What’s NEWS at the Market this Week?
Tallogum Berries returns this week with their new season raspberries to enjoy. Pop in and say hi to Renee who will be your regular Tallogum Berries face this year.
Paul Lloyd and Natalie Bell who are the force behind Tallogum Berries along with their young family, both have a long history growing berries at their expansive farm at Lindendale near Lismore. Natalie’s family in particular were berry growing pioneers in the northern rivers going as far back as 1975.
Nat said that they should have their blueberries back in June or July depending on the weather. In the meantime …
Blueberry Fields has their early season blueberries by the punnet. It is too early for their famous and very popular buckets yet but their punnets are great value and delicious ….. unless it rains the day before the market and they can’t pick!!
🥇They are winners! 💥
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Nimbin Valley Dairy for being named state winner in this year’s Delicious Produce Awards for their St Billie goats cheese. Such a well deserved award and now they are off to the national awards at the end of this month. We wish Kerry and Paul the best of luck.
They did warn in their social media posts that goat’s milk is scarce at this time of year but they will be making this popular cheese again this week so it should be available in a few weeks time.
What’s GREAT at the Market?
This week we are shining the spotlight on the sometimes undervalued ZUCCHINI with some zucchini facts and delicious recipe ideas.
Did you know that the zucchini, also known as courgette or marrow (esp. the large ones) is a variety of summer squash and like all squash has its ancestry in Central and South America.
It was brought to the Mediterranean by Christopher Columbus around 500 years ago. However, the varieties of squash typically called zucchini were developed in northern Italy in the second half of the 19th century. The first records of zucchini in the United States date to the early 1920s and was almost certainly brought to Australia by our Italian immigrants. The delights of a multicultural cuisine are ours to enjoy.
Zucchinis are a versatile vegie that is delicious raw in salads or cooked, stir fried, steamed, grilled, roasted and used in quiches and frittatas, muffins, soups and so much more.
Beautiful warm autumn days means that salads are still enjoyable so I hope you enjoy the recipe in our newsletter, for Zucchini, thyme and pecan salad – one of my favourites. It is based very closely on the Courgette, thyme and walnut salad by the one and only Yotam Ottolenghi.
Here are some more ideas to inspire:
- In Italy, zucchini is served in a variety of ways: fried, baked, boiled, or deep fried, alone or in combination with other ingredients.
- In France, zucchini is a key ingredient in ratatouille, a stew of summer fruits and vegetables prepared in olive oil and cooked for an extended time over low heat.
- In Russia, Ukraine and Serbia zucchini usually is coated in flour or semolina and then fried or baked in vegetable oil, served with a sour cream.
- In Bulgaria, zucchini may be fried and then served with a dip, made from yogurt, garlic, and dill.
- In Greece, zucchini is usually fried or stewed with other fruits.
- In Egypt, zucchini may be cooked with tomato sauce, garlic, and onions.
Fun facts and ideas to inspire are from Fun Facts
