Marco's Farmers Market Watch: July 7th

Buongiorno,
here's my Market Watch from the Alemany farmers' market for July 7th. I was at the market very early (brrr, where's global warming when you need it? The temperature was mid-50s) and then off to the Asian Art Museum to give my talk: "Making an Impression: Japanese Pop Images from Meiji to Manga". That was fantastic -- thanks for the standing-room-only turnout, people!
Ciao,
Marco Flavio

What I found this week:
Roman cauliflower (see above). Can't stop looking at these alien vegetables. 
Here are some recipes from Allrecipes or Epicurious.

Snake-like Armenian Cucumbers. Hard to come by, but one of the best-tasting cucumbers (actually more closely related to melons). It's crisp, thin-skinned, and mild-flavored, with soft seeds.  Like the English cucumber, it doesn't need to be peeled or seeded.

Visual proof that everywhere (except, apparently, San Francisco) summer has arrived: Sweet corn and watermelon. Corn is about ready and watermelon is getting there. Corn recipes from Allrecipes or Epicurious.

"Crazy sweet" Summer squash -- so versatile and flavorful, longing to be reunited with their beloved onions in a sauté. They're great in one of my favorite risottos. Recipes from Allrecipes or Epicurious.

Warm up your SF summer with fiery Thai chillis. Recipes from Allrecipes of Epicurious.

Top-of-the-line medjool dates are here! A wide variety of them, some being offered as a "World Exclusive" ... who verifies that, exactly? Recipes from Allrecipes and Epicurious.

I hope you're enjoying peaches, nectarines and apricots because cherries are done for this year.

If you need a little pick-me-up because you're crushed by the disappearance of cherries, you can learn to make Italian nocino (an herbal tasting, walnut-infused spirit). This is the only place I've seen fresh unpeeled walnuts AND the recipe. Go for it! Could be a good one for our upcoming vegetarian group dinner...

Comments

[Arrigo]

Marco,

this is funny: yesterday I placed an order for green walnuts with Alfieri Farm at the Ferry Building market! I have to go to Alemany more often.. Do you remember the name of the farm that you found at Alemany's? One question about nocino: I want to use Everclear (pure grain alcohol) instead of vodka, unfortunately selling Everclear is illegal in California. I heard that it is still possible to buy it in Indian reservations, is that true?

[Marco Flavio]

Arrigo,
they have fresh almonds and walnuts. It's one of the very few italian vendors (they actually speak italian). Exactly to the right of the door that leads to the main offices (middle of the covered part, facing the freeway).
Not sure about the Everclear...

[Tana]

The "crazy sweet" squash look like they're probably Ronde de Nice.

http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/packpg/veg/squash-zucchini-ronde-p.htm

They are sweet: they have vanilla undertones. One of our very favorites for the simplest of summer dishes: lightly steamed, then sautéed with fresh herbs and fleur de sel.

[Anita]

Was Everclear recently made illegal in CA? I bought some a few months back at BevMo. In any case 100-proof vodka works nearly as well; I actually prefer it for digistivi, as the lower alcohol means you need to add less sugar to bring the final product down to a drinkable proof.

Those green walnuts, frankly, look way past their prime. I bought some at Alemany market last year about this time and they were way too mature... I practically had to use a saw to halve them.

They also look like they've sat for a while, perhaps even on the ground. Green walnuts for nocino and vin de noix need to be picked fresh, and steeped within a day or two of being picked. In northern California, they should be harvested no later than June 24 -- the traditional day in Italy. We picked ours on 6/9 in Napa and they were just right; another week beyond that would have been OK, but beyond that I think the shells would be to well-formed.

And, sadly, it's a bit too late for your upcoming dinner. Even the fastest Nocino recipes call for 40 days of steeping time, and 2 months of resting. Most want you to steep all summer and then settle the strained mixture in the bottle until winter.