softshells as you can softshell crabs.)

More Random Notes on Reading Terminal Market Celebration

It's time to play catch-up with the remaining events at last week's Avenue D Renovation Celebration at the Reading Terminal Market.

Eran Wajswol

Rick Nichols, who planned much of the week's programs along with market officials was quite proud of the title he gave to last Thursday's noontime talk by Eran Wajswol of Valley Shepherd Creamery:

What a Friend We Have in Cheeses

Wajswol, a late-comer to commercial cheese-making after a career as an engineer for nuclear power plant cooling systems, will be joining the list of market vendors this fall when he opens up his shop along Avenue D, where he'll not only sell and serve cheese (serving in the form of cheese paninis), but make it, too. He'll use cow milk from regional dairies (Delaware Valley College's and University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school are likely, but he's got others under consideration) to produce at least one cheese at the terminal, in full view of customers. "Reading Cheddar" will be his first cheese, but you won't be able to buy it for at least eight to twelve months after it's made: that's how long it will take to age in the market's basement where he'll have his aging room as well as milk storage tank. He's also considering making a Stilton-like cheese, and perhaps a fresh mozzarella.

Terrence Feury works salmon as Rick Nichols comments

Ellen Yin of Fork was joined by her long-time, but soon-to-be-gone chef, Terrence Feury, for a fish demonstration Friday at noon.

It's unfortunate that in the demonstrate Feury used a fish that's hard for the retail customer to come by: a salmon trout from Loch Duart in Scotland. This farm-raised fish is of superb quality, much better than the typical farm-raised Atlantic salmon. But it's impossible to find in fish stores, and exceedingly pricey even at the wholesale level. Even domestically raised salmon-trout, also known as steelhead, can be difficult (but not impossible) to find in retail stores in the Philadelphia area.

That said, Feury made a tasty dish that could easily be replicated, if not for the fish, at home. (I'd recommend doing it with Alaska king or sockeye salmon, now in season.) Cut a skinned filet into small serving pieces, about 2 ounces and lightly sprinkle with a mix of equal amounts of kosher salt and sugar, then let sit for about 20 minutes. The pieces then get very lightly sautéed in a lightly oiled pan (just warmed through, not cooked, hence the need for the best possible fish), then served with a lemon-oil emulsion (equal parts juice and olive oil, emulsified in the blender). He accompanied the fish with a melange of tiny cubes of cucumber, sun-dried tomato, in a sauce made with verjus and olive oil.

Yin and Feury's presentation was well attended, and among those watching was a Philadelphia restaurant luminary from the past: Kathleen Mulhern. She was another contributor to the city's restaurant renaissance in the 1970s with The Garden, which lasted from 1973 until early in the new millenium.

Jeremy Nolan makes sausage

Sausage, sauerkraut and beer was the focus of Doug Hager, proprietor of Brauhaus Schmitz, and his executive chef, Jeremy Nolan, at Friday's 5 p.m. demonstration. This summer they plan to open their retail outpost at the RTM, Wursthaus Schmitz, where they'll sell sausages for cooking at home, German deli meats, and grocery items imported from the old country. Sausages and salad items they don't make in their own kitchen at the South Street restaurant (now being expanded) will come from Rieker's, the emporium of all goods German in Fox Chase.

As Nolan operated the gleaming sausage stuffer, after mixing ground pork with appropriate seasonings to make bratwurst, Hager, born in northern Bavarian to an American father and German mother, poured the beer. And they weren't tiny samples, either! The beer and cooked brats were accompanied by a sauerkraut (based on imported German wine kraut, but doctored up by Nolan with beer, juniper berries and other seasonings), and German potato salad.

Anna Florio (left) and Aliza Green

On Saturday at noon, in the week's final demonstration, Aliza Green, the first chef at White Dog Cafe, consultant to many Philadelphia restaurants, and inveterate cookbook author, demonstrated how to use ingredients found at the market with Anna Florio, proprietor of La Cucina at the Market, the demonstration kitchen where she conducts classes and food-related events.

The centerpiece was handmade pappadelle pasta: she kept on saying how easy it was, but her kneading and rolling obviously required plenty of elbow grease, even if the technique was simple. Although she had semolina for dusting, the primary flour was Daisy, from a mill in Annville, Pennsylvania, which started in 1740. She said the low-protein, extra finely milled flour is ideal for pasta because it easily rolls out and results in soft, tender pasta that readily absorbs sauce or broth. While Green tended to the pasta, Florio worked wonders with zucchini (bought from Iovine's) in the sauté pan. The pasta was served with a simple olive oil sauce enlivened by garlic scapes.

Bargains, Rarities at Reading Terminal Market

Frying peppers, cheap

If there's a pepper surplus when the season comes to a close, you might see frying peppers sell for as little as 50 cents a pound. But that's then. Now you can buy them at Iovine Brother's Produce for 89 cents a pound, a clear bargain since just a month or so they were priced as high as $1.99.

I couldn't resist buying a bunch, as well as Italian sausage from Martin's Quality Meats at the Reading Terminal Market. Sauté the peppers with some onions, cook the sausage, and put it all on a good hoagie roll and you've got a fine meal. All the basic food groups are covered except beer.

Peaches have made an early arrival at the market. Benuel Kaufman has some early varities for $2.49/pound, while Halteman is selling them for $2.19. Other good buys at Halteman's: blueberries $3.29 a pint (though Iovine's has Jerseys at $1.99), black raspberries $4.99/pint, sweet cherries $5.99/quart.

Iovine has donut peaches (I didn't ask, but I expect they're from California) for 99-cents pound. They also have a good deal on Vidalia onions, 50 cents pound (normally anywhere from 69-cents to a buck).

Ben Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce boasts another produce item that's a few weeks earlier than normal: corn. I'll pass on that for another week or two, but I can't resist his long, red beets which I find sweeter than the more traditional round beet.

The best deals on cherries I've seen has been at the Fair Food Farmstand, where sour pie cherries have been going for $6/quart, nearly three bucks less than Ben Kauffman asks. I turned two quarts into sorbet last week. Buy them now, because the sour cherry season is incredibly short.

