Kindly supplied by Oakleaf European

An exciting new take on Live from Rungis

Products to look out for

Fortuna, cauliflower, GOLD kiwi, courgettes, air mango, Jerusalem "˜choke, broccoli, lemons various, radicchio Castelfranco, tiny Galante potato and thin white mooli.

Fruit and Mushroom

This will be the third week we have received red fleshed guava. They are being sent from Vietnam and are completely different from the hard white ones from Brazil, which would explain why so many are re-ordering them. Other things to consider over the next few weeks would include fortuna - a slightly sharp, full flavoured citrus - the sweet Orri clementine, using French pears such as comice, comice blush and the passe crassane. The Southern Hemisphere fruit is nearly upon us and the first green William pears are arriving from South Africa. Lemons are proving more and more popular and so we are now offering the Cadra (Cedro), Eureeka from Provence, Primofiori from Spain, a Bergamote from Morocco and a very tasty one from Amalfi in Italy. Blood oranges are superb - we will be finishing with the Italian Moro any minute and moving to the Spanish Sanguinelli. Soft fruit is good with some lovely large, tasty blueberries from Chile. Spanish strawberries are more flavoursome and almost full red now and who knows, if the mild weather stays, we could have Gariguette by the next Newsletter.

 Vegetable and Salad

It looks like we are approaching the end of the tunnel with some  very exiting products starting to arrive this week. Last week saw the first French white Asparagus from the south east of France, a little small then, but now we are up to the 16/22 calibre. Today saw the first boxes of Calico Artichoke from Spain. They are round in shape and much heavier than the pointed ones that have been on offer. Many French Tomato growers have started sending their first production onto the market. Beef tomatoes are coming up from Provence in the full range of calibers from the very large 18 to quite a small 27 - all excellent for stuffing, etc. Vine tomatoes from different producers and in different colours means we can offer a fruit with a fuller flavour and a better ripeness than the Spanish counterparts. The yellow and orange varieties are great for chutneys and better still they are rarely over-ordered so fresh stock arrives on a daily basis.

Six of the Best

After the huge success of our 2kg cheese boards we thought we would offer some slightly different combinations of cheese. Starting this month we are offering a pick "˜n' mix section where you can select 6 different cheeses of your liking and make basically, the cheese board of your dreams!!! There are a huge selection of pasteurised and unpasteurised goat, cow and sheep cheeses to draw from, for example you could have a couple of Feville goat's cheese, two Brillat cow's cheese and finish off with a couple of Perail Brebis sheep's cheese. Here just a small selection of some of the cheese you can select from: Le Lingot 200g, Rocamadour, Le Petit Perche, Picadon Carte Noir, Brique  Bribis, Brillat, Munster, Petit Eppoise, Tentation, St Felician. There is nothing stopping you adding  even more so long as you take a minimum of six you can keep adding until  you've created your perfect cheese board. We will still keep our popular 2kg  cheese board offering  on the list though for those of you who are satisfied with that. We have also negotiated some smaller cuts of Comte, Cantal, Emmental, Gruyere and Beaufort so you can really enjoy some of the great French classics in a more manageable size So take a look at the new lists on the Dairy price sheet and start creating!!!! Happy munching!!

 Featured Fruit Products

We are now offering our mixed wild mushrooms in a one kilo box. This should help both kitchens and wholesalers alike. Cedra, or Cedro, lemons have a very deep layer of pith and very little flesh, but the skin does contain a high amount of oil. Spanish Orri clementine with leaf! It is a lovely sweet variety with a distinct flavour. Not around for that long so it's time to enjoy them now.  This picture does not really do these GOLD kiwi much justice. They are organic and from France but I am not sure how much longer they will be around for. Great for brightening up a fruit plate.

 Featured Vegetable Products

Winter seed Pourpier is always our favourite of the two seasons. We think these shapely leaves are great for decorating a dish or to go in a salad. Round courgette from Spain are everywhere. Their quality is at it's best and they are great value - just the time to use them. Courgettes have no discernable season now and Spanish production through this winter has been of a particularly high standard. Another great product "˜for the moment'. My little Bonbons are back! I love their shape, the only thing you want to do is dip your hand in the box - and they taste as good as they look.

Special points of interest

• Andros - the range of lightly pasteurised fresh juice is at a promotional price
• Peuplier Yoghurts - glass jars with a fruit compote on the bottom and natural yoghurt
• Seaweed - have you seen the new range of fresh seaweed from Brittany?
• Parma Ham - a nice 12 month old ham off the bone