With regular red round beefsteak tomatoes, there’s no real surprises. You get a box of red, round, shiny tomatoes that can be shipped from here to there—perfect for slicing and dicing. And they’re great. But when you open a box of heirloom tomatoes, you don’t really know what you are going to get—and that’s part…
While in sunny California this past week for the Produce Marketing Association Showcase, we had the pleasure of visiting Monterey Mushrooms for a tour. The Watsonville, CA farm is one of ten for the company, and is the largest mushroom farm in the United States. Monterey Mushrooms is a huge operation, currently have captured almost…
Chef Dan has a new friend and his name is Jack. Jackfruit that is. Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and I want you to meet my friend Jackfruit. He looks a little gnarly, it’s a big piece of fruit, it’s 45 pounds and grows on a tree in the tropics. That tree can produce…
What are the different types of papayas and how to use them? Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and I have a couple different papayas to talk to you about today What can you do with papayas besides eating them as fruit? They’re great meat tenderizer. They have an enzyme known as papain that breaks…
Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and I’d like to talk to you a little bit about kiwi, and whether or not you can eat the skin. I’m old enough to remember when it came out in the 70s and created quite the splash in the culinary world. Can you eat the kiwi skin? The…
Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and with summer barbecuing season upon us I really love grilling vegetables. I’m going to go over a few suggestions of what I consider the best vegetables to grill. So what are the best vegetables to grill? I prefer the softer ones such as squashes, zucchini, and mushrooms—even asparagus…
Have you ever wanted to know what is a Pluot? Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and plum season is underway. Not only do we have plums, but we have pluots. So plums versus pluots… what is a pluot? Well the plum is a plum. Colors can range anywhere from red to purple to green…
Hi I’m Chef Dan from FreshPoint, and stone fruit season this upon us. Peaches or nectarines? Nectarine season is under full swing; we’ve got some of the best growers available sending us fruit on a weekly basis. So in the eternal summer battle of stone fruit, peaches vs. nectarines, who comes out ahead? Well, there’s really…
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. John Gardner is the Executive Chef and Partner of Table 26 in Turlock, CA, and he shared his story with us. When did you decide to become a…
Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and stone fruit season is upon us. I brought along the first of the sweet cherries of the season. These are Brooks cherries from California. Super-rich flavor, and with a high Brix (or sugar content). These were actually a 23.5 Brix and the flavor is incredibly rich and balanced….
Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint, and today I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the brassica family. This is Caulilini™ Sweet Stem™ Cauliflower. It’s a new item on the market we wanted to introduce it to you. It captures the best of both worlds, the nuttiness of cauliflower with the sweetness…
Hi, I’m Chef Dan with FreshPoint. And if you know me, you know how much I love stonefruit, and stonefruit season has begun. I brought by some peaches today to talk about. Here I have some eastern peaches from Florida. The domestic season starts here, and then we work our way up the Eastern Seaboard…
Caulilini… It’s lyrical to say—it sort of rolls off the tongue—and even more lyrical to eat, this new darling of the brassica family is one of the most exciting new vegetables to hit the market in a while. So what is it? Grown by Mann’s, here’s how they describe it: “Caulilini™ SweetStem™ Cauliflower is the…
How do you use edible flowers? One way Chef Dan suggests is to crystallize them. But that’s only one way–he’s got a few more great ideas you should check out. There’s an old saying that April showers bring May flowers. Well, April showers also bring edible flowers. I brought a few of my favorites in…
Strawberries and Champagne is one of Vanderbilt University’s longest running traditions for their graduating class Commencement Week celebration. This year they purchased 672 flats of Driscoll’s strawberries totaling nearly 5,400 pounds! Our crew arrived at the university at 4 a.m. We were able to wash each flat of berries and reload them on pallets…
How do they grow yellow pea shoots? If they are grown from the same seeds as green pea tendrils, how do they grow yellow pea tendrils? Pea shoots, pea tendrils, however you want to call them…Chef Dan fills us in on these delicate beauties. I brought along two more springtime items for menu inspiration….
Have you heard of Zellwood Corn from Long and Scott Farms? This triple-sweet corn is only available for a short time*, but while it’s here, you don’t want to miss it! Summer is here and that means it’s time for Long and Scott’s Triple Sweet Zellwood Corn. Picked and chilled daily, Zellwood corn holds its…
How do you use fresh Fava beans? Did you know they need to be shucked twice? Don’t worry, the effort is worth it! In this quick video, Chef Dan tells us a brief history of them, how to use them, and how to clean them. Hi, I’m Chef Dan with Freshpoint of Central Florida, and…
Continuing our blog about English peas, Marvin and I had a nice chat about another avenue of spring peas: shoots and tendrils. Marvin Wilhite of Cahaba Clubs in Odessa, Florida in the Tampa Bay area is a long standing business partner of Sysco | FreshPoints across the country, but here in Florida, we are fortunate…
I’m privileged and delighted to share with everyone that recently our Operations Manager for FreshPoint Puerto Rico—Maria Innes—was recognized as an “Outstanding Woman of the Year”. Maria received an award for Distinguished Community Support from Eric Correa, Puerto Rico Senate Elect and President of the Banking, Commerce, and Credit Commission alongside the Woman’s Business, Leaders,…