White Dog & Reading Terminal Market

Panelists discussions the local food movement, from left: Ann Karlin of Fair Food, Nicky Uy of the Food Trust, White Dog Cafe founder Judy Wicks, and Bob Pierson of Farm to City

The Reading Terminal Market's Avenue D Celebration included a panel discussion late Tuesday afternoon focusing on "How the Local Food Movement Got Its Start".

Among the panelists was Judy Wicks, who founded the White Dog Cafe and, through her foundation, the Fair Food project.

The seminal importance of Wicks' White Dog Cafe to the Philadelphia food movement becomes clear just by looking at some of the other participants in the eleven demonstrations and discussions the market is hosting as part of its celebration.

James Barrett and Wendy Born of Metropolitan Bakery

Aliza Green, the first chef at White Dog who was instrumental in executing and developing the cafe's emphasis on locally-produced foods, will co-present (with La Cuchina proprietor Anna Florio) "From the Market Aisles to Your Plate". (Their program is scheduled for 12 noon Saturdy.) In recent years Aliza has produced a series of no-nonsense, highly useful pocket-sized books dedicted to single categories of foods (meat, fish, produce, etc.) which provides an A-to-Z guide on how to buy, store and use individual foods.

James Barrett and Wendy Born, founders of Metropolitan Bakery, both worked at White Dog in its early days. Among members of the audience Thursday afternoon when they gave a bread-making demonstration was Jack Treatman, of Old City Coffee, another alumni of White Dog.

Restauranteur Ellen Yin also spent time as a server at White Dog. She joined Terrence Feury, her outgoing chef at Fork, at the noontime demonstration today on preparing fish.

Philadelphia & Chocolate: History

Wilbur Buds

With the big dedication ceremony complete, the Reading Terminal Market got into the nitty gritty of regional food lore in the first of its week long programs in the Rick Nichols Room.

Leading off at noon on Monday was Michael Holahan, co-owner of the market's Pennsylvania General Store and president of the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association, who provided an overview of the region's role in the chocolate industry.

Today' candy industry, Holahan explained, grew out of the mom-and-pop confectioneries that could be found in almost any burg with a railroad depot, to provide quick treats for passengers. In eastern Pennsylvania, many of these shops had been established by immigrant Germans, who brought their traditional recipes over from the Old World. With the introduction of industrialization in the late 19th century some of the shops kicked up production, and found markets beyond their little towns for some of the treats they created. Among those in the greater Philadelphia region that attained renown were Zagnut, Goobers, Raisinets and Snow Caps.

One Philadelphia confectioner came up with the brilliant idea of placing filled chocolates in a box. Although Whitman's no longer manufactures in Philadelphia (it was bought out by Russell Stover), the concept lives on.

The German candy tradition was supplemented in the big cities, Holahan said, by Jewish candy-makers. In Philadelphia the most prominent product coming out of that lineage today would be Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, which Holahan said the Goldenbergs started as a ration during World War I.  Although, like most of the small chocolates firms it has been taken over by a larger company, Just Born (maker of Peeps), Peanut Chews continue to be manufactured in Philadelphia -- because Just Born wants to keep its Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, plant peanut-free.

In his talk Holahan also recounted the birth of the Wilbur Bud, how Milton Hershey sold off his Lancaster caramel manufacturing business to found his model community and orphange and make the Hershey bar on the side, and the eventual duopoly battles between Mars and Hershey, especially once Mars in the 1960s started processing its own chocolate rather than buying $30 million worth a year from Hershey.

For additional reading on the subject Holahan recommended Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Joël Glenn.

Factoids from Reading Terminal Market celebration

At Monday's celebration of the Reading Terminal Market's Avenue D renovation and dedication of the Rick Nichols Room, I learned a bunch more about the RTM. The ceremonies also included the unveiling of the exhibit on the history of the market along the back wall of the Nichols Room.

From Paul Steinke, the market's general manager, in his opening remarks: the market and its merchans employ more than 400 people.

From Mike Holahan, president of the Reading Terminal Market Merchants' Association: When the market opened in 1892 there were 750 merchants -- two thirds of them butchers -- within the same footprint as today's market.

Of course, all of today's seating areas, including the center court which takes up about five percent of the square footage, was devoted to stalls back then. And most stalls were a lot smaller.

From Rick "Room" Nichols, retired Philadelphia Inquirer food columnist: the multi-purpose room named in his honor slopes downward toward center court because the fish mongers used to be there, and the slope directed water from the melting ice to the drain. He also observed that fish and newspapers have a "natural affinity" for each other.

Here are some photos from the Avenue D project celebration Monday.

Although Rick Nichols was the honoree at the morning ceremony, he
was the host with the most cupcakes at the Monday evening program

Domenic Spataro found a photo of his parents at the original family stall
when he toured the new historic exhibit on the back wall of the Nichols Room

Domenic Spataro, who died in January, and wife Dorothy (center) in photo taken about
1948 featured in the new Reading Terminal Market history exhibit in the Nichols Room.

Youngsters from the Chinatown Learning Center opened the ceremonies Monday morning
with some songs, including 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'

Blackbird Society Orchestra also provided musical accompaniment to the festivities.

 

 

Poses and Garces Together at Reading Terminal Market

Steve Poses, Rick Nichols and Jose Garces

The man who launched the Philadelphia Restaurant renaissance, Steve Poses, was unexpectedly greeted by the man who today represents Philadelphia restaurants to the world, Jose Garces.

They met late this afternoon prior to Poses' presentation as part of the Reading Terminal Market's renovation celebration. That celebration centered around the dedication of the Rick Nichols Room, the new multi-purpose room serving as the keystone of the market's Avenue D renovation program.

It was Nichols, retired food columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, who arranged for Garces to make a surprise visit to La Cucina, the kitchen and cooking school located adjacent to the new room. Poses was genuinely surprised by Garces' appearance, who he had never met before.

While Garces may be the face of Philadelphia food these days thanks to his role as one of the Food Networks' Iron Chefs, it was Poses, more than any other single individual (George Perrier included), who is associated with the city's restaurant renaissance in the 1970s through his first restaurant, Frog, and later The Commissary. Poses today concentrates on catering, including the recent Franklin Institute fund-raisers for the Obama reelection campaign.

