Brisbane Market Report 286

Brisbane Produce Report – 12 November

  November 12, 2021  strump

Mangoes and stone fruit have begun to arrive in greater volumes, so if you haven’t yet tried these summer beauties, now’s the time to visit your local fruit and veg shop and add them to your basket.

The quality of the nectarines and peaches coming from Stanthorpe, and Victoria is remarkable, and prices will continue to go down as supplies increase leading into Christmas. Queensland-grown mangoes have started to increase in supply, with quality and price expected to get better in the coming warmer months.

Cherry tomatoes are excellent quality eating, great value and supply coming from New South Wales is plentiful. Wonderful for snacking and salads, cherry tomatoes also make a gorgeous addition to summer pasta dishes — simply add to a frying pan with olive oil, garlic, black pepper and chilli flakes and stir through pasta with fresh parsley and parmesan.

The market continues to see a bumper season for Hass avocados, with top quality supplies coming from Cabarlah in the Toowoomba region and Western Australia. Locally-grown Queensland Hass avocados shall finish up in two-three weeks, but good steady supply is anticipated to come through from Western Australia, Victoria and eventually New Zealand, so you can keep smashing that avo onto your toast every morning.

In vegetable lines, you can expect to pay more than usual due to the impact of recent rains on both local and interstate supply, especially for tomatoes, corn, zucchini, snow peas, and broccoli. However, all is not lost, as there are some good alternatives such as bok choy and iceberg lettuce sourced from the Granite Belt which continues to be well supplied and excellent value, with some varying quality due to the rain Other top options are green beans, coming from South East Queensland and sweet potatoes coming from Bundaberg, which are both priced to move.

Fresh chilli from Bundaberg continue to impress with good supply, flavour and price. Look for red, green, and yellow varieties to use in stir fries, curries, and pasta sauces, or preserve them as sweet chilli jam for a homemade Christmas gift. Puree 500g tomatoes, red chillies, garlic cloves, fresh ginger and 1/4 cup fish sauce. Combine the puree with 600g white sugar and 200ml red wine vinegar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add 500g chopped fresh tomatoes before simmering for 30-40 minutes.

This week’s top pick is one of our summer favourites, watermelon. Look for fruit that feels heavy for its size and has a vibrant colour. Store watermelons in the fridge once ripe. To test for ripeness, whole watermelons will have a creamy yellow splotch and should sound hollow when tapped. Surprisingly versatile, watermelons are great performers in both sweet and more savoury salads — try it in a Greek-style combo with feta, olives, red onion, cucumber, mint and salad leaves.

On a side note, with the heavy rains coming through Victoria and New South Wales supply coming from these states will potentially be restricted due to certain road closures coming into South East Queensland.

Posted by Brisbane Produce Market