Pastry & Baking Module 1 Final Project

Produce Market Visit

I am fortunate to have a market near my home that sells high-quality produce, year-round, at reasonable prices. “The Garden Gourmet,” in the Bronx, recently changed ownership, which resulted in the disappearance of a small number of obscure, excellent food products from their shelves. However, their selection of meats and cheeses has expanded tremendously, and the produce department has also grown while maintaining its usual high level of quality. This small supermarket is located on Broadway, between 233rd and 234th Sts.

Like many supermarkets, The Garden Gourmet imports out-of-season produce from South America, but it’s to their credit that much of what they sell is reasonably local in origin when in season; for instance, the New Jersey peaches they carried last July. On my most recent visit, in early January, I was not surprised to find cherries and peaches from Chile. The fruits that really stood out, however, were apples and pears, which store well and whose season extends into the autumn. Also stellar was the selection of citrus, whose season begins in fall or early winter. Ten fruits which caught my attention in terms of quality, variety, or novelty were apples, oranges, grapefruits, pears, peaches, persimmons, cherries, pineapples, mangoes, and grapes.

Apples
The variety of apples available was quite impressive – I ended up purchasing some Jonagolds grown sixty miles from my hometown in Upstate New York. In addition to this delightful cross between the Jonathan and Golden Delicious, I also found Fuji, Crispin, Granny Smith, Rome, Pink Lady, Gala, Macoun, Macintosh, Lady, Cortland, and Red and Golden Delicious. In the northeastern United States, apple season runs from late summer to late fall, depending on variety. Fruits can be expected to be ripe when the proper skin color for the variety in question has developed, and the blossom-end of the fruit is sweetly aromatic (although like most fruits, aroma is less noticeable when the fruit is cold). Overripe fruit, which tends to be mealy and has very little appeal for eating out-of-hand, can be avoided by selecting fruits which appear fully developed and whose flesh and skin are firm and crisp under gentle pressure. Another quality, dependant upon variety but fairly common to apples in general, is that they store very well if kept under the proper conditions. Apples will keep longer than most fruits at temperatures almost as low as freezing. Below freezing, however, ice crystals will form and damage the cell walls, resulting in a mealy or mushy texture. (If apples have frozen but are otherwise undamaged, applesauce is a fine use for them.) For long-term storage, apples must be kept near freezing, and no fruit should be touching another. In terms of commercial availability, apples generally come in boxes of either single bushels or forty pounds. If the apples are lower in quality, they will be packed together in boxes, usually one bushel, with no padding or other shipping materials. Those of higher quality are placed on trays with depressions for each individual fruit and stacked in layers in boxes.

Oranges
Winter is high season for citrus, so it wasn’t surprising to discover that oranges and orange hybrids were also available in wide variety. Navel and Valencia (“juice”) oranges are available nearly everywhere. The Garden Gourmet supplements these commonly found varieties with Cara-Cara or Red Navel oranges, Minneola Tangelos (a Tangerine-Grapefruit hybrid), Tangerines and Clementines – both varieties of Mandarin– and actual Mandarin oranges themselves, which were listed as “California Mandarins” (although the boxes they sat in had Chinese writing on them). Oranges, like all citrus, do not ripen after harvest, so selection of properly ripe fruits is of keen importance. They should be firm and aromatic, and feel heavy for their size. Fortunately for those of us whose homes are far from the citrus groves of the south, the citrus family’s thick, tough skins provides the fruit with a high resistance to physical damage, so they can be shipped when fully ripe. Since ripening does not continue after picking, they store well, and should be kept cool, around 45°F. They are generally purchased in bags of one-quarter bushel (one peck), with the smaller fruits, such as those of the Mandarin family, in 18- to 20-pound boxes. Pricing generally increases with the size of the individual fruits.

