march 29, 2017 - southern foods · 2017. 5. 8. · or the beef. however, this also reduces the...
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MARKET
FROM OUR CUT SHOPSBeef Market UpdateThat the beef market has likely topped out.
Meat ColorThe difference in retail and foodservice steaks.
Fish Market UpdateMoratorium on Gulf-caught grouper ends soon.
Regional SpotlightNC Dayboat Swordfish
March 29, 2017
CHEESE TRENDSAre You Down with Clothbound?Get to know one of the most popular styles of cheese at its rare finest.
SPECIALTYINSIGHTSDon’t Fear Olives.Master Them!A practical go-to guide for using olives well.
NEWSMontgomery’s
Clothbound Cheddar
Beef Market NewsMARKET UPDATEAll indications are that the beef market has topped out. The question is, what next? Will it crash, or slowly ease the break pedal? I expect that later this spring and summer we should see the beef market come back to realistic numbers.
MEAT COLOR The Difference in Retail vs. Foodservice SteaksYou may have noticed a difference in the color of cut steaks you see at a retail counter, and those you receive from your foodservice sup-plier. The retail steaks are typically a bright red color, whereas your foodservice steaks look more brown.
AGEAs beef ages, an important process in tenderizing beef, it darkens in color. Retail shops actually demand “green meat,” or beef that is only a few days old, because of it’s brighter red color. The bright color appears more “fresh,” and therefore has greater immediate appeal to the general public than a steak that is darker brown, yet more tender.
OXYGENWhen beef is exposed to oxygen, a chemical reaction causes it to brighten and intensify in color. The type of packaging used in retails stores called an “overwrap tray” allows oxygen to penetrate and col-or the beef. However, this also reduces the product’s shelf life.
PRIORITIESThe priorities in foodservice are different than those in retail. The color of the raw prod-uct is not as important since diners only see it after it’s cooked, and tenderness is crucial, requiring the beef to be aged much longer. So foodservice packaging is designed to keep oxygen out and maximize shelf life. The process of vaccuum-packing actually draws oxy-gen off of the surface of the meat, darkening it’s appearance and slowing spoilage.
If you ever need that bright red appearance for a raw applciation like beef tartare, or to showcase raw cuts, simply unpack the meat and let it sit in open air for a few minutes. The meat will “bloom” as it once again reacts with the oxygen and the color transforms.
Beef market news provided by:
Chris Casey
Protein/CAB® Specialist
SEAFOODMARKET
NEWS
3.29.17
Greensboro, NC | 919.778.3000 | www.southernfoods.com
Seafood Market News
TUNAYellowfin – Supply is abundant and pricing is steady. We do have 2+ and 2G available. There’s brand new fish in today and more due later this week.
GROUPER (Mexican)Supply is limited on Gulf-caught fish. Pricing is up and supply will be limit-ed for the remainder of March while the Gulf remains closed for fishing. The Gulf will re-open on the 1st, so we should see supply increase next week.
OYSTERSWatch the story behind NC’s finest oyster from Jarrett Bay Oyster Co.
SALMON Canadian - The Canadian Salmon market is finally showing signs of re-lief. There is plenty of fish in house.
Seafood market news provided by:
Dave Forcinito
Fishmonger
Regional Spotlight:
We just had F/V Wa-tersport come in to Wanchese with some awesome quality sword. The captain was fishing due east of the Outer Banks and only fished for 2
days. He iced and re-fueled so we expect to have a nice supply of local sword for the next 7-10 days.
North Carolina Dayboat Swordfish
NC CATCHThe local and regional catch features a mix of Golden Tilefish, Monk-fish, Wild Striped Bass, Flounder, Black Drum and Sheepshead.
Click here, or visit us on Instagram to watch our fish cutters break down a whole swordfish!
SNAPPER (Gulf)True Florida American Red Snapper catches have been looking great so far. The fish range from 4-8lbs, and pricing has been steady. It will be a great menu option for the next 4-6 weeks.
Spring is in the air, and with it comes softshell crabs, shad roe, and NC mahi. De-pending on what weather Mother Nature brings us over the next few weeks, I expect to see at least one of those items on our feature list very soon!
Black Drum
ARTISANALCHEESETRENDS
3.29.17
Greensboro, NC | 919.778.3000 | www.southernfoods.com
Artisanal cheese trends provided by:
Sasha Shreders, ACS CCP®
Cheesemonger
Are You Down with Clothbound?
Artisanal Cheese TrendsIt all starts with the milk. The better the milk the better the cheddar. Tra-ditional cheddar is aged in a cool, humid cellar. When bound in cloth the cheddar can breathe while it ages. The cloth provides a little oxygen transfer while protecting it from getting too dry. This allows the character of the milk to develop and really shine through in the final cheese. If you have a particularly nice verdant, grassy area with mineral rich soil, clean air, clear water, sunshine, all of it is distilled into the cheese when it’s al-lowed to breathe while it ages. This is what we call “the taste of the place” or as the French say “terrior”.
TedBy Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, Austin, KY. Unpasteurized cow’s milk. Aged 6-9 months. Named after Kenny’s grandfather Ted, a quiet but large and capable iron worker. Just like Ted this cheese is solid and resilient with well-balanced character. This has some fruity notes on the nose and pairs well with farmhouse style ales and Chardonnay.
