Today's topic is going to be a couple of revisits. I've done several posts about Peruvian things--most notably some soft drinks from that nation on May 26, 2018. Also, I wrote about artichokes about a year ago, on February 12, 2022. And I covered pigeon peas in my post on February 10, 2018. But, I didn't talk about Peruvian artichokes specifically before. I also don't think I've mentioned blueberries before, either, much less ones from Peru. So here we are.
The artichokes came from the Reese brand. This company was started by a man named Max H. Ries, who evidently decided to change the spelling of his surname for the company. Ries immigrated to Chicago, IL in the U.S. from Germany in 1939. Although he was formerly employed in the textile industry, he decided to start a business selling food in America. The company started to focus on importing specialty foods from other countries in the 1940's, such as Swiss cheese, Fois Gras, kangaroo steaks, fried butterflies, chocolate covered ants, hornets, and baby bees. In the 1950's, the business also being growing their own unusual crops, such as mini versions of corn and watermelons. The company president, Morris Kushner, even appeared on the Groucho Marx television program in 1960 to show and talk about their edible ants and caterpillars. In the late 1960's Reese was sold to PET, INC, out of St. Louis. In 1972, PET was then sold to a consortium of food distributers. The overall company name was changed from Reese Finer Foods to World Finer Foods in 1994. Aside from many different varieties of artichokes, the Reese brand also makes canned seafood, hearts of palm, capers, rice, jellies, sauces, specialty vegetables, and fruit.
The blueberries I tried were from Naturipe Farms, out of California. This company dates back to 1917, when it was known as Naturipe Berry Growers. Like Reese, Naturipe is actually made up of several different operations merged together. The other parts are Hortifrut S.A., MBG Marketing, and Munger Farms. The current head honchos are both Fergusons--Rich is the president, and Dwight is the CEO. (I assume that they are father and son, or brothers, but I couldn't determine exactly what their relationship is.) Aside from blueberries, Naturipe also sells strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, and avocados. Some of their fruit is organic, and some not. Their berries are grown all around the Western Hemisphere, depending on the season. During March through October their blueberries are grown throughout the U.S. and Canada. From October through March they're cultivated in Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and parts of Mexico. Or, basically, they grow their berries whenever it's spring, summer, and early fall in all the countries their farms are located in.
The pigeon peas I tried were from the Wakefern company, which is associated with the Shop-Rite supermarket chain. I got into more detail in my previous post on pigeon peas on February 10, 2018. So I won't repeat myself here--you can read that post if you're interested.
Reese quartered artichoke hearts: (Grown in Peru.) These had yellowish-white centers, surrounded by greenish-white outer "wrappings," layered like an onion. I tried these in several ways.
Plain: They kind of produce a squeaking sound when bitten. They tasted a little vinegar-y, but no vinegar was listed on the can's ingredients. Kind of slimy. Not a great taste. Not that strong. And not my thing.
With Smart Ones Santa Fe rice and beans: Slightly better, but not much. Not a great pairing. Still squeaky and rather unpleasant.
With Smart Ones mini rigatoni in a vodka cream sauce: Again, the other ingredients hide the artichokes's weak taste some, but not enough. Still the negative artichoke flavor underneath.
With Smart Ones 3 cheese ziti with meatballs: Same as above. This was probably the best "coverer" of the bunch, but the artichoke taste was still lurking underneath. Still not good. I've given artichokes quite a few chances, and I've concluded I just don't like them. I think I'm done trying.
Wakefern pigeon peas, grown in Peru: These were brown, with the typical small bean shape. I also tried these in various ways.
Plain: Bland. Regular bean taste, I guess. Chewier than regular baked beans. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Not a strong taste either way.
With Smart Ones Santa Fe rice and beans: I couldn't really taste these mixed in with the rice and other beans. So it definitely improved the experience. Apparently if combined with other beans, spices, a good sauce, etc., these are a decent base.
With Smart Ones mini rigatoni in a vodka cream sauce: The peas kind of disappear. I could just detect the beans by texture, as the pasta and cheese overpowered them. So a better way to eat them, I suppose.
With Smart Ones 3 cheese ziti with meatballs: This was probably the best combo. Still mostly hidden, but more pleasant addition to the pasta. Overall then, pigeon peas are okay as long as they're mixed up in the right meals.
Naturipe blueberries: These were probably the biggest blueberries I've ever seen--the diameter of each one was about inch (about 2.5 cm.)! I just had these plain. Also had big flavor, being very juicy and tasty. These were the best blueberries I can remember ever eating. Therefore, when in comes to blueberries, it seems like my opinion is that the bigger the better. Really excellent.
A final note about color and blueberries. According to the Naturipe website, a silvery sheen on them is good, as this is naturally released by them to protect versus the sun. Conversely, if your blueberries are reddish, that's bad. That means they're unripe and shouldn't be eaten. And unlike some other fruits, blueberries can't ripen after they've been picked, so you can't just hold on to them and wait for them to ripen. Finally, if your blueberries are any other color, you've probably either mistaken another berry for a blueberry, or else something very wrong is happening..
Finally, finally, I sure wish Reese still marketed extremely unusual products such as the ants, bees, hornets, mini watermelons, etc. Alas, now they just seem to sell normal, less interesting foods. Oh well.
No comments:
Post a Comment