To Market, To Market

Follow your fish fry with peach cobbler

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 4, 2000

[Times files] Craving a Georgia peach? Expect an abundant crop in the market this season.

Fish is news again this month, as is bountiful produce from neighboring Georgia. For shoppers looking for bargains, the two could be recurring ingredients on spring supper menus.

Fans of two of Florida's favorite sea delicacies, red snapper and stone crab, will be shedding tears because the seasons are closing soon (red snapper season is over early next week and stone crab ends shortly after on May 15). Of some consolation, however, is the good news that other varieties of seafood are expected to be quite inexpensive this month.

With Lent over, more fish will be available from Central and South American markets, said Gib Migliano of Save on Seafood in St. Petersburg.

"You will see the price of fish going to the basement," he said. "There will be a rapid drop in all seafood prices except for shrimp. . . . Grouper, swordfish, tuna, fish in general is going to be greatly reduced."

Expect to pay about $3.99 a pound for whole red snapper and $7.99 a pound for fillets, Migliano said.

In their season's waning days, stone crab claws will cost around $8.99 a pound for medium claws, while large and jumbo claws will sell for about $16.99 a pound, he said, remaining stable for the season but higher than last year. Grouper fillets will be around $7.99 a pound. Swordfish will cost about $6.99 a pound for steaks. Tuna steaks will be about a dollar more at $7.99 a pound.

Vidalia onions from Georgia are among the good produce deals in May.

"That's absolutely an excellent crop," Commissioner Thomas T. Irvin of the Georgia Department of Agriculture recently said of his state's famous sweet, yellow onions. Even though production of Vidalia onions is down from last year, when there was an oversupply, shoppers should not worry about having to pay higher prices as was reported earlier, according to Jack Holt of the agriculture department,.

"We don't see any change in prices this year as compared to last year," he said.

Irvin reassures: "There's a large percentage of jumbos. That's the kind our consumers seem to prefer."

Looking ahead, the commissioner also is promising good quality and an abundant supply of Georgia peaches this season.

"The prospects are excellent. A lot of things can happen . . . but it's going to be a good crop and there should be an ample supply. . . . A good, hefty amount is getting ready to hit the market in the next two weeks. We will be harvesting peaches all the way up to August."

In general, Irvin added, the good news should extend to most of Georgia's produce.

"I had a meeting with the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. . . . They are very optimistic about this year, from cantaloupes to watermelons to vidalia onions, cukes, peppers, okras," he said, adding that his state systematically is changing over more of its tobacco fields to vegetable production.

In Florida, the season is winding down, giving way to crops from Georgia and states north, but the remaining state produce will be good in quality and price. Bob Blankenship of the Florida Department of Agriculture said supplies of the state's produce will be "very adequate" this month.

There could be fewer watermelons in coming weeks, though, while the supply of cantaloupes will be up. Additionally, said Blankenship, sweet corn should be plentiful and extremely inexpensive.

"Right now, it's a bargain. We've got a major over-supply now," he said, adding that farmers are getting just 9 cents an ear.

"If it gets any lower than that, they wouldn't even pick it."

Produce and more produce

May brings some of the following fruits and vegetables to market from Florida and elsewhere around the country: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beans, cabbage, cantaloupes, cauliflower, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lemons, lettuce, mangoes, Vidalia onions, peaches, peas, bell peppers, pineapples, rhubarb, strawberries and tomatoes.

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