Good Grief!

The Market Report is a weekly column written by Ken Klein of Klein’s Supermarket in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood. He writes the column for the Art Museum Area News and kindly allows me to post it here.

Executive summary:

• Bananas in peril.
• Cold weather in Florida, Mexico, and California.
• Strawberry shortage.

Read on for the entire report.

The Market Report, by Ken Klein
Klein’s Supermarket, 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, Philadelphia
Our Hours: M-F 8 AM to 8 PM; Sat. 8 AM to 8 PM; Sunday 9 AM to 1 PM

Greetings Food Lovers!

Green Garlic
Some of America’s most respected chefs have extolled the virtues of green garlic. We’re all used to seeing common garlic, the dried mature bulb of the garlic plant. Green garlic is the same plant pulled from the ground at a much earlier stage, before the bulb forms. Green garlic looks like a large, green onion with leek-like tops. According Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Cooking:

The quality of green garlic is unique and of great use in the kitchen. When cooked, it has none of the hot, pungent qualities of fresh garlic cloves. Its flavor, although unmistakably associated with the mature form, is much milder.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth or grab a bunch of parsley to freshen up your garlic breath!

Produce Talk

• Bananas are in short supply due to flooding in Costa Rica and Panama. Dole, the largest supplier of bananas, has implemented a surcharge to compensate for additional costs incurred by flood damage. Dole has shifted to Ecuador for product. This fruit is typically slower to ripen, but the quality should be good.
• Strawberries will be extremely tight this week. Under normal conditions, prices are reasonable at this time of the year. However, California is suffering from cold and rain, and Florida has also decided to join the cold club. The volume of fruit waiting to be harvested is tremendous—bring on the warm weather. Expect high prices for the next week or two.
• Shippers are doing everything they can to move their ripe Florida tomatoes and to tell the country that they are back in business. Planting in February is lighter, so we just might see prices go up again until the March spring season begins. This is a normal shift, and Mexican product usually fills the gap. Not this year: rain in Mexico has cut production, and the remaining production of the winter harvest will remain South of the border.
• Green beans continue to be in tight supply, and quality remains an issue. Wind scaring has been a problem these past weeks.
• Green and red peppers became tight again as a result of rain and cold weather in Florida, Mexico, and California. Price increase alert!
• Cucumbers, same story. Tight supplies.
• Broccoli and cauliflower from California have been great during the past weeks as a result of perfect growing conditions. But these same conditions have caused the harvest to arrive sooner than the growers had anticipated, and now there is a shortage. Florida is not yet ready to deliver its product.
• Celery is extremely tight, with demand exceeding supply. Expect to pay more for the next month or so.

Winter Blues. If not fresh, there is always frozen! Have a fruitful week!