As a Produce Buyer, I get a lot of questions about the quality of fruits and vegetables, the storage of fruits and vegetables, and how to eat or serve little known specialty items.
The Food Networks have given a boon to the Produce industry and I'd like to personally thank those food celebrities and foodies who make my job just a little bit more rewarding and quite a bit more challenging. For some, maybe "thank" is the wrong word - - "throttle' might be more accurate.
Don't get me wrong, I love the profession that I like to say has chosen me. I set out to be an Accountant but it seems the stars had a different path for me and for the past 12 years I have become Produce Kelly.
Bobby Flay, Ina Gartner and other celebrity Chefs and food personalities like to use some rather rare and, might I say, seasonal produce items in their fancy schmancy plated creations.
Salads made with Calalloo and Budda Hand are great recipes and great ways to get people into the produce department. What these fantastically creative preparers of art don't tell you is that those ingredients are only available in limited supplies maybe 3 - 4 months out of the year.
Yea, try telling that to the guy, recipe in hand, that the item needed for his perfect romantic dinner isn't availalble for a few months.
For the most part, we in the Produce industry really love the increased consumption of fruit and vegetables that these food celebrities have bestowed upon us. But am I unrealistic to want all recipes, food shows, and menus to have fine print that says something like:
Limited time availability on all or some of the crazy unique items that were used in the preparation of this item and it is unseemly to yell at your produce provider for the lack thereof
Hey, just a suggestion.
Kelly
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