The Apple Pear also known as the Shinseiki Asian Pear, Nashi, and the Chinese / Japanese / Korean Pear. Native to Japan, the Asian pear made its way west when Chinese and Japanese Immigrants were making their way to the US around the 1800s. Cultivated for more than 3,000 years, the Asian Pear is not a cross breed of an apple and a pear despite its name and physical look. The Asian Pear is a cross bread of the Chinese Sand Pear and Pyrus Pyrifolia. In some regions Asian Pears are available during the Summer, but the fruits peak season is early Fall through Winter. Unlike a lot of fruits and vegetables were familiar with today, Asian Pears ripen while still on the tree and are ready to eat upon harvest. Most popular for its storage life, Asian Pears last an incredibly long time. At room temperature, they last 10 – 14 days, in a refrigerator three to four weeks, and in a commercial refrigerator three to four months! For this reason, Apple Pears would be the most logical fruit to buy if looking to purchase pears. Although expensive because of the cultivation requirements, Asian Pears are also very rