Brisbane Market Report 226

Brisbane Produce Report – 21 August

  August 20, 2020  strump

North Queensland is producing many of our stand-out fruit and veggies this week as locally-grown Queensland produce at the Brisbane Produce Markets is plentiful.

Your best buys in vegetables are beautiful eggplant and zucchini from Bundaberg – both are well supplied and in excellent quality. Nutritious broccoli from Lowood, lettuce from Gatton, corn from Bowen and Brussels sprouts from Victoria are fantastic buys too. When choosing Brussels sprouts look for sprouts that are small and compact with even-sized heads with fresh-looking leaves.

Bite-sized cherry tomatoes and radishes are a must this week. Add them to a salad paired with spinach, rocket, wombok and radicchio. Unsure what radicchio tastes like? It is a type of chicory with white veins and deep reddish-purple leaves, round and elongated head and has a bitter and peppery flavour that mellows down once grilled or roasted.

The weather is having an impact on silverbeet and shallot supplies while capsicum, celery and Lebanese cucumber are priced at premium. Other veggies like cauliflower, green beans, onions, carrots, turnips, beetroot and potatoes are all well supplied.

In fruit, we have energy-boosting creamy Queensland bananas and luscious strawberries from the Sunshine Coast – both are plentiful and make a great afternoon snack. Smashed avocados on toast will be popular this week. They are available in good quality and large volumes.

The winter season continues to provide an abundance of good quality citrus fruits. Juicy navel oranges, sweet and tart tangelos, blood oranges, lemons, limes and ruby red grapefruit from Victoria are all available this week. We are spoilt for choice with many varieties of sweet mandarins available including daisy, afourer, hickson and honey murcott. Some varieties have loose skin and puffy appearance, which is normal and makes them easy to peel.

We are seeing some solid supplies of tropical fruit such as grapes from Emerald, sweet kensington pride mangoes from Northern Territory, red pawpaw from Acacia Ridge, pineapple, watermelon and passionfruit. Blend them into a smoothie, juice them for a feel-good beverage or simply chop into a fresh fruit salad.

There is plenty of choice and variety on offer in both red and green apples this week. Blueberries are large, juicy and plentiful this week while raspberries, rockmelon and pears are running low.

Need a healthy flavour hit for your cooking? Try adding fresh Australian ginger available at your local fruit shop along with the coriander and fennel that are in good supply.

This week’s top pick is the local pineapple. The delicious golden ripe pineapple can evoke the tropics with its sweet juice even in the depths of winter. Smell the bottom of the pineapple to gauge its level of sweetness! Plentiful at the moment, pineapples can be enjoyed on its own or can be used in sweet and savoury dishes. Add chunks in skewers, toss them in noodles or simply caramelise them with brown sugar for a delicious dessert.

Brisbane Market Report