The characteristic trait of the Muscat Grape is its sweet, musky, floral flavor. In addition to being eaten out of hand and made into raisins, true Muscat Grapes are used to make a variety of fragrant wines and dried to make Muscatel raisins. These Seedless Muscat Grapes have the same distinctive Muscat flavor without those…
They look like cranberries on steriods, but they’ re actually Baby Strawberry Guava. The growers at Betty B Farm call them Strawberry-quats, and proport that they make the best sorbet ever! Crush the Baby Strawberry Guavas and let them drain through cheesecloth to get all the intensely flavored juices. The rich red color and tropical…
Feijoa sellowiana, Feijoas, are the edible fruit of a small evergreen tree with gray-green leaves, native of South America where it is found at high altitudes in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, S. Brazil, and W. Paraguay. The fruits granular whitish flesh surrounding a pulp containing many tiny seeds has a flavor somewhere between pineapple and…
Similar in shape to pears or plums, guavas can be as small as 1 inch or as large as 4 inches in diameter. They have thin, pale green skins, which turn light yellow as they ripen the flesh varies from white to deep pink or salmon red. They contain a number of flattish, hard but…
Native to the coastal areas of Eastern Brazil, the Strawberry Guava is the fruit of a sub-tropical bushy plant. This crop is being harvested from a small planting near California’ s Central Coast. Sweet and aromatic, its flavor is a cross between a tropical guava and a strawberry. Strawberry Guava can be eaten fresh, made…
These beautiful Mangoes are super high in sugar (21 to 23 percent!) and grown in California’ s Coachella Valley. Our farmer’ s father dreamed of growing Mangoes on his California farm, but experts said it couldn’ t be done. After his death, his daughter took up the torch and fulfilled her father’ s dream. But…
Melon mavens assert that tourists in France have been known to pull to the side of the road, drawn to a halt by the incredible scent of a Charentais Melon field. We have not witnessed this phenomenon first hand, but can believe it to be true. Charentais melons (also known as Cavaillon melons) are a…
The Galia Melon bears the name of the family in Israel attributed with its creation, and is a relative of the Ogen melon, another Israeli cultivar. Small and round, with cantaloupe-esque netting over yellow rind, Galias have pale green, almost white, sweet, juicy flesh and can be powerfully aromatic. Galias have been gaining in popularity,…
When a melon is ripe, we mean truly vine-ripe, nothing can beat its sweet, juicy, complex flavor. The problem is that commercial growers, in their attempt to provide melons to the consumer 365 days a year, have lowered the cook’ s expectations. The cantaloupe and honeydew have been relegated to salad bar and drop-a-slice-on-a-leaf-of-kale-and-you’ ve-got-your-garnish…
The Sugar Baby Watermelon is another pint-sized watermelon variety. Five to six inches in diameter, Sugar Babies are extra sweet and their exterior color is a solid, dark green. Quarter a Sugar Baby and you’ve got single servings that present the lovely shape of their much larger relatives. Thinly slice a Sugar Baby on a…
An old friend with a new twist, Tendral Melons are the new and improved version of Spanish Melons. They are super sweet (13 to 14 on the refractometer), and a great addition to the Melon line up. Similar in shape to Crenshaw Melons, they have a heavily ridged exterior and an interior similar to Canary…
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A Mango Nectarine is one of those special fruits that is really best appreciated in person. We cannot effectively communicate the wonderful fragrance and outstanding flavor of this tender, short-season fruit. Sweet, exotic and perfumey, they are a wonderful summer fruit, grown exclusively in California. Suffice to say, they must be tasted to be believed….
The USDA’s standard for ‘tree ripe’ is very similar to their standard for ‘ vine ripe’ (i.e. the fruit is just starting to ripen when it is harvested). Our definition, driven by our chefs, is very, very different. We are talking fragrant, juice-running-down-your-chin, very sweet, lots of flavor ripe. Because our Tree Ripe Yellow Nectarines…
Don’t let this pale face fool you. The White Nectarine has a sweeter, more luscious flavor than its yellow-fleshed brother. Why so sweet? The white fruit has lower acid levels than the yellow varieties. When ripe, a White Nectarine has practically no tartness to its juicy, creamy texture. The White Nectarine’s flesh is pinkish-white turning…
Strawberry corn is one of natures most beautiful works of art. Unlike common yellow or white corn, ears of this exotic variety are shaped much like a large ripe strawberry and the rich crimson kernels surrounded by sun bleached husks paint the perfect autumn picture. Like much of the produce avaliable during indian summer and…
Are your amenity baskets looking a little pedestrian? Is your favorite pastry chef bored with apples? We’ ve got just the item to brighten up your winter fruit line-up. Crimson Peaches are New Zealand’ s answer to the Indian Red peach. Dark red exterior with dark red flesh, the attributes of these unusual peaches go…
Indian red Peaches are prized for the color of their skin and flesh. Their flesh is a deep magenta mottled with white near the pit.
A third-generation Japanese-American farmer, David “ Mas” Masumoto’ s commitment to farming extends beyond the flavor of his fruit. Mas and his family live on their farm in central California. He grows organically, and is a dedicated steward of the land. As he transitioned to organic methods, Mas learned to embrace weeds (he calls them…
It is rare that a farmer feels so strongly about his fruit that he is compelled to write a book about it. It is also rare that said book would receive literary praise for its lyrical style and compelling subject. And it is nearly as rare to eat a peach with the juicy, sweet flavor…