Grafton’s Cave Aged Clothbound CheddarGrafton Village Cheese Company, Grafton, VT. Unpasteurized cow’s milk. Aged 6-9 months. Graf-ton’s classic milled curd cheddar, wrapped in cheesecloth while it ages slowly in their aging rooms. Made with primarily Jersey cows milk from local farms offering a rich, creamy profile with bold notes of nuts and mushrooms.
Montgomery’s CheddarNeal’s Yard Dairy, Somerset, England. Unpasteurized cow’s milk. Aged 16-18 months. Each batch has it’s own character and the profiles selected for us tend to be very rich, brothy and savory. Montgomery’s Cheddar has been made at Manor Farm in North Cadbury, Somerset for 3 generations since the Mont-gomery Family moved down from Scotland. This cheese has been recognized worldwide as a trea-sured classic, one of only three truly traditional ched-dars still being made and protected under a presidi-um from Slow Food International.
LOCAL &SPECIALTYINSIGHTS
3.29.17
Greensboro, NC | 919.778.3000 | www.southernfoods.com
Local & Specialty Insights
For many of us, olives can be hard to control. We love the idea of a luxurious, exotic olive being front and center, then reality sets in. Improperly used olives will destroy a dish, and this fear can be paralyzing. We’ve probably all had that over-salted, pungent Pasta Puttanesca with mealy olive residual left in the bottom of the bowl dying the anchovy and caper remnants black. This mis-step often results in the rest of your $90 bucket of olives sitting in the back of your walk-in cooler for several months unused.
When using olives, quality and balance are everything. Simply adding “olives” to a recipe is about as vague as adding “meat” or “herbs” or “cheese”. To create a successful dish with olives, visualize the outcome you want, then align your ingredients and techniques accord-ingly. I challenge you to look beyond the saltiness and bitterness to find the nuances, then exploit them.
Because olives can be very bold and fresh out of the brine, I like to test the true flavor of the olives by pureeing a few with a little warm water first. This blooms aromatics in the oil bringing out the true flavor of the olive. From here I can imagine where to start.
Research, Align, Focus, and DesignTaking time to think things through will prove to be worth every min-ute. I use a simple four-step process to make sure I stay on track and get the best results: “Research,” “Align,” “Focus” and “Design.”
As an example, let’s try this with sweet potatoes and peanuts. We know that sweet potatoes taste great with orange and toasted nuts. Start by researching olives that have nutty, citrus characteristics. In this example let’s pick a Castelvetrano olive. Using the olive in its simply cured state with an extremely salt-forward flavor will not al-low the nutty citrus notes to fully develop. This is the part where you must focus the nuances to best compliment the other ingredients. Try tossing some coarsely chopped Castelvetrano olives with a bit of sugar and roasting them in a hot oven, or my favorite, mince, de-hydrate and mix with blister-fried peanuts. Taste these ingredients with the sweet potatoes and see how they not only complement one another, but as if by magic, the combination brings out many other flavors that were hidden: yuzu, yogurt, mango, golden raisin, kale, coconut and goat cheese all come to mind. Now I have a full palette of ingredients I can incorporate into my next big hit!
Don’t Fear Olives,
Local & specialty updates provided by:
Bobby Zimmerman
Southern Foods Brand Manager
Local & Specialty InsightsMy Top 10 Favorite Olive VarietiesOlive varieties, like grapes, get their distinctive qualities from genetics, region, and climate, as well as how and when the olives were harvested and cured. These variations create hun-dreds of different olives with unique personalities.
1. Castelvetrano - From Castelvetrano in Sicily, these wonderful olives are Italy’s most popular snack olive. Vibrant bright green, Castelvetrano olives are nutty, buttery and often a little sweet.
2. Manzanilla - Great olives don’t need to be exotic. This familiar olive from Spain is brine-cured, with a crisp texture and flavor reminiscent of green almonds. Finer Manzanillas carry umami tones of chicken bouillon and smoked mushroom.
3. Picholine - These French green olives are torpedo-shaped, crunchy gems. A pleas-antly tart, nutty flavor with a subtle anise finish make these olives perfect for almost any cuisine.
4. Gordal - Meaning “fat one” in Spanish, these behemoths deliver plenty of firm, meaty richness to match their size. Citrus notes take center stage against a savory backdrop.
5. Cerignola - Harvested in Cerignola, in Italy’s Puglia region, these massive olives are crisp and fantastically buttery. They’re great for stuffing with almonds, garlic, or anchovies.
6. Alfonso - From the foothills of the La Yarada Mountains in Peru, these huge, deep-purple olives are supple and lightly sour. They’re brine-cured, then macerated in red wine and perfect with rich cured meats.
7. Gaeta - From Puglia, Gaeta Olives have soft, tender flesh and a tart, citrusy taste. These small purple-brown olives can either be dry-cured or brine-cured. The citrus flavor is enhanced when eaten with rich and savory foods.
8. Nicoise - Grown on a variety of olive tree called “Le Cailletier,” Nicoise olives are a well-known ingredient in the classic dishes of the French Riviera—think salade Nicoise and tapenade. With notes of anise and herbs, this little olive packs a punch.
9. Mission - Born in the USA! Mission olive trees have flourished in California since the 1700’s. Most of the yield goes to make olive oil, but black oil-cured and green brine-cured table olives are mild, grassy, and bright in flavor.
10. Beldi - Morocco produces hundreds of varieties of olives, but exports only a few. If you get your hands on these, you’re lucky. They’re dry-cured and wildly flavorful. Serve them like the Moroccans do: in salads, tagines, or sprinkled with good olive oil and hot peppers.