SheeFood

Bird's Nests and Asian Cuisine

 

Stirring at our stove the other day, my father-in-law, who is Chinese-Malaysian, said in his broken English that the Chinese have a saying: They eat anything, from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the ocean. I’d add to that—they also eat any part of any animal—from the nose to the tail, from the inside to the outside. (We Americans will eat anything too, as long as it’s boneless chicken or beef and it’s fried.) The Chinese also eat for health.

 

Let me illustrate all. Look at the soup above. It’s bird’s nest soup my father-in-law made for me – with a dried fig in it. The lumpy parts are the boiled down swallow’s nest, which the birds make with their saliva. So they are saliva shells processed to take out the sticks, feathers and other undesirables. They are very expensive--$1,000 for a tin of nest cups. They are expensive because they are plucked by brave people from the top of cliffs (remember, Chinese eat anything from the top of the mountain). The benefit is that it is said to contribute to a clear complexion. The soup is made of boiled down nests and sugar. It actually tastes good.

 

Then, he also brought with him from Malaysia several dried sea cucumbers. They are marine animals with leathery skin. He also brought fish maw, which is the part of the fish that makes it float, also called an air bladder. And why did he bring them? My husband had complained on the phone of back pain. So his dad brought both of these ocean ingredients (remember the bottom of the ocean?), which have a little bounce to the bite, meaning they spring back. This is thought to help ligaments and cartilage stay strong and could be a reason Chinese people don’t have all the knee and hip replacement surgeries we have here.

 

Now, we all know how popular ethnic cuisine is becoming in our country, and near the top is Asian cuisine (half of chefs in the 2010 ACF “What’s Hot” survey said Southeast Asian, like Malaysian, is a hot trend).  I’m thinking that we haven’t even scratched the surface of authentic ethnic cuisines. We haven’t gone much further than ginger and sesame oil/seeds with Asian cuisine. But there’s a reason. Our “yuck” threshold is pretty low. Most other cultures are braver than us and have veered far beyond chicken tenders and beef filets.

 

But I think there’s hope for the American palate. As more people travel more places and become a little more adventurous in what they are willing to try – in the spirit of the culture – we could end up with the likes of sea cucumbers in restaurants here. And then in grocery stores. What do you think?

Jody Shee

Stellar New Products

 

If a dozen new lettuces aren’t interesting enough for the foodservice industry (read my last post), I found three other amazing product launches at the Produce Marketing Association annual Foodservice Conference in Monterey, Calif., in July… The kind of amazing that will make you spit out your coffee and exclaim, “Ethel, read this. You won’t believe it!”

 

Spinach straws. “What?” you ask. They are actually called Nature Straws, and they are a unique garnish used for high-end drinks. They are a naturally hollow, bright magenta, crunchy and sweet spinach stem introduced by Fresh Origins, San Marcos, Calif. Swirl that one around in your drink and take a sip.

 

Betty Crocker on the menu and in the produce department. You thought she was all about cake mixes. Well now, she’s going to be about fresh onions and potatoes, and eventually apples and everything else for foodservice operators who can see the value of a brand, and certainly for consumers in the produce department interested in a name they trust. Will Betty Crocker fresh potatoes and onions make sense to consumers? General Mills sure hopes so. The company has hired Nonpareil Corp., Blackfoot, Idaho, as the exclusive marketing agent to make it happen. The launch date is Sept. 1.

 

Carica… a new fruit you’ve never heard of. It only grows in northern Chile and comes packaged and pasteurized in a 35-ounce resealable bag, as it cannot be eaten fresh. The flavor is like a combo of mango, pineapple, pear and peach, and the company that markets it—Tamaya Gourmet, from Santiago, Chile—considers it a “boutique fruit.”  I tried it, and the texture is a bit crunchy. I think it’s OK, but my husband loves it. You can order it online from www.tamayagourmet.com.

 

Now, don’t those new items beat all?

Jody Shee

Lettuce Tips

Just how many types of lettuce are there? I thought I could name them all, couldn’t you? Let’s start. Iceberg, romaine, red leaf, green leaf and butter. OK, let’s show off. How about Boston bibb, frisee, radicchio, arugula and endive? (Let’s not get into the little specialty lettuces in spring mix bags.)

 

So I was quite surprised with all the new types of lettuce I found while stopping at more than 70 booths at the July Produce Marketing Association Foodservice Conference in Monterey, Calif. I was on assignment to find out what was new, and it turns out, lettuce was it. As I schlepped my conference bag, camera and notebook around, I bumped into another attendee and made a comment to him about all the lettuce. “You noticed that too?” he asked. “My colleague and I noticed that, and we’re calling this “the year of the lettuce.”