For his 5 p.m. program today Poses demonstrated an item which made an early appearance on Frog's menu: Siamese Chicken Curry with Broccoli and Peanuts. Poses said it was added after he tasted a similar dish at staff meals prepared the Thai cooks who populated Frog's kitchen; his twist was to use the Thai curry paste to flavor a defiantly un-Thai bechamel sauce. The more than two dozen foodies in the audience had a chance to sample the dish, as well as a watermelon-feta salad he prepared.

The recipe is included in The Frog Commissary Cookbook, which remains a steady seller among cookbooks in the Philadelphia market.

Poses and Garces

Reading Terminal Market Nears Avenue D Finish Line

The new, improved Avenue D looking south
toward Filbert Street (Harry Ochs Way)

The Reading Terminal Market will celebrate its Avenue D improvement program with a ribbon cutting Monday and programs and panels for every foodie's taste through the following Saturday.

The $3.4 million program not only eliminated the zig-zag of the market's Avenue D corridor and replaced it with a straight-line vista (see photo at left), but created additional leaseable space for new merchants, and a new multi-purpose room which, when not used for general seating, can handle special programs and group meetings. The market's infrastructure was improved with the addition of a second freight elevator to the basement, where new dry, refrigerated and freezer storage was created.

The ceremonies kick off Monday, June 18, with Mayor Michael Nutter snipping the official opening ribbon at 10 a.m. That ceremony will also dedicate the multi-purpose room named after Rick Nichols, food columnist emeritus for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the market history exhibit which adorns the room's walls. Nichols helped prepare the exhibit with the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent.

Foodie programs will be held at 12 noon and 5 p.m. each day through Friday, with another noontime program on Saturday. On Wednesday at 5 p.m. a panel chaired by Michael Klein of the Inquirer and philly.com will feature local food bloggers: Claire Batten of phillyfoodlovers.com, Kaitlin Lunny of icancookthat.org, and yours truly. The full schedule of programs follows at the end of this blog entry.

Although next week marks the official dedication, none of the four new vendors announced so far will be open for business. The first to open is expected to be The Head Nut, in space formerly used as refrigerated storage under the market's mezzanine-level office. The purveyor of nuts, candy, general bulk dry goods, coffee and tea could be open as early as the end of June. Valley Shepherd Creamery and Wursthaus Schmitz are working on their zoning and building permits and their Health Department plan review process.  The Tubby Olive is finalizing its store design.

The Head Nut under construction

That still leaves unfilled one of the newly-created spaces (a small stall across Avenue D from La Cucina), in addition to finding a vendor to take over the larger Coastal Cave spot, vacated this spring when the owner retired. Another large, prime space to be filled was created earlier this year when Delilah Winder's eponymous soul food emporium entered bankruptcy.

The addition of The Head Nut has already trimmed a temporary surge in the market's seating capacity. When construction starts on Wursthaus Schmitz seating will shrink even more. Because of the earlier move of Flying Monkey and creation of the Rick Nichols Room, however, the market will have more seating than before the Avenue D project began. Still, it will be musical chairs for peak lunch hour seats.

Avenue D Dedication Week Programs

Monday, June 18:

12 noon -- Pennsylvania is for Chocolate Lovers, Michael Holahan of Pennsylvania  General Store; Philly Meets the Bayou with Bill Beck of Beck’s Cajun Café.
5 p.m., At Home with Steve Poses

Tuesday, June 19:

12 noon -- Cooking with Sal, Sal Vetri and Brad Spence of Amis Restaurant
5 p.m. -- How the Local Food Movement Got its Start, with Ann Karlen of Fair Food, Bob Pierson of Farm to City, Nicky Uy of The Food Trust, and Judy Wicks of the White Dog Foundation.

Wednesday, June 20:

12 noon -- Dipping into Philly’s Ice Cream Roots, Bassetts Ice Cream and the Berley Brothers of Franklin Fountain.
5 p.m. -- Food Bloggers panel.

Thursday, June 21:

12 noon -- What a Friend We Have in Cheeses, with Eran Wajswol, Valley Shepherd Creamery.
5 p.m. -- Making Serious Dough, with Wendy Born and James Barrett of Metropolitan Bakery

Friday, June 22:

12 noon -- Seafood Made Easy, with Ellen Yin and Terence Feury of Fork Restaurant.
5 p.m. -- Made in Germany, with Doug Hager and Jeremy Nolen of Wursthaus Schmitz

Saturday, June 23:

12 Noon -- From the Market Aisles to Your Plate with cookbook author Aliza Green La Cuchina at the Market's Anna Florio.

DiNic's Tonight on Travel Channel, 9 p.m.

Joe and Tom Nicolosi of DiNic's

Tonight's the night of the Northeastern U.S. sandwich showdown on the Travel Channel, as the roast pork sandwich from DiNic's goes up against the best that New York City and Pittsburgh can offer.

It's no surprise that Man vs. Food host Adam Richman returned to DiNic's for his new program, Best Sandwich in America. In reruns of the former show he can be seen wearing a DiNic's t-shirt in episodes featuring foods from Kansas City and Cleveland, among other cities.

The show starts at 9 p.m. Most Comcast subscribers in Philadelphia can catch it on channels 188 or 840. If you miss it, repeats are scheduled for 12 a.m. tonight, 12 a.m. Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday, 1 a.m. Monday, and again next Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. and Thursday, June 14 at 12 a.m. and 8 p.m. Still missed it? It will be in regular rotation at various times through June 25.

For a rundown of the sandwiches in the competition, see my April 12 post.

Iovine's Goes Local at Reading Terminal Market

Iovine's uses old-fashioned carts to feature local produce

Local produce is hardly a new thing for Iovine Brothers Produce at the Reading Terminal Market. But earlier this spring they positioned two old-fashioned carts near the front of their space to emphasize the local connections.

These days the carts are loaded with lettuces, radishes, cooking greens, summer squashes, mushrooms, scallions and lots more from nearby farms, primarily southern New Jersey, but Bucks County, too.

