| question? comment? email us! |
Cheese Needs
I am looking for rennet, an enzyme used in making cheese. Do you have any information on where to get it?
— B.N., Hanover, NHREPLY: Cheese department manager Annie MacDonald recommends the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company catalog for this. They can be reached by mail: P.O. Box 85, Ashfield, MA 01330; by telephone: (413) 628-3808; or by e-mail:info@cheesemaking.com. They also have a nifty website: www.cheesemaking.com.
A Pear of Another Color
I’m interested to know if unripe fruit like pears would be safe to eat. A friend of mine is always eating unripe pears and loves them. Is she going to be sick or have any other problems?
— D.H. Australia, via the internetREPLY: According to Tony White, Co-op Produce Merchandiser, fruit that is picked to sell to the public already has a certain degree of ripeness to it. It’s strictly a matter of taste to eat fruit that is not fully ripe. Ripe fruit has a higher sugar content; eating unripe fruit such as pears would not be harmful, just not as sweet.
Sticker Shock?
Please label local foods (VT and NH) so that we can find them! (Maybe a red sticker? Upper Valley Food Co-op uses green tags for organic, blue for local.)Also – how about local/organic potlucks? And more local food!
— K.P., Etna, NHREPLY: Produce Merchandiser Tony White is working with his fourteen local farmer-suppliers to find better ways to identify their products. As the growing season progresses, look for individual farm logos on produce signs and a poster-size check-off list of what’s on hand today from local farmers.
Beyond fruit and vegetables, we have so many locally produced products in all departments, it would be a maintenance (and visual) nightmare to add another sticker to the shelves. Staff can always help you find Vermont and New Hampshire products at the meat, seafood, or deli counters; in frozen foods; in the dairy coolers; in bulk; or in the packaged product aisles.
Though Co-op sponsored potlucks are not feasible due to limits on staff time, your broader suggestion — practical information on preparing local or organic food — is a good one. Our Spring Classes (see pages 18-19) include topics that use in-season summer ingredients. Also watch for our "Summer in the Valley" recipes and in-store education displays featuring local produce in season.
The Co-op Cookbook, by Co-op Education Director Rosemary Fifield, contains 100 recipes for quick and easy meals built around fresh produce and is available for sale in our stores as well as at bookstores. For more cookbooks, come browse through the Co-op lending library, located upstairs at the Hanover store. Members can sign out books for three weeks at a time.
A Flour by Any Other Name
What is the difference between graham flour and whole wheat flour?
— S.M., Lebanon, NHREPLY: Graham flour is another name for unsifted whole-wheat flour, a course-textured flour ground from the entire wheat kernel (bran, germ, and endosperm). It is named after Dr. Sylvester Graham, who invented the whole wheat-based graham cracker in 1829.
Dr. Graham was an American clergyman who advocated a health regimen known as the Graham System, emphasizing temperance and vegetarianism. He promoted the benefits of homemade bread made with whole-grain wheat. He also advocated hard mattresses, cold showers, open windows, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain cereals, pure drinking water, and cheerfulness at meals — revolutionary ideas at the time.
Graham’s most ambitious work, Lectures on the Science of Human Life published in 1839, became a leading text on health reform. At the height of his fame there were so many Grahamites that some hotels served only a Graham diet, Graham boarding houses were established, and his lectures were being published. Many Grahamites lived at Brook Farm (near Boston), a famous experiment in communal living.
His popularity waned after 1840 and he died in 1851 before completing The Philosophy of Sacred History, a collection of his lectures relating his theories of living habits to the scriptures.
A Little Help for My Friends?
I am a Dartmouth graduate currently living on the West Coast, and I’m hoping you might be able to help me with a wine delivery to friends who live in Hanover. Can you help? Would you be able to e-mail me a list of what you have available?
— R.F. via e-mailREPLY: Thanks for thinking of us. I wish we could help. Unfortunately, we are unable to ship any alcoholic beverages to individuals, even locally, as we are not licensed for such an undertaking. We would be happy to put together an order from our store selection, but someone will need to pick it up at the Information Desk in the store of your choice.
Orange You Glad You Asked?
I'm someone who likes to squeeze my own orange juice, and over the years I’ve found that there is a seasonality to juice oranges that isn't uniform even though the states of Florida and California agriculture departments state that there is no seasonality.Are they right? The past month I've bought two bags of juice oranges with a disappointing result. Is there some guide as to when to avoid juice orange purchases that you can recommend?
— E.T. via e-mailREPLY: The answer you were given concerning seasonality is true in the sense that there is always an orange available, but the flavor and yields do vary.
We carry two varieties of juice oranges grown in Florida. The Hamlin variety starts in October and runs through June. When the season first starts for Hamlins they can be bitter, usually because they are harvested too early. The Pineapple variety runs from December to March. We try to get the Pineapple variety when available. They tend to be sweeter and make a better juice. Sometimes the same thing happens to them. At times they may be harvested too early, which results in a bitter taste. Usually by mid December they are running great.
During Florida's off-season we are forced to buy from California and Arizona. They will send us Valencias, which tend to be on the not-so-sweet side and are more for eating than squeezing. They yield less juice, which is also of lesser quality.
In the future if you would like to sample the oranges first, this is not a problem. Just ask a produce clerk to cut one open for you. We want you to be happy with the results.
|
Updated weekly: |