 

I’m not sure retailers would appreciate it so much, after all, they only have so much display space for lettuce. But for foodservice operators, this must have been a true lettuce mine. For everyone’s benefit, I’ll share what I found:

 

· Green leaf baby lettuce mix, a hybrid between iceberg and green leaf lettuce in 3-pound packs for the same cost as a spring mix from Field Fresh Farms, Watsonville, Calif.

· Heirloom red romaine lettuce—a miniature plant, fully mature at 7 inches. The leaf has a strong texture that holds up in wrap applications, with no bitter taste from Growers Express LLC, Salinas, Calif.

· Red butter lettuce, finally worked out to eliminate the tip burn problem the lettuce type typically has. Previously, red butter lettuce has only been available from small growers sporadically in farmers markets. From Hollandia Produce, Carpinteria, Calif.

· Green leaf salad mix, which is a hybrid green leaf and romaine variety with the texture of romaine but flavor of a mix. It is meant to replace iceberg on the menu from Lipman Family Cos./Custom Pak, Immokalee, Fla.

· Salanova, a line of lettuce varieties with three times the number of leaves of a regular head of lettuce.  A few of the varieties are green butter, red butter, green oak, red oak and frisee, all one-cut ready, meaning that when cored, each leaf falls off and is the same size and usable, from vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan, Helensvale, Australia.

· Baby romaine hearts, which grower shippers will soon be working with to have available to foodservice in 3-count clamshells as well as whole leaves in clamshells. Seeds from 3 Star Lettuce, Salinas, Calif.

· Whole lettuce filets in green leaf, red leaf and romaine. The filets come washed and ready to use in two 5-pound bags or 10-pound liners, from The Salad Farm, Salinas, Calif.

 

Has anyone else seen something interesting?

Jody Shee

Double Produce on Menus

   
      

Photo: Tina Fitzgerald director of produce and corporate responsibility for Miami-based Independent Purchasing Cooperative, which handles purchasing for Subway restaurants, and David Parsley with Centralized Supply Chain Services LLC handling purchasing for Applebee’s and IHOP spoke about increasing produce usage on menus at PMA Foodservice Conference & Expo.

 

Over the next 10 years, you will see a fresh change on restaurant menus. A year ago, several industry groups formed collaboration to double use of fruits and vegetables in foodservice by 2020.

 

I was there a year ago when the initiative was announced at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) annual Foodservice Conference. It seemed like a noble goal, but I secretly thought it was little more than a meeting topic for big-wig committee members to discuss. The other day, I attended a follow-up workshop session at this year’s annual conference where they gave an update on the discussions. And I was impressed with the main conclusion the committee, or task force, as they call it, recently came to as a way to double produce usage in restaurants.

 

When you hear it, you’ll think, “Duh. Did they have to have a meeting to decide that?” But I know from whence they come, and it really is a big deal. First, I have to tell you the sort of people behind the drive. They are leaders of the three collaborating associations: National Restaurant Association, PMA, and International Foodservice Distributors Association. In addition, there are buyers for huge restaurant chains, foodservice distributors and large commercial produce grower/shippers on the task force.

 

Now for their light-bulb idea: If commercial produce growers stopped growing varieties that just look good, but are hard and bland, and started focusing on produce varieties with memorable flavor, chefs and restaurants would be compelled to buy and serve them, and guests would love to eat them. Flavor is the new key.

 

I spent 15 years of my career following and writing about the produce industry, and I can tell you, and now some big growers publically confirm it, that the criteria for the varieties many of them have grown for the past 100 years are ones that will produce a high yield (more crops per acre), ones that will withstand shipping across the country (sturdy and flavorless) and blemish-free ones that look bright and beautiful. Focusing on external characteristics has worked for them, they think, because consumers buy with their eyes. Internal quality wasn’t even a consideration for many of them.

 

I think the current seasonal/locally grown movement has demonstrated how out of touch many (not all) commercial growers have been, and now it’s obvious to them. Local farmers are so highly regarded because they are known to produce the best-tasting produce. Who wouldn’t choose a backyard peach or tomato over a hard, flavorless one shipped nationally? Consumers know the taste difference, and so do chefs. At the PMA foodservice conference I just returned from, operators in the audience were told to have courage to “just say no” when a load of flavorless produce arrives at the back door, and “just say no” to keeping tomatoes on any part of the menu if tasty ones aren’t available.

 

All this was eye opening to big commercial produce growers. They are rethinking their varieties. So, as we’re on our way to seeing doubled produce usage on menus by 2020, look for better flavor. And “just say no” if it isn’t there.   

Jody Shee