Fruit Hunters - 19th Avenue Farmer's Market & T&T

 For this culinary blog I went to go visit my favourite farmer's market at 19th avenue to see what they had just picked that morning. I had to buy some vegetables for our thanksgiving feast so I bought a lot of root vegetables like Hubbard Squash, Butternut Squash, Rutabaga, Celery Root Heirloom Carrots, Celery, beets, and leeks.  A lot of the vegetables were reasonably cheap as they were in season. This family has been operating this farm for a long time as a lot of Italian and Portugese families drive here to purchase tomatoes and hot peppers at the end of summer when they are making their tomato sauces to jar for the winter time. Before I roasted them in the oven I just added some olive oil, salt, and pepper and placed it in the oven and after they finished cooking I couldn't believe how sweet they were just naturally as no sugar was added.




























Since I have eaten all the fruits that they sell at this market I decided to visit T&T since there was one in the area.I haven't visited this one before but couldn't believe how clean and organized everything was.  We had to visit this store as I was making a crab & shrimp boil and needed to get some fresh crabs and T&T was the first place I thought of because of how clean most of their stores are.

 The fruit I decided to try was Jackfruit and since the peel is hard and prickly to hold I decided to purchase one already peeled. The smell was a bit funky as it didn't smell as bad as durian but it had a sweet funky smell to it. The inside of the jack fruit is very sticky so in order to cut it it is best to rub oil on your knife and your hands so its easier to handle. AS you can tell in the photo the sweet parts are easy to peel out of the fruit and there is a seed typically found in the center which you remove. When you hold it it feels quite rubbery and flexible. To those who haven't tasted it to me it was similar to a mix with mango and apple. I chose this fruit because I had it before in a halo halo I had in Oahu, Hawaii last summer. It was delicious in that drink and I wanted to try it just as a fruit itself. If I were to cook it I definitely wouldn't cook it in any heat, it may intensify the flavour but the flavours I believe are good as they are andwouldjust serve it on a plate like that with other fruits. Or serve it in a fruit salad. I thought the flavours were very delicate and should purely just be eaten like that. I haven't attempted making Halo halo at home as it uses about 20 different ingredients prepared in many different ways. It is much easier to purchase it already made in Oahu or at any filipino grocery store. It is a beautiful drink as they are many different colours and textures in it.

Until Next Time,
K.M.W.