Jimmy and Vinnie Iovine have long-standing relationships with a number of local farms, including Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, especially for corn.

But even more produce comes from the larger, commercial South Jersey operations, like Vineland's Flaim Farm in Cumberland County. While Flaim is a larger operation than the typical boutique farmer you'll find at the Headhouse Square or Rittenhouse Square farmers' markets, the produce is just as fresh and nutritious, and usually considerably less expensive. Iovine takes deliveries direct from the farms, avoiding the middle-man stop at the wholesale produce market, which speeds the product from farm to shopping cart. And although Flaim and other local farms supplying Iovine are big in comparison with a Tom Culton or Earl Livengood, they're still small potatoes when put up against the agribusinesses in California and Mexico supplying your local Acme.

Iovine's regularly sends out emails (see the latest here) showcasing their specials, including locally grown items. This week they're featuring blueberries. Although the blues brought up from the Carolinas are less expehsive ($1.99 a pint), they've got the first of the South Jersey crop at $3.99. Expect the price to decline in coming weeks as the local product comes into full harvest.

Iovine's is hardly the only option for local produce at the Reading Terminal Market:

• O.K. Lee, the other large full-range greengrocer at the market, also brings in local produce, including from Lancaster County.
• Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce, in the market's Pennsylvania Dutch area, features fruits and vegetables from Amish country Wednesdays through Saturday.
• L. Halteman Family, primarily a deli and butcher, offers a limited selection of seasonal produce from their Pennsylvania Dutch country neighbors, Monday through Saturday.
• Bowes Family Farm from Milton, Pennsylvania, offering organic produce, can usually be found Thursday through Saturday in the Piano Court (near Metropolitan Bakery). His prices, though, rival those at the high-end farmers' markets.
• Fair Food Farmstand has been pioneering selling local produce at the market for about a dozen years, often at prices that rival Iovine's. Much of their produce comes from the same producers you'll find at local farmers' markets.

Headhouse: Garlic to Cherries

Green Garlic from Savoie Farms

I'll let the photos do most of the talking from my visit to the Headhouse Square farmers' market this past Sunday. As usual, Tom Culton's displays tend to be the most photogenic, though there's no less artistry to be seen in produce from any of the other vendors.

Strawberries were also still around, and probably will be for another week or so. But cherries have appeared (only Beechwood Orchards had sour cherries for pies) and should become more plentiful over the next few weeks. If you're lucky, you might also come upon some raspberries or apricots. Zucchinis and yellow squash are already in abundance.

Fava beans from Queen Farm joined a table laden with greens, radishes and oyster mushrooms

Tom Culton's slate claims these are cornichons, but that's just a fancy way of saying these
are small, immature cucumbers (a.k.a. gherkins) ideal for pickling

Culton offered two varieties of sweet cherries

Red and white spring onions at Culton Organics

Bassett's Mural at Reading Terminal Market

Most visible portion of mural above Bassett's ice cream stall

Unless you look for it, you might not notice the mural wrapping around the top of Bassett's Ice Cream at the Reading Terminal Market. But it's worth seeking out amid the overhead pipes, wires, lighting fixtures and ductwork.

Michael Strange, Bassett's chief executive officer and great-great-grandson of the founder, said the mural was created in the 1980s by the then-girlfriend of David K. O'Neil, the market's general manager at the time. Most of the faces on the mural are those of vendors and other people associated with the market.

Headhouse Produce Roundup

 Profusion of Strawberries, Early Zucchini and Peas

With its position at the head of the Headhouse Shambles, Blooming Glen Farm does boffo business

Strawberries-by-the-pint were plentiful and reasonably priced at today's Headhouse Square farmers market, ranging about $3.50-$3.75. A.T. Buzby and Beechwood Orchards offered the best deal, however, with quarts selling for $6.50.

Zucchinis made their first appearance of the season at both Culton Organics and Buzby. Tom Culton sold out early, but at 1 p.m. Buzby still had some at $1.50/pound.

Culton had tons of long, beautiful asparagus ($7.50/pound, iirc), lots of radishes (as did just about every other vegetable farmer), some broccoli, tiny beets with pristine greens ($3/bunch: buy them for the greens, not the beets), and snow peas at $5/quart. The star of Culton's offerings, as far as I was concerned, were the tiny shelled peas, $5 for a half pint. I tasted a few raw and they were as sweet as could be.

Lettuces and other salad greens filled farmers' tables, too. I picked up some head lettuce at Blooming Glen and perfect looking endive at Weaver's Way.

Traffic at the market seemed quite variable. More than one vendor told me that they'd go from being slammed with long lines at one moment, to no one five minutes later, only to be slammed in another five minutes.

The two orchardists at the market, Dave Garretson of Beechwood, and Ben Wenk of Three Springs Fruit Farm, said sweet cheeries are only about two weeks away, with sour pie cherries a week or so behind that.

Produce Roundup: Reading Terminal Market

Early Peas at Kauffman's

Kauffman's peas and pods, berries and other spring produce

Along with the rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce at the Reading Terminal Market unveiled the season's first English peas, sugar snap peas, and cucumbers.

Prices were dear on the peas: $7.99 on both the English peas in the pod and the sugar snaps. Ben Kauffman also had shelled English peas, which if I recall correctly were priced at $7.99 for what looked like a half-pint container. Ben says he does the shelling by hand, not machine. Also showing up this week at Kauffman's: beets, scallions, and radishes.

I would expect farmers' markets this week to also start displaying local peas.

Over at Iovine's the local strawberries were there, but hard to find. More prominently displayed were clamshell packs of California "stemberries" -- huge berries still showing stem -- at quite reasonable prices. If you want a strawberry as a centerpiece, this is for you, but even though the flavor is decent, they still can't compare with the locals.

The best bargain in local berries I've seen so far is at L. Halteman, which had pints for $3.29 and quarts for $5.79.

More on Delilah Winder's Move

My earlier post on Delilah Winder's new position at the Center for Culinary Enterprise (CCE) understated her role.

