Cauliflowers and sprouts up, other lines steady

Press, 20 July 1979, Page 2

Cauliflowers and sprouts up, other lines steady

Christchurch shops have good supplies of winter fruit and vegetables, and a firm demand is keeping most prices reasonably steady.

The price exceptions are cauliflowers, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes. Brussels sprouts reached what were thought to be top season’s prices at the produce market yesterday, at $9.10 a bag. Demand is strong, but supplies are not great. Early ripening of cauliflowers a month ago and recent frosts have pushed their price slightly higher than last week. North Island glasshouse tomatoes at $l7 to $18.50 a 7kg carton are up about $4 on last week, and Canterbury hothouse tomatoes are also slightly up at up to $11.70 a 4.5 kg case ($10.90).

The end of industrial strife has released big supplies of tamarillos, mandarins, grapefruit, and kiwi-

fruit which are also having a good season. Good quality mandarins are in strong demand, selling to $9 a half-case, but there are also cheaper lines. Although bad weather limited local harvesting last week-end, and reduced supplies of vegetables early

in the week, prices did not fluctuate much. Supplies returned to normal mid-week.

Drumhead cabbages have been in good supply most of the week, and demand is strong. Bags have sold from $2.80 to $5.10. Savoy and red cabbage sold from $2 to $2.50 a bag. Onions are plentiful; carrots, parsnips and swedes have remained steady in price. Good supplies of the three main lines of potatoes ranged from $2 for Ham Hardy to the best Chippewa at $4.50 a bag. Kumara are plentiful again, after industrial disruption. There is not a lot of local lettuce: the market is dependent on Oamaru and Nelson.

Capsicums are coming from glasshouses and by air from the Pacific Islands: 2.5 kg cartons sold from $lO to $25 yesterday. Auckland glasshouse cucumbers sold to $ll.BO for a carton of six.

Isolated Island consignments are coming by air. Mushrooms arrived almost every day this week, and sold between $6 to $8 a tray carton. Witloof is in season. This week’s recipe QUICK POTATO SOUP 3 potatoes 4 tbsps butter 1 teasp sugar pinch nutmeg pinch thyme 2 onions 1| tabsps instant chicken stock pinch pepper sprig of mint 3 cups water

Method: Chop onions and cook in butter for 3 minutes. Add the peeled .sliced potatoes then 3 cups water, chicken stock and seasonings. Cover and boil until potatoes are tender. Put soup through a blender or sieve. Serve sprinkled with paprika or parsley and small cubes of fried bread.