Gettin’ Figgy With It | July 8, 2019

Fresh & Local:

Gettin’ Figgy With It

Figs are here y’all, but be warned the season is just as short as it is sweet. If you’re a fig lover like us, get ‘em while you can. Fresh figs should be plump and soft, without bruising or splits and are most flavorful when served at room temperature. They’re highly perishable, so store them in your fridge and wash them just before eating, just like you would a strawberry. Sweet figs pair well with rich dairy so dishes with yogurt, cheese or custard are a sure bet. They’re great in baked goods and other sweets, but also stand up to a more savory treatment, as in a salad or pizza with a salty cured meat and a bracing sour or vinegar component. If you’re looking to save the season, they make excellent preserves and are great dried.

Thanks to the geographic diversity of our vendors (different vendors are in season at slightly different times), you can expect to find figs for sale at market for three to four weeks. Find fresh figs and fig preserves from Figue Envie at Uptown, CBD, and Rivertown markets, fresh figs from 2AcreFarms (Ochsner), Monica’s Okra World (Uptown, Ochsner, Bywater, Mid-City, Bucktown, CBD, and Rivertown), Mendez Farms (Uptown and CBD), White Oak Farms (CBD, Tuesday) and J&D Blueberry Farm (Tuesday, Thursday and CBD).This versatile fruit is a special treat, so don’t miss out.

Picks of the Week:

Stop and Smell the Flowers

“I grew up with fig trees and both of my grandmothers would have four or five fig trees in their yards every summer. They would gather us grandkids and tell us to come over and pick all their figs, so we would climb up into the trees and pick the figs, and then they would make gallons of figs preserves. That’s just what I did every summer with my cousins. When I was older, I wanted to get back to my roots a little bit while maintaining my teaching career. My husband also came from an agricultural background, so we sat down and decided we would try and do something with figs. There wasn’t really anyone who was doing that. We felt that there was a demand, and we really enjoyed it. Our children were getting older, and we were excited about giving them an agricultural experience. It can be daunting; it’s very hard work. But it can also be very rewarding, just looking out and seeing the beauty of it all: the beauty of the fields, the beauty of the orchards, and seeing all your hard work pay off. And, of course, the joy in people’s faces when we bring it to market!”

San Fermin in Nueva Orleans

July 13th marks the 13th annual Running of the Bulls! San Fermin in Nueva Orleans is our homage to the world famous Encierro of Pamplona, Spain, a.k.a. The Running of the Bulls. Instead of bovines, our bulls are actually RollerBulls played by skaters selected from roller derby leagues around the world including New Orleans’ all-female flat-track derby team the Big Easy Rollergirls!

To make your morning trek to the Saturday CBD market before the bulls hit the street, we recommend heading to market from the Dome or Carondelet via the interstate.

An Un-fig-gettable Haiku

Fresh, juicy, and sweet
A delicious summer treat
Have a fig to eat!

- Sophie Bokelman, Serve LA Corp. Member

Vendor of the Week:

Figue Envie

Mandy and Byron met while serving in Mali as agricultural volunteers in the Peace Corp. Now the husband and wife are teachers in New Orleans, but they spend their summer vacations connecting with their farming roots. After tending to fig trees on family land since 2006, they recently purchased a new plot which has allowed them to quadruple their production capability. Be sure to try their fresh figs and delicious preserves before the short and sweet fig season comes to close!

Tuesday’s Green Plate Special:

Kinoko

We liked her light, vegan sushi so much, she’s back for an encore. For the last time this week, Chef Kelseay Dukae and her sushi pop-up Kinoko will be joining us on Tuesday as our Green Plate Special. Offering a creative and healthy take on sushi, using ingredients such as jackfruit for “sneauxcrab” for her spin on the traditional crunchy roll, Chef Dukae was recently a contestant on the Fox Network show Masterchef, owned a health food concept and ran a sushi bar here in the city. We look forward to two more weeks and another chance to enjoy the Creole Roll. Just what you need on a hot summer day.

Casa Borrega will join the market starting next week for the rest of July.

Recipe of the Week:

Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey

Check out this figgin’ awesome recipe by Love and Olive Oil. We promise it is super easy and the best combination of flavors you can imagine - we love the “surprising peppered honey”. Plus all ingredients can be found at the farmers market! Pick up some goat cheese from G&M Goat Farm or Brown Hat Dairy and some spring harvest honey from Powers BeeKeepers! Don’t forget to lick the spoon!

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!