As director of the CCE she'll be responsible for the entire facility, including the four commercial kitchens and all the other spaces at the former supermarket nearing completion of its rehab on South 48th Street between Spruce and Pine. Among other aspects of the job Winder will provide client management, marketing expertise, and assist entrepreneurs in getting contract opportunities, according to Greg Heller, Managing Director of the Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation.

"Delilah's a great people person and we're thrilled to have her join us," said Heller.

Heller said the program for Philadelphia Food Innovation program has been up and running for 18 months without a building, helping budding food entrepreneurs navigate the intricacies of starting up a business, including the nuances of working with the city's Department of Licenses and Inspection, obtaining insurance, product development, marketing, bar coding and nutritional analysis.

He said the CCE has had expressions of interest from about 200 individuals who would like to use the commercial kitchens. Not all, he said, will be immediately ready to go, since they'll need to obtain appropriate food safety certifications, insurance and other requirements before then can handle a spatula in the space. Heller hopes many of the newbies will take advantage of the CCE's expertise and assistance to help them gain the necessary paperwork.

Delilah Moves On . . .To Education

Cover from Delilah Winder's cookbook

Delilah Winder may be without restaurants as a result of bankrtupcy proceedings, but she's not without a job. Starting May 1 she signed up with the Philly Food Ventures business incubator program of the new Center for Culinary Enterprises (CCE).

In her new role, Winder will work closely with entrepreneurs in a one-on-one coaching setting to provide guidance and capacity building resources. As part of that, she'll assist entrepreneurs in navigating the processes for obtaining necessary licenses, certifications, and insurance, connect entrepreneurs with other resources at the CCE's parent organization, The Enterprise Center, and with outside resources such as small business development centers, micro-lenders, and consultants. She'll bring her years of experience in the food business to help budding food business owners with sourcing, sales venues, and contract opportunities, coordinate group workshops on topics relevant to culinary entrepreneurs and generate ideas for additional services that could be provided to benefit culinary entrepreneurs and help them build capacity for their businesses.

Winder's got the experience which makes her a natural fit to help wannabe food entrepreneurs. Before embarking on her long and mostly successful track record operating restaurants and food retail outposts, she was a business analyst. She started out in the food business by opening her stall in the mid-1980s at the Reading Terminal Market.

The CCE, whose building is nearing completion within a former supermarket on S. 48th Street between Spruce and Pine, includes three shared-use, commercial kitchens for rent to culinary entrepreneurs, an eKitchen Multimedia Learning Center featuring a demonstration kitchen, "smart" classroom and television studio, and retail spaces. The facility and its programs are expected to open in late summer.

The CCE's programs encompass a wide range of possible businesses within the food industry: eateries, catering services, baking, canning, and candy-making ventures, and retailers such as groceries.

The CCE is part of The Enterprise Center and its Community Development Corporation. The Enterprise Center was founded in 1989 and provides a range of services for small businesses in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth, with a focus on challenged and minority-owned business enterprises. In addition The Enterprise Center operates youth entrepreneurship and leadership programs. TEC-CDC was founded in 2001 as an affiliate organization of The Enterprise Center, responsible for extending The Enterprise Center’s mission through economic development projects and community-based programming in West Philadelphia.

Paul Steinke, general manager of the Reading Terminal Market and a member of the CCE's advisory board along with a few dozen other local food luminaries (among them, White Dog Cafe founder Judy Wicks, Ann Karlen of Fair Food, Daniel Stern, Michael Solomonov, Michael Chow executive chef of Sang Kee Noodle House) said he'll be seeking a new tenant of Delilah's now vacant stall at the market when legalities with the bankruptcy trustee are settled.

Reading Terminal Market Roundup

These cheese cases aren't Halteman's

The Halteman Split

L. Halteman Family settled into its new footprint occasioned by the Reading Terminal Market's Avenue D renovation, but split itself into two distinct businesses: Riehl Deli & Cheeze Shop for (surprise) cheeses and cold cuts, and L. Halteman, continuing to sell beef, pork, poultry, bacon and other smoked meats, as well as local produce.

Although both parts are owned by the Riehl family (which took over from Lester Halteman a decade or so ago), they're attempting to separate the businesses which may formally part sometime down the road. In the meantime, if you buy some fresh meat but also want to purchase slice ham, you'll have to make two stops.

The deli part of the operation also changed its procedures. Previously, cold cuts were sliced to order. Now, they're pre-sliced and placed in trays. It looks pretty, and I understand the efficiencies the system brings to the business, but as a customer I liked seeing the cold cuts sliced to order to my desired thickness or thinness.

Nichols Room Dedication

Mayor Nutter will join in the official ribbon cutting of the Rick Nichols Room June 18 at 10 a.m. and the exhibition of the market's history and its role in the region's food system on the new multi-purpose area's back wall. New signate will be installed next week.

The ceremony kicks off a week of special events celebrating the market's $3.4 million Avenue D renovation program. For the remainder of the week special programs will be held in the Nichols Room and the adjacent La Cuchina at the Market kitchen, which can be turned into a single space by opening the sliding doors. Market merchants, local chefs, authors and leaders of the Philadelphia regional food system will be featured in the programs.

The market and La Cuchina at the Market apparently resolved their differences over the kitchen school's flooring. As designed, the floor was the original slighty sloping surface, installed when the market opened in 1892 to allow water drainage from ice. La Cuchina proprietor Anna Florio was concerned that the sloping floor could lead to falls and injuries. A new floor with new tiles was installed to provide a level surface, which requires a slight step up from center court. The Nichols Room retains its sloping floor.

More on Avenue D Project

The dedication of the Nichols room won't mark the end of the Avenue D renovations, since work will continue well into the summer on spaces the project created for new vendors: Valley Shepherd Creamery, the Head Nut, the Tubby Olive and Wursthaus Schmitz. A vendor has yet to be selected for a small (less than 250-square feet) space adjacent to Wursthaus Schmitz along Avenue D.

The market also has to find new vendors to fill the slots vacated by Delilah's and Coast Cave. Legalities still have to be resolved with the bankruptcy trustee for Delilah's before a new tenant can be signed there. Coastal Cave closed earlier this spring when its owner retired. RTM General Manager Paul Steinke said he's close to signing with a hybrid retail/take-away operator (product line unspecified) for the Coastal Cafe spot.

