Laura Avery

Mirror Contributing Writer

   It is the height of summer, and by now the old drill of coming home with market produce, assuming the position over the kitchen sink and eating an unbelievably ripe and juicy piece of fruit with juices running everywhere has become routine. So for a Market snack, I recently tried cooking something—fried green tomatoes. These wonderful veggies are available at Market and make a tasty, quick simple treat. Green tomatoes must be eaten green, because they will not properly ripen when picked green even though they will eventually turn red. 
   Figs this years have been unavoidably delayed, but there will be a nice crop coming off in the next few weeks. They are something of a rarity at Markets, but they are becoming more popular as farmers are encouraged to try growing them, and there is a dizzying number of fig varieties to grow.
   The only seeded grapes available now are the muscatel grapes—a small, round, agate-green grape with a very high sugar content. They begin to dry on the vine, and any one bunch may have some grapes that are on their way to becoming raisins and are amber in color. These are really a taste treat worth trying. Another special variety is the “champagne” grape—a tiny green grape that will dry into a currant. These can be eaten right off the bunch in mouthfuls—their stems are so tiny that they are hardly noticeable. Black seedless grapes are a unique variety that has been grafted over from an old time farmer who no longer drives into L.A. markets butt who has graciously allowed his neighbors to propagate and sell his signature grapes. All the grape growers who come to markets are small farmers who have never been the target of any U>F>W> labor actions,, so there is no need to worry about boycotting them. 
   Stubby French carrots are a new item at Coastal Organics’ stand. These are meant to be cooked, and they yield an exceptionally creamy texture and intense flavor when steamed or baked. The skins slide right off after cooking. 
   French prunes also called “prune plums” are delicious, sweet and 
can be home-dried to make fabulous prunes. Simply pit them and lay them out on paper bags in the sun, bringing them in at night to avoid moisture, for about ten days. Satsuma plums are a lovely purple and green marbled looking fruit with green flesh. Most stone fruit comes to Market right off the tree with no refrigeration and retains excellent flavor and texture. Fruit that has been pulled from cold storage should be consumed the same day as purchased, otherwise it breaks down and becomes mushy. It should never be refrigerated. 
   Many, many melons are on the market, and will be in throughout September. Some interesting varieties are the golden watermelon, beautiful with brght yellow flesh and contrasting black seeds, the “Sweet Dream,” a green fleshed musk melon, and the “Ogen,” a melon that originated on an Israeli kibbutz, has distinguishing grooves running end to end and a very sweet green flesh. There is also a “Creme de la Creme” French melon that has a lovely pale green flesh, and a very reliable “Ambrosia” melon which is everything a great cantaloupe should be. What a beautiful fruit salad these gorgeous melons create. When buying a melon, be sure to pick one that feels heavy for its size, as melons contain 95% water.