Hi, I’m Chef Dan, and one of the questions I get asked all the time is: “What is the difference between a Mandarin and an orange?” Well, there’s a few differences They’re both in the citrus family, and they both have that wonderful bright slightly acidic sweetness. Mandarins are smaller than regular oranges. Typically much…
Root Vegetables and Tubers: A Brief History Before the widespread domestication of plants, our earliest ancestors foraged for wild root crops, like carrot and beets. Later cultivated, these underground riches included nutrient-dense root vegetables and tubers with limitless culinary uses. Now a common food staple, these nourishing veggies became fundamental ingredients of regional cuisine across…
Hi, I’m Francy Deskin with FreshPoint and today we’re going to talk about how to cook a chestnut. The best way to cook a chestnut is just like the holiday song would imply, roasting them over an open fire. Don’t have one of those? No problem…pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees then you’re gonna take…
*Editor’s Note: Black Winter Truffles are a luxurious addition to winter menus, and we want everyone to get the best possible quality, so a special order is required. Please contact your account representative if you want to serve Black Truffles. Definitely not chocolate… Often confused with the other black truffles such as Summer and Chinese…
Clementines vs. Mandarins… When it comes to Clementines vs. Mandarins, the Mandarin is the master orange of the family, and Clementines, tangerines, and satsumas all fall under this umbrella. Referred to as mandarins because they are thought to have originated in China, and as they passed through the trade route across Africa (Tangier in particular,) they…
You may have seen shallots in the kitchens before on all the cooking shows and you may wonder, “What do you use a shallot for?” What do you use a shallot for? Well, traditionally, it’s always been used like garlic, as the base of certain ingredients. Classically, in French cuisine, the sauce beurre blanc always…
You may be wondering, what is an heirloom apple? While there is no true consensus on what defines an heirloom apple, most botanist and food scientists tend to agree that any variety released from 1945 or earlier qualifies as an heirloom. You may wonder why 1945? There’s a watershed moment in history, World War II…
Potatoes are great. Mashed potatoes are even better. But there’s more to mash than the potato. You can mash sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or cauliflower…however, there’s one underutilized root veggie that I’d like to call attention to: the rutabaga. Ok, your nose just wrinkled. Rutabaga? You bet. They make an incredible mash. I took over…
What’s the difference between a shallot and an onion? Just ask my first restaurant chef when I graduated from The Culinary Institute of America. He’d be happy to share the difference with you, just as he did me that fine day so early in my chef career when I used shallots instead of red onions…
The common mispronunciation of “Cipollini” is just about the only bad characteristic of this mini member of the onion family. Cipollini onion: small but mighty Pronounced chip-oh-lee-nee, the bite-sized onion quickly becomes a tasty treat with the right preparation. The popularity of caramelized Cipollini onions is due to a higher residual sugar content than a…
This year at the 2018 BJ’s Brewhouse General Manager Conference, FreshPoint was awarded the Gold Standard Partner Supplier of the Year. It was with true honor to accept the distinguished award that acknowledges the partnership we have nourished and continue to grow. “This is a huge honor as BJ’s has hundreds of vendor partners and…
Fall is just around the corner, and I’m always asked, “is a quince a pear or an apple?” The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. It’s related to both, but it’s really neither. You can’t eat them raw because they’re super astringent. When you bite into a raw quince it isn’t gonna hurt you…
We talk to chefs for their orders, or see them in the mornings as they’re opening the kitchen, but we rarely get to hear their personal stories. Chef Marcel Martinez is the Executive Chef of “Savor…” at the Broward County Convention Center in Greater Fort Lauderdale, FL, and he shared his story with us. The…
Apple season is upon us. So what are the best apples to cook with? I get asked often which variety of apple is best to cook with, and it’s really hard to beat the Granny Smith. It’s my all-around favorite for the kitchen; great flavor with a subtle acidity, and a deep dense texture that…
A few things are as a ubiquitous with the fall season as cranberries are. The history of cranberries is fascinating. The first commercial crop was in Massachusetts in 1816, native tribes used cranberries to make a meet based snack known as “pemmican”, which is very similar to beef jerky. The pemmican sustained them through the…
The pomegranate have become an incredibly popular menu item, both for their delectable arils and their delicious juice. Prized since antiquity, pomegranates have a deep cultural and religious history. What is the history of pomegranates? Well, indulge me for a bit, I need to geek out a little. Native to the region stretching…
Quince: the real fruit of the Cradle of Civilization. Spending some of my childhood in the Middle East and also being a student of Theology (I was a youth minister in my early 20’s, but that is a story for another time), I am well aware of the history of the quince. It is thought…
Hi I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and well, I offered to shoot this video only wearing a fig leaf, but…well, you’re welcome… (Thanks Dan!) So figs and wasps have a unique relationship. Why is that? Well the fig tree isn’t pollinated by bees like most other crops. It’s actually pollinated by the fig wasp. Even…
Now that the summer harvest is upon us, the tomato bounty is here as well. Exactly how old are heirloom tomatoes? What is an heirloom tomato? I brought along a few today, and you can see that they’re a little lumpy. They’re different colors, but boy oh boy, do they taste great! What are the…
The Hatch chile pepper harvest has begun. It’s a three week season, very short, and people in New Mexico go absolutely crazy for these gems. So what is a Hatch chile pepper? Much different than a traditional bell pepper–it’s a variety of Anaheim pepper grown in Hatch, New Mexico. Picked green it’s used in chili…