The market was unhappy with its floor tile selection of the new restrooms -- the white tiles simply showed too much soil no matter how frequently they were cleaned. Gray tiles were installed in the women's rest room this past week; the men's room gets the makeover Monday night.

Just outside the restrooms you may spy new icons installed this week into the wall: split silhouettes, one female, one male, on the appropriate side of the common entryway.

But There's Still Lobsters

Coastal Cave may be gone, but late last month the market's board approved changes in the leases of two fishmongers, Golden and John Yi, to include the sale of live lobsters. They'll be installing their own tanks rather than taking over Coastal Cave's old ones, which the market probably will scrap.

For Mother's Day sales, John Yi was selling live lobsters today, which can be maintained outside of water for four to five days when properly packed and refrigerated.

More Parking, New Discount Program

The parking garage on 11th street between Arch and Filbert will soon join the market's parking program, with a maximum of two hours for $4. (You'll pay considerably more if you overstay your welcome.) With the Parkway Garage on 12th Street still part of the program, the market expands considerably its discount parking capacity. Merchants, however, will have to have two separate validation machines, one for each garage. The second garage should begin to offer the discounts on or about July 1.

The market's gift certificate program is going to plastic from paper. Nearly 60 of the market's 72 current merchants signed up for the program, which eases the record-keeping for market's back office. As soon as the plastic cards are delivered the program will start.

Artichokes Galore

According to Wikipedia, artichokes are so named because you can choke on the heart of them. I can't vouch for that etymology, but these huge examples of the globe artichoke (about 4-5 inches in diameter) on sale Iovine Brother's Produce in the Reading Terminal Market today certainly require more than one bite. They were priced at two for a buck.

Another frequently dear item that could be found at a bargain price: limes. Five for a buck.

Strawberries and Rhubarb

Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards

Mystery produce

They're the ultimate spring pairing: sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb. Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards had them Thursday at the Fairmount Farmers Market across 22nd street from Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site.

Expect to see more of his produce (including tomato plants for your patio garden) at Rittenhouse Square Saturday and Headhouse Square Sunday. Beechwood Orchards will be skipping the Tuesday market at Passyunk and South this season.

Also at Fairmount this past Thursday was Earl Livengood, who offered the unusual item of produce pictured at right. The first person who correctly identifies what it is will earn a mention in the blog. (That's all I can afford.) Although I skipped the mystery produce, I did buy some of Earl's curly endive, which I love as a salad.

Nichols Room Opens

The new multi-purpose room at the Reading Terminal Market, named after semi-retired Inquirer food columnist Rick Nichols, opened while I was away in Wisconsin. Today it was nearly full for the noontime lunch crowd.

Most of the time the room will simply be another seating section at center court, but the market plans to make it available for groups via reservation, and for special events. It can also be combined with the kitchen area at La Cuchina at the Market, Anna Florio's adjacent cooking school classroom.

Later this spring the market will add to the back wall of the room an exhibit on the history of the market, created in cooperation with the Philadelphia History Museum (formerly known as the Atwater Kent).

The seating in center court environs -- recently upgraded with new chairs and tables -- temporarily expanded this winter into the area that formerly housed The Spice Terminal. When Wursthaus Schmitz begins construction of its new stall, that extra space will disappear.

This is all part of the Avenue D Project at the market, which is nearing completion. As part of that program, L. Halteman Family recently rejiggered and expanded its space, renaming part of it Riehl Deli & Cheese. Work is also progressing on the space along Avenue D for Valley Shepherd Creamery and the Tubby Olive. Another new vendor, The Head Nut, will begin work on its stall under the mezzanine soon.

The market has yet to announce a new tenant for the space created by the retirement of Coasal Cave's owner. Also up in the air is what will become of Delilah's: officially she could still return, but that appears more and more unlikely as time rolls by since the business was put into bankruptcy.

Esoteric Extracts

For my last order of Fee Brothers' orange extract (an essential for the original martini recipe: four parts gin, one part vermouth, a dash or two of the bitters; I add a twist), I had to phone in my order to the manufacturer in Rochester, New York. Although that was pretty easy, I've found another source locally: Bodhi Coffee on Headhouse Square. I've got to try the celery someone soon.

Seasonal Farmers' Markets Open

Though a few farmers' markets remain open all year -- Rittenhouse Square, Clark Park and Fitler Square -- most are spring-to-fall affairs. The first of the dozens of Philadelphia's seasonal markets made their 2012 debuts in the last few days.

The market at Fairmount and 22nd Street opened Thursday with four vendors: Livengood Family Produce, Wild Flour Bakery, Sunnyside Goat Dairy, and Countryside Bakery and Farm.

A total of 33 producers and growers attended today's opening of the city's largest farmers' market at Headhouse Square. (You can find the full list of vendors at the Food Trust Headhouse Farmers Market web site.)

Farm to City, the region's other major sponsor of farmers markets, opened some of its seasonal venues last week, too: the Tuesday version of Rittenhhouse, the Wednesday University Square market at 36th and Walnut, and the Saturday Bryn Mawr market. More of its markets will open next week, including the Tuesday afternoon South & Passyunk market on May 15.

You can also find a full list of The Food Trust's 2012 Philadelphia markets here and its suburban markets here. Farm to City's schedule can be found here.

The new vendors this season at Headhouse include Cranberry Creek Farm from the Poconos for goat cheese and vegetables; Green Aisle Grocery, the East Passyunk Avenue retailer which is selling preserves and nut butters at the market; Lucky Old Souls, a burger truck; and Spring Hill Farm, which sells maple syrup from its trees north of Scranton.

Another new vendor is Tandi's Naturals, operated by Tandi and John Peter, selling local soaps and related products. That's not a new product line for farmers' markets, but Tandi's main selling point is the local angle. Many of the artisan soaps sold at farmers markets, while made by local artisans, are manufactured from components brought cross-country or even from the other side of the world: coconut oil, palm oil and olive oil). Instead, Tandi uses beef tallow from Dwayne Livengood's organically-raised cattle and rendered in the same manner by John. Tandi will be glad to explain why beef tallow is a superior base for soaps than the vegetable oils. If you stop by you might recognize John: he used to help out Dwayne and his father Earl at their family farm, as well as at local farmers' markets, but now works for a Lancaster County flower grower when he isn't doing the heavy lifting for Tandi. They also sell the products at the Saturday Rittenhouse Square market.

A few regulars from past seasons were among the missing. Beechwood Orchards skipped this week, but should start attending within a couple of weeks. North Star Orchards usually doesn't take space until the apple and pear harvest begins, usually in late July or early August. Young's Garden, which sold both cut flowers and plants for backyard gardens and provided one of the anchors at the Lombard Street entry, won't be coming back.

A.T. Buzby, as usual, was the first vendor with strawberries at Headhouse. I didn't catch the price, but they were gone by shortly after 12 noon. Countryside had them at $2.50 a half-pint at Fairmount Thursday, and Benuel Kauffman was selling local berries at the Reading Terminal Market Saturday for $4.95 a pint, iirc.

The warm weather this spring advanced the appearance of both asparagus and strawberries, but local produce is largely limited to what you'd expect: early greens and onions, radishes, etc. Tom Culton had over-wintered leeks as well as cardoons, an Italian relative of the artichoke (even though it looks like celery) that needs to be cooked to be enjoyed. Blooming Glen had a nice selection of early lettuces, spring onions, radishes and greens. Over at Queen Farm, in addition to the usualy selection of mushrooms and selected Asian greens, I scored some lilacs, the flowers providing SWMBO's favorite spring fragrance.

I enjoyed my usual lox on a bially breakfast at home, so I had no room for the burgers from Lucky Old Souls food truck, but the smell of those oniony patties was quite alluring. Next time!

My purchases this week were fairly limited, owing to some invitations to dine out with others this weekend. But Thursday I picked up asparagus and baby endive from Livengood's and a goat cheese Swiss from Sunnyside (as well as strawberries from Countryside). The asparagus joined the morels I obtained in Wisconsin to accompany a crustless quiche made with Sunnyside's cheese: with a simply-dressed salad from the endive it all made a perfect early spring supper.

Morel Bonanza

Found these morels this morning at Dane County Farmer's Market, Madison Wisconsin. $35/pound. Bought the forager out (1.75 pounds), they're now cooked and frozen, ready for transport back to Philadelphia in my dry-ice powered cooler. Most of the morels were over four inches long, a couple looked to be about six inches long.

Dinic's vs Katz's vs Primanti's

Adam Richman

In early March I reported that Adam Richman was back at the Reading Terminal Market to tape a segment at DiNic's for a new show: Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America. The show's first episode on June 6 (9 p.m., Travel Channel) will feature DiNic's in competition with Katz's Deli of the Lower East Side and Primanti Brothers of Pittsburgh.

Each episode will feature three competing sandwiches from a given region, with America's best crowned in the finale from among the 10 regional winners and two "wild cards" voted on by viewers. In the case of the June 6 installment, it's sandwiches of the Northeast.

For the first show Richman will sample Dinic's roast pork with aged provolone and peppers, forgoing the greens. Katz's entry will be a corned beef-pastrami combo on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing. From Primanti's he'll try the Cap & Egg, a behemoth featuring capicola, runny egg, cole slaw, tomato and hand-cut french fries on sliced Italian bread.

That's pretty stiff competition for Dinic's, especially Katz's, where I usually go for the straight pastrami on rye with mustard. Nonetheless, Richman's combo is well-known to deli enthusiasts in New York and New Jersey. At one deli I frequented, the pastrami-CB with russian and slaw was known as the "No. 5" combo, where at another it was the "No. 4". Who's to quibble over a number, it's a great combo sandwich.

I've never been to Primanti's, though I'll have to add it to my wish list. Still, to me it sounds like the "Cap & Egg" looses it when you add the tomatoes, slaw and fries: not just simply too massive, but out of flavor balance.

So I think it will come down to a battle between DiNic's and Katz's. The conventional wisdom says Katz's -- by virtue of its celebrity, the "When Harry Met Sally" scene filmed there, and that fact that it's the New York City entry -- will run away with the prize for this episode.

While I love a good pastrami sandwich (and Katz's makes a great one), I'll be rooting for our local hero. The roast pork that Tom and Joe Nicolosi and crew concoct can go toe-to-toe with Katz's anytime. Their brisket and pulled pork aren't too shabby, either, and I've got friends who skip all of that in favor of the sausage with peppers.

The second episode, at 9:30 p.m. the same night, will be a battle of Gulf Coast sandwiches: a shrimp po' boy form New Orleans, and two entries from Tampa, a variation on the Cuban, and a Grouper reuben.

The Tubby Olive Signs On at RTM

The Tubby Olive, a Newtown, Bucks County, purveyor of on-tap vinegars and olive oils, has signed on to occupy one of the new spaces at the Reading Terminal Market made available through the Avenue D expansion project. The shop will be located along the market's Avenue D wall across from Molly Molloy's.

The Tubby Olive's web site lists three dozen varieties of traditional, organic and flavor-infused olive oils and a similar number and variety of vinegars. Most are priced at $29 for 750 ml (25.4 ounces) and $15.95 for 375 ml (12.7 ounces), with organic oils going for $2 and $1 additional. (Regarding the vinegars, although most are listed as "balsamic", at those prices they won't be the finest, the kind where just a few drops can raise simple foods like ice creams or strawberries to whole new level. Classic balsamic vinegars like these would retail for about four times the price of the Tubby Olive's. What the shop sells, however, appears, to be perfectly fine vinegars for a wide variety of uses, though from the flavor list on the web site there are few I'd purchase. Does anyone really need or Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar?)

Tubby Olive is the fourth new merchant to sign up for space made available by the market's Avenue D project, joining Wursthaus Schmitz, the Head Nut and Valley Shepherd Creamery. RTM General Manager has a few other new spaces still to fill, as well as the recently vacated Coastal Cave stll along Avenue C. In addition, he's still waiting to hear from the bankruptcy trustee for Delilah's to see what we become of that space; when Delilah's was shut in mid-March, the trustee told the market they expected to reopen in just a few weeks.

The entire imrovement project is running along at top speed, with Flying Monkey Bakery now relocated and the new merchants expected to open in phases between May April and early summer. L. Halteman Family Country Food to shift to their new footprint by the end of the month.

Steinke said the new multi-purpose room, named in honor of former Philadelphia Inquirer food columnist Rick Nichols, should be finished in the next few weeks. By next weekend, all the chairs and tables in center court and the piano court, which have been showing signs of wear, will be replaced to match what will be going into the Nichols Room.

Farmers' Report: Early Asparagus, Some Apple Damage

A mild winter and very warm spring caused Mother Nature to alter her schedule for regional farmers.

Two regular farmers' market stalwarts, Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards, and Ben Wenk of Three Springs Fruit Farm, both indicated that while frosts after blossoming caused some damage to their groves of apple, pear and cherry trees, the loss will be noticeable but not devastating. I spoke with them Sunday at the Philadelphia Farm & Food Fest at the convention center, co-sponsored by Fair Food and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

Wenk has already harvested a little asparagus for his family's use, but expects to cut a lot more beginning this week. It's conceivable, he said, that it will be all gone by the time the Headhouse Square farmers' market opens May 6. If the season extends by a week or so, he will still have asparagus available then.

Tom Culton, also at the festival, said he does expect to still have asparagus when Headhouse opens.

If you're hankering for local asparagus now -- the supermarkets are full of thin stalks from Mexico -- maybe a trip Saturday to either the Clark Park or Fitler Square year-round markets will be in order.

And unless the weather intervenes, you can expect to see strawberries in early May.

Garretson said he's altering the Philadelphia farmers' markets he'll be attending this season. He's leaving the Tuesday market at South & Passyunk sponsored by Farm to City, but joining the Thursday afternoon Food Trust market at Fairmount and 22nd Street, where he takes over from Orchard Hill Farm of Bloomsburg. Beechwood will continue to sell at University Square on Wednesdays, Rittenhouse Square on Saturdays, and Swarthmore on Saturdays.

Coastal Cave Closes at RTM

Coastal Cave, a long-time purveyor of live lobster, Dungeness crab and smoked seafood delicacies, ends its tenure at the Reading Terminal Market with the close of business today.

I wasn't able to speak with him personally but proprietor Steven Cho is retiring from the market. His family also operates Ritz Seafood in Voorhees, New Jersey.

Coastal Cave's departure leaves another big hole for the market to fill. Last month Delilah's closed (reportedly temporarily) due to bankruptcy proceedings.

For the past year or so Coastal Cave updated its menu with some unusual sandwiches. Among them: pickled herring, smoked salmon and sardine Vietnamese sandwiches (bahn mi). Until Herschel's East Side Deli opened Coastal Cave was my source for Sunday morning lox.

RTM General Manager Paul Steinke has dozens of businesses that would love to locate to the high-traffic market. But many want to sell "carnival" foods that the market won't permit: popcorn, funnel cake, etc.

Update, Tuesday, April 3

Steinke's first order of business will be finding a home for the lobsters and lobster tank, which remain crawling and bubbling away, respectively, in the now otherwise empty stall.

The RTM plans to ask the three full-service fishmongers at the market -- Golden Fish, John Yi Fish Market, and Wan's Seafood -- to bid on the tanks. Expect one of them to jump at the chance to take over this part of Coastal's business.

When I visited the market this morning, I had expected to see the lobsters gone, since proprietor Steven Cho's family operates a restaurant, Ritz Seafood, in Voorhees, New Jersey, where they could be put to good use. But they were still on display.

Spring Arrives: Spinach, Fiddleheads & Gefilte Fish

Fiddleheads from Fair Food Farmstand

Signs of spring at the Reading Terminal Market this past week: local spinach, fiddlehead ferns, and carp and yellow pike for gefilte fish.

The spinach could be obtained from any one of the market's produce vendors: Iovine's, Fair Food, Kauffman's. OK Lee, and L. Halteman. I didn't check, but farmer Steve Bowes might have had some at his day stall in the piano court. Most were priced at about $2 a bunch. With few exceptions, the spinach didn't look super attractive for a raw salad (that's usually true for overwintered spinach), but they were all perfect for sautés or any other cooking method you choose. Many folks prefer the taste of overwintered spinach to the new crop that will appear later in the spring. Butch Dougherty of Iovine's Produce said they were great cooked and used to top a sandwich.

The Japanese painted fern in a planter in my backyard patio sprouted up with a vengeance this week, and the same is happening along the streamsides of Chester, Delaware and Bucks County (heck, probably along tributaries of the Wissahickon in Fairmount Park, too). That means commercial foragers are bringing their fiddlehead fern finds to local restaurants and specialty produce vendors. Fair Food had some rather pristine samples this week (pictured above). Frequently when you find fiddleheads in stores, they'll have some brownish, papery edges to them which is easily enough cleaned off. These, however, had none of the brown tinges. You can pretty much use them wherever you'd use asparagus, and cook them the same way. As an accompaniment to protein, I think they work better with fish and poultry than beef or lamb. And they excel as a stir-fry veg in Chinese cooking. Just don't go overboard on your consumption, and cook them thoroughly: Fiddleheads contain low levels of toxins which can cause nausea and diarrhea. Sustained heat usually kills any toxin (health authorities recommend boiling or steaming for 10-15 minutes). I usually do a light steaming or par-boiling before sautéeing and have yet to experience any symptoms.

John Yi featured carp and yellow pike in its dislplay case this week, priced at $3.99 and $7.99/pound, respectively. Either or both fish are the traditional base of gefilte fish, a traditional but non-Biblically mandated first course for the Passover seder. I could not find, however, a live carp to place in the bathtub, as was traditional in olden days to assure a fresh fish for the holiday table.

Iovine's continues to stock ramps. They looked a bit better today than last week, but they'll continue to be dear at $1.99 a bunch, which makes for maybe one serving.

Two items I've enjoyed all winter long from Iovine's have now disappeared: fresh chick poeas and temple oranges. There are still plenty of other orange varieties available, but the peak season is starting to fade, even though they're available pretty much year round.