Grapefruits
Like the orange, the grapefruit is a descendant of the pummelo – this became particularly obvious to me when I saw the nearly cantaloupe-sized Jumbo variety on the shelves. Pink and White, the two standard varieties, were also available. The grapefruit is also best when harvested and shipped during the winter months, although its season starts in October, up to two months earlier than many orange varieties. The criteria for judging ripeness are the same as for oranges, but grapefruit can be stored in warmer temperatures, around 55 degrees. Grapefruits are also shipped in bags.

Pears
In terms of harvest, storage, and shipping, pears are very much the opposite of citrus. I was able to find Comice, Bartlett, D’anjou, Forelle, and Bosc pears, as well as Asian pears. Asian pear varieties are picked ripe and shipped in 18- to 20-pound boxes, individually wrapped in foam, and placed on trays with depressions for each fruit. Other, “European” varieties of pear, however, hold the distinction of being one of the few fruits that is truly “climacteric,” or capable of developing improvements in taste, texture, and aroma after ripening. To facilitate shipping, they are nearly always harvested while fully developed but still firm and unripe, while much of their starch has not yet converted to sugar. Choosing a ripe fruit is therefore of utmost importance, but fortunately quite simple. Perfectly ripe pear flesh will yield fairly easily under gentle pressure, and the skin will be pliable. Also, the fruit should smell sweet and moderately floral, divulging its membership in the rose family. The development of these conditions can be delayed by refrigeration near freezing temperatures, but once fully ripe, the pear should be used as soon as possible. Since they can be shipped hard, they are usually purchased by the one-bushel box, with only light paper packing inside. Pear harvest in the northeastern United States occurs in September and October, so with their maximum storage capability at around four months, we can expect to see a decline in the varieties available by the end of February.

Peaches
Peaches, of which only one variety was available at the market, certainly caught my attention. This fruit, for me, is at the very center of the concept of using local produce when it is in season. While the peach will soften and its aroma will improve after harvest, its sweetness will stop developing when it is removed from the tree. Therefore, choosing a ripe peach can be very trying. A ripe peach is sweetly aromatic and the flesh should be soft when pressed, but unless it has become at least partly sweet on the tree, it will be pallid in flavor. For this reason, it seems most prudent to purchase them from the nearest farm stand during their peak, late summer, whenever possible. Supermarket peaches, which arrive in one-bushel boxes on dimpled trays, must be hard enough to withstand the rigors of shipment, and therefore, are rarely ripe. Ripe, juicy peaches are best stored near freezing temperatures to discourage both fermentation due to their high sugar content, as well as excessive softening due to enzyme activity.

Persimmons
The persimmon is similar to the peach in that it is incapable of developing improved flavor after harvest. There are two basic types of persimmon, the Fuyu and the Hachiya, both of which were available at The Garden Gourmet. The Hachiya variety is abundant in tannins which make it extremely unpalatable and astringent except when perfectly ripe. If it is found at a market and has undergone long shipping, chances are that it is underripe in flavor, even if it has the extremely soft, almost jelly-like flesh and sweet aroma characteristic to a ripe one; both of these traits continue to develop after picking. The Fuyu also stop ripening once picked; however, they are palatable even when underripe. Additionally, since their flesh is firmer when fully ripe than the Hachiya’s, they are more liable to be picked at a later stage of ripeness, and a better buy at market. Requiring both plentiful rain and sun to flourish, the persimmon is often grown in Hawaii and sub-tropical regions of Japan, and shipped in trays, in shallow boxes of eight to ten pounds.

Cherries
Cherries are a fruit whose distinctive and delightful flavor is best within the first few hours after harvest, which in the United States is typically during the month of July. The market had both sweet and sour varieties available. The cherry is vivid in color when ripe, whether the bright yellow and red of a sour cherry or the dark purple of a sweet one. Additionally, its flesh is fairly firm when picked, so it is possible to ship them from destinations where they are capable of ripening, such as those I found from Chile, as long as they are packed properly. They are purchased commercially in tray-like crates – formerly wooden, but now cardboard – of eleven, fifteen, or twenty pounds, the ends of which allow them to stack, and therefore prevent the contents from becoming compressed and damaged. Like other stone fruits, such as peaches, apricots, and plums, cherries will fare best when stored at temperatures near freezing.

