Where you live/lived: Best natural foods you'll miss

[OakLeaf]

Whenever I'm in Florida I miss fresh foods of all kinds. It's awful.

"Farmers'" markets might have a few dozen local eggs if you get there as soon as they open, but all the fruits and vegetables come from somewhere else. Produce in the grocery store comes wrapped in three layers of EPS trays and plastic wrap. Organic produce in the natural food store comes from Holland or China or, if you're really lucky, California. Plant City strawberries in season excepted, of course. (Organic strawberries still come from California. Which strawberries are one of the foods that supposedly have the most toxic pesticide residues on them. )

It's possible to get local food if you go direct to the farmers, but it's 15-25 miles one way for produce, 40 miles (in a different direction) for meats, and AFAIK (probably because of the water shortage) there is no local dairy.


(PS to Emily - most of the commercial orange groves in central Florida shut down after the big freeze in the '80s, whenever it was. Almost all of it comes from south of Palm Bay, which is south Florida, in my book. )

[Aquila]

California: artichokes. artichokes. artichokes. Yum! Also apricots, blackberries...

Wisconsin: cheese curds and really good apples

[shootingstar]

California: artichokes. artichokes. artichokes. Yum!

It is rare to see fresh artichokes in our stores. Haven't yet hauled a fresh one home to prepare. It's all been brined in advance, what I've had here. (and delicious).

What does freshly cooked artichoke taste like?

Oak: Didn't know about the lack of fresh certain produce (other than citrus or some tropical). Guess strawberries can't grow in Florida?.

[OakLeaf]

Guess strawberries can't grow in Florida?.

Plant City, near Tampa, is famous for strawberries. But organic produce of any kind is sort of antithetical to the way Florida envisions itself. (On a related note, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio - among other northern states - all have more photovoltaic installations than Florida. )

It surprised me to learn that Flagler County grows a lot of potatoes - I wouldn't have thought they could tolerate the climate.

[Grog]

I miss the Quebec cheeses. Badly. They are available here but only some of them, and are more expensive and hard to find.

My mom replenishes my stock of maple syrup regularly so I don't have to buy the over-priced, multi-year-old syrup they sell in B.C.

I miss fresh asparagus. (As in: cut less than 12 hours before it is eaten.) There doesn't seem to be a producer around Vancouver.

[redrhodie]

I love walking in the woods and eating berries off the bushes. I found lots of wild strawberries this year, which I hadn't seen since I was a teenager.

Our local corn is good, and we have great corn meal for bread and Johnnycakes. And, of course, we have abundant seafood. I don't eat much of that, so it wouldn't be as missed by me as the berries.

[pfunk12]

Cameroon, West Africa (when I was a Peace Corps volunteer) - I miss ALL of the fresh fruits and vegetables. Especially the yummy tropical fruit. You could go to the marketplace every single day for your fresh produce - straight from the farm.

[Jolt]

I love walking in the woods and eating berries off the bushes.

Same here! Where did you find wild strawberries? I have never run across those but have found blueberries, raspberries and blackberries along some of the trails.

[crazycanuck]

I think i'd miss the fresh Barramundi..mmmmmm...

[lph]

Oh, if I moved somewhere where there were no wild strawberries I'd definitely miss them. They are the best berry in the world!

[redrhodie]

Same here! Where did you find wild strawberries? I have never run across those but have found blueberries, raspberries and blackberries along some of the trails.

Right along the road in Kingston, RI. They're so tiny, they're easy to miss, but they really pack a punch of flavor!

[bmccasland]

Creole Tomatoes - fresh tomatoes grown in Mississippi delta dirt, Farmer's Market or some local grocers
Satsumas - a type of tangerine - currently in season. Easy to peal, very few seeds, yummy.
Shrimp - packed on ice at the grocery store, not frozen. Wild caught from the Gulf of Mexico. It is most definitely politically incorrect to eat imported shrimp. And there is a taste difference between fresh and frozen. I like mine sauteed in butter/olive oil with garlic and a bit of cayenne pepper.
Crawfish (crawdads, mudbugs) - Louisiana born and bred - not imported. If it has to cross an ocean to get here, it isn't worth eating.
and finally, Smith's Dairy milk - I buy direct from the dairyman Mr. Smith at farmer's market - their milk is pasteurized but not homogenized (you have to shake the carton). They make a wonderful chocolate milk that is the perfect after ride pick-me-up. and he passes out shots of it at market.

[Crankin]

Blueberries! We once found an abandoned blueberry farm in some conservation land in S. Yarmouth on the Cape. It was at the end of a cul de sac where we had rented a cottage. We brought bowls and bowls into the woods, to take home and freeze. Now, I get them from local farms.

I miss the Hass avocados we used to pick right off of the trees in our yard in Miami, when I was a teenager. I also miss a lot of the Mexican type food we had in AZ, but not sure if the ingredients are necessarily native. As the years have gone on, I have found a few authentic places here to get Mexican food, but they are all a drive. What I really miss is having the parents of my students make me tamales, enchiladas, etc. for gifts.

[katluvr]

Oak,
Actually (although not organic) in the right place in Florida you can get fresh produce. Not in my coastal area, but near Ocala where my folks live...lots of sold on the side of the road produce. I think it is the left over or surplus from large commercial lots.

Melons...cateloupe and watermelon, when in season can be bought off the back of the truck in these more rural areas.

I do agree that in the more urban and coast (congested) areas, fresh produces is hard to find. Even the "saturday am market" in teh "city" the procudes does nto look all that fresh and they really don't advertise/say where it is comes from. It really looks like surplus and "fallen off the back of the truck".

I can't even say we have fresh seafood here!

Oh, corn is another thing...early corn (spring) is usually local and fresh.
Although not organic!

K

[shootingstar]

[COLOR="Red"]Crawfish (crawdads, mudbugs) - Louisiana born and bred - not imported. If it has to cross an ocean to get here, it isn't worth eating.

Am not certain if I've had crawfish yet. Sounds like a type of big shrimp.

Just reading this whole thread, makes me want to memorize certain special regional foods to try if I ever get to visit certain areas.

Someone here mentioned hazelnuts. We do have a local poducer here that does sell great stuff. The Northwest coast is also known for its diversity of mushrooms. Some mushroom types are only found in our region. Must be the moist rainforests that make happy growing areas.

Admittedly the high price tag for certain mushrooms, so far is abit of a barrier for us to try cooking freshly picked stuff.