This week’s Item of the Week post highlights the various ingredients that can be purchased at the market and used to make soups!
Soup has probably been consumed since cooking began. Soups are a culinary fare shared by literally every culture, both past and present. They can contain any number of ingredients and superbly reflect seasonal …
News And Events
February 21st, 2012
Market Item of the Week: Soup
February 6th, 2012
Market Item of the Week: Lentils
Lentils are among the oldest cultivated foods on the planet, dating back 10,000 to 13,000 years. They were traditionally grown with barley and wheat crops the Middle East. From there, they spread throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, and India.
The botanical name of the lentil is Lens ensculenta, of which dozens of varieties exist. It is named …
January 30th, 2012
Market Item of the Week – Goat Cheese
The goat, Capra hircus, has been a part of the human diet since prehistory. Goat herding is believed to have begun in mountainous areas of what is now Iran at least 10,000 years ago. Goat dairy products were used by ancient Greeks and Romans, and evidence suggests the products were placed in the …
January 20th, 2012
Market Item of the Week: Yak Meat
Domesticated from the wild yak in Tibet roughly 10,000 years ago, this bovine animal has been a staple for the people in the high altitudes of the Himalayan steppe. Like the bison of the Native Americans, the yak has provided not only an excellent source of protein and fat from its meat, but products from …
January 13th, 2012
Market Item of the Week: Mache
Mache, (pronounced mosh), Latin name Valerianella locusta, grows wild in the Mediterranean areas of Europe. There are over 200 varieties of mache, which is also popularly called lamb’s lettuce, for its resemblance to a lamb’s tongue; corn salad, for its relative abundance in European corn fields; Rapunzel, for its appearance in the Rapunzel fairy …
January 6th, 2012
Market Item of the Week: Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family, Brassica oleracea, along with broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and mustard. They may have their beginnings as early as the 5th century in northern Europe. Written records dated from the 16th century indicate cultivation of Brussels sprouts near Brussels, Belgium, though they were not widely consumed in Europe until …
December 16th, 2011
Market Item of the Week: Parsnips
Wild parsnips, which originated in Eurasia, have been growing for at least 4,000 years. They became popular in Rome when Emperor Tiberius ordered them to be cultivated in the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder refers to parsnips in his writings, and the plant was also consumed in ancient Greece. Before the potato became widely …
December 12th, 2011
Market Item of the Week: Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica family with cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and turnips. Its name is derived from German, meaning “cabbage-turnip.” Its ancestor was a plant called “marrow cabbage”, a cold-tender plant with a thick stem. Kohlrabi, however, is a cold-hardy plant. Its flavor is similar to that of a turnip, but is …
December 5th, 2011
Market Product of the Week: Sweet Potatoes
One of the oldest staples of the human diet, relics of sweet potatoes have been found in Peruvian caves dating back 10,000 years. They are native to Central America. In the late 15th century, Christopher Columbus and Spanish explorers introduced the sweet potato to the Southern United States and to Europe. Spanish and Portuguese explorers …
November 18th, 2011
Market Product of the Week: Fenugreek
An ancient herb, fenugreek is native to the Mediterranean areas of the Middle East dating back some 5,000 years or more. It was used by the Egyptians and Greeks, from whom the ancient Romans imported it initially for cattle food and named it “Greek hay.” It has long been used as a food in India …
