Now is the time.

We have so many good things in the cooler right now.  If you want to make a spring salad, go for it: peas and favas abound, and we also have Mapleline Dairy buttermilk, if you’re inclined towards a ramp and buttermilk dressing.  If you’re thinking asparagus, you should be: jumbo and standard grass from King’s Crown in Stockton, CA are here and sitting right next to the fresh Oregon morel mushrooms in our cooler.  Topped with fresh cage-free duck eggs from Hershberger Farms in Maine?Solid move.

86/Gapping: Paul’s Greek Yogurt- expected mid-April; Baby Artichokes very sporadic availability- will remain sporadic for the season; Carolina Coarse White Heirloom Grits- expected mid-week; Red Flint Floriani Grits- expected early next week; black trumpets done for the season; County Line Chicories done for the season.

Coming Soon:  If you’ve been thinking about upping your grain game, we’ve got good news: we are bringing in some excellent, stone-ground organic wheat and other grains from Maine that are milled to order, for us, starting in mid-April.  Why do you care?  Because you want your loaves to be beautiful, nutty and special.  Because you want to put as much thought into your flour as you do your other produce.  Because you want to try making pasta with things like rye, buckwheat and spelt flour.  Because a triticale berry (think wheatberry, but a rye-wheat hybrid) salad sounds like just the thing to change up to from farro right about now.  Stay tuned.

Soom Tahini, also expected in mid-April.  What makes this tahini special?  If you’ve spent any time in the middle east, you know how seriously good tahini is over there.  But in the same way that hummus in a plastic package will never live up to freshly-ground hummus you can get in the streets of east Jerusalem (preferably chased with some Moroccan mint tea), the leaden tahini here doesn’t hold a candle to the super-fresh, pure taste that Soom tahini already has straight out of the jar, before you do a damned thing to it.  Already the proper consistency, it’s not a paste so much as a sauce–that you’ll want to start using on everything.  If you’ve ever looked at a jar of tahini and thought about adding a touch of it to something and said “nah, it’s too pasty and I’ll have to thin it out and re-emulsify it and it’ll be a whole thing,” get this stuff.  You can now be spontaneous with your tahini, and don’t have to worry that the new garde manger cook is going to burn out trying to re-emulsify it.

NOW IN SEASON

Still going strong

All about that grass.

Jumbo (and standard) asparagus from Stockton, CA, are now here.  Want to continue to enjoy them in years to come?  Read on.

If you’ve ever had a guest say to you “this is the best (name that produce) I’ve ever tasted,” you’ve got more than just an opportunity to bask in the glow of a job well done.  You’ve got a chance to start a conversation with your guests about why the thing they’re tasting is so different from what they have access to on a daily basis at a regular grocery store.

Fewer California asparagus growers are in business these days.  The Victoria Island asparagus, which we’ve loved and carried for years, is gone.  It’s gone because cheaper asparagus, from Mexico and Chile, are taking over.  The main driver of this trend are the big-box grocery stores, who favor price over quality while trying to appease a year-round demand for what used to be a seasonal product.  The loss of Victoria Island asparagus is a clear example of the impact this has on those of us that like our food to actually have flavor.

Fortunately, we found another premium west coast grass.  We are excited to have King’s Crown jumbo (and standard) asparagus, from Stockton, CA this year.  The terrior of Stockton is particularly suited to growing some of the best west coast asparagus we’ve tried, superior to Salinas.  Here at Specialty, we remain committed to flavor over cost.  Get the asparagus on your spring menu–and talk to people about it.

Arriving Saturday 3/19

now in

Spring fruit: tough game

Spring is a challenging time for fruit, but there are a few things worth noting.

Welcome back, above-ground plant life.

 Awesome spring stuff in now–stay tuned for mid-March updates on muscat grapes, champagne mangos and king’s crown jumbo asparagus, late next week.

Early Spring things

Wild Rapini from Knoll Farms

land and sea umami

brightness

rising C blood oranges

beautiful Greens

equinox farms mesclun mix

sakura mix, Koppert Cress, with two-day notice*

sweetness

bee local smoked honey coming March 15th!

Market Update

Pomegranates are done for the season, as are most heirloom apples and winter squashes.  Fresh cranberries and chestnuts are done. Feel free to put Equinox mesclun, now in, back on your menu, as supply is strong.  Their pea shoots, which are limited, are young, delicious and tender–no need to cook them.  The mandarins from Rising C are now “Tango.”  Satsuma and Paige are done for the season.  Black trumpet mushrooms are winding down quickly.  Morels are a few weeks away, and the first of the season are always the priciest, so best bet is to wait it out.  First of the season stinging nettles are in.  If you’re thinking nettles on a pizza or flatbread, talk to us about grains: we have local buckwheat, rye, spelt, whole wheat and all-purpose flours.  By the time you think about a greengage plum dish to put on the menu, they could be gone.  Take advantage now, and verbal it.  They come and go quickly.  If you haven’t had a chance to check out the coarse red flint Floriani grits, from Keisler’s Mill, they’re easy to try before making a big commitment: they come in 18 oz bags, and they’re truly special.  Fifty pounds left for the season.

Equinox Farm- Sheffield, MA

• Native Mesclun
• Pea Shoots(limited)

Knoll Organic Farm- Brentwood, CA

• Cardoon
• Green Garlic
• Wild Rapini
• Stinging Nettles
• Mustard Flowers(limited)

Rising C Ranch- Reedley, CA

• Blood Oranges
• Cara Cara Oranges
• Seville Sour Oranges
• Tango Mandarins
• Meyer Lemons
• Melogold Oroblancos
• Kumquats
• Pumellos

Crown o’Maine Organic Co-op- Vassalboro, ME

• Chantenay Carrots
• Yellow Sun Carrots
• Purple Haze Carrots
• Jerusalem Artichokes
• German Butterball Potatoes
• Bintje Potatoes
• Russian Banana Fingerlings
• Golden Russet Apples(limited)

County Line Harvest- Petaluma, CA

Mixed Baby Heirloom Chicories

Now in season

• New Zealand Greengage Plums
• Fresh Red Currants
• Holland Rhubarb
• Fuyu Persimmons
• Medjool Dates
• Orange/Purple/Green Cauliflower
• Baby Brussel Sprouts
• Purple Brussel Sprouts
• Baby Kale
• Tuscan Kale
• Long Island Cheese Pumpkins
• Macomber Turnips
• Gillfeather Turnips
• Cipollini Onions
• Salsify Root
• Parsley Root(limited)
• Crosnes(limited)
• Watermelon Radish
• Purple Boar Radish
• Green Daikon
• Black Radish

Mushrooms: wild and cultivated

• Fresh Oregon Yellowfoots
• Fresh Oregon Black Trumpets
• Fresh Oregon Hedgehogs
• Fresh Trumpet Royale
• Fresh Chef’s Mix Mushrooms
• Maitake Mushrooms
• Honshimeji Mushrooms