Market Report - UK seasonal update 1 December 2014

This week's market report from Wild Harvest features cranberries, chestnuts and oca tuber as well as a whole host of other fruit and vegetables currently in season which you can see below:

Wild Mushrooms & Truffles

South Africa has come to the end of it’s first cep flush, and Europe isn’t delivering on quality. It is a daily buying situation with low supply and high demand now. It’s time for chefs to tap into our excellent frozen and dried porcini options if they haven’t done so already.

Our gratitude extends to mild European weather conditions postponing the inevitable switch to the USA for another week.

All from various European locations:-

Grey & yellow legged yellow chanterelle, girolles, pied de mouton and trompette.

It’s been an unusually stable year for Italian white truffles; prices and quality remain excellent. These aroma packed stones politely hang on for New Year’s Eve celebrations, before entering a non-harvestable phase of their life cycle.

Black autumn truffles supply looks as though it will overlap with winter truffle supply this year. We received a winter truffle sample last week and the nose and marbling is close to entry level.

Fruits

Fresh cranberries are readily available.

We add leafy clementines to our list for a rustic display.

Here’s a snapshot of a few of our other fruity favourites:

• Fresh chestnuts


• English apples


• Quince


• Comice & Williams pears


• Kaki


• And a large range of exotics such as keffir limes

Vegetables

If you fancy a colourful carb look no further than the oca tuber. Originally from Peru and now cultivated in France.

To meet the huge demand for everything Andean we have added the yacon tuber to our offering. With it’s sweet and floral flavour notes this root is popular amongst diabetics and dieters as the sweet flavour is said to be non digestible.

Some other goodies in fine form:-

• Golden & candy beetroot


• Swiss & rainbow chard


• Jerusalem & helianthes chokes


• Purple potatoes


• Parsely & chervil roots


• Crosnes aka Japanese aritchokes


• A good range of radishes and squash


• The last few weeks of a broad UK foraged range before the heavy frosts settle in and spoil the fun

Christmas favourites

It’s December and our festive lines are in place.

• Small whole turkeys


• Red Tractor approved easy carve turkey crowns


• Whole geese


• Glazed Dingley Dell hams


• Sourdough panettone


• A broad range of cranberry & chestnut products


• Nuts and preserved fruits


• Game birds and deer a plenty


• Top grade clementines


• Caviar and smoked salmon


• Chocolate and spices galore


• A dizzying array of dairy options for the time of year when calories don’t count


• We are not too proud to offer Brussel sprouts , mince pies and Christmas puddings as a time saver or for clever chef’s to reinvent.

As usual, this is just a small selection of what we have on offer. Call in on 020 7498 5397 to speak to the team about what other treats we have in store for you today.