Pineapples
Winter seems an odd time for the sugary warmth of a pineapple, but even though their true season runs from March through July, they are available year-round. The only variety I found was the commercially successful, if somewhat standard-issue, Del Monte Gold. Despite all the tricks people have for determining ripeness, thumping, pulling out leaves and such, the pineapple tells us it’s ripe similarly to other fruits. A ripe one will display firm, bright skin on each “eye,” the stem end will yield slightly under moderate pressure, and the fruit will be heavy for its size. When ripe, pineapples also give off a distinctly sweet aroma, more so than most other fruits. Ideally, they are harvested when fully ripe; they will not improve in sweetness, aroma, or texture after picking, so choosing a ripe one is crucial. If stored at fairly cool temperatures – around 45°F – pineapples can be held for a reasonable length of time. A cooler environment slows, but does not stop, the action of the pineapple’s enzymes, as well as its sugars, which would ferment quite happily if left to their own devices. They are shipped in large boxes of eighteen to twenty pounds, protected by their durable skin and built-in padding, in the form of the leafy crown.

Mangoes
A staple of the Indian and Latin American diet, Mangoes are in season May through August. Production in the tropics enables them to be available year round, although the variety more likely to be found in winter is the Mexican Mango, as I did on my market visit. Mangoes are another of those rare fruits that are truly climacteric in nature; they improve in sweetness, aroma, and texture after harvesting. As such, it’s imperative that overripe fruit be avoided, as the fruit’s high sugar content can induce fermentation. Ripe fruits are firm and heavy, with flesh that is supple under gentle pressure, and a sweet aroma. Fruits that are underripe tend to be very hard and fibrous, but, as long as fully developed when harvested, they should ripen favorably in a storage environment around 55°F. They are shipped in cardboard boxes of ten to thirteen fruits, presumably still hard enough to withstand shipping, and then allowed to ripen fully once received.

Grapes
Grapes, like peaches, are a good platform for the person defending local, seasonal produce in its debate with industrially enabled availability. The Concord, Niagara (or White Concord), and Muscat varieties, which appear at my local market during their late summer and autumn season, are spicily fragrant and bursting with sweet, pulpy juice, wrapped with tart skins that seem barely able to contain them. They are so aromatic that only the wary and brave actually buy any, as bees are equally drawn to them. White and red seedless grapes, the only ones available there in winter, have a perfectly even, uniform, and unremarkable flavor, which render them fine for snacking or inclusion in basic fruit salads, but not for much else. Like their more versatile and perfumed cousins, they must be picked ripe, in large bunches of tight-skinned, colorful fruit. The prime season for such grapes is any time of year when electricity and running water are available in the area where they’re produced. Shipping is much simpler for bunches of these firmer varieties, traveling in perforated bags inside larger boxes of eighteen pounds. Grapes fare best when kept at temperatures near freezing.

A survey of the availability of fruit in early January yields interesting and informing results. Choosing which fruits to use, from among the enormous variety on the market, is simplified by an understanding of which fruits will yield the best results at any given time of year. There are obvious staples on a pastry menu, and of course we must meet the expectations of our customers. However, highlighting particular fruits, when their flavors and aromas are at their peak, results in end products of greater depth and better quality. Awareness of seasons and the ability to determine ripeness are of paramount importance for the Pastry Chef.


Sources

McGee, H. On Food and Cooking. New York: Scribner, 1984, 2004.

Steingarten, J. The Man Who Ate Everything. New York: Vintage, 1997.

http://www.the4cs.com/~cathy/Apples/variety.html
http://www.boisestate.edu/healthservices/wellness/info/ripefruit.pdf
http://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/index.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/
http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/aa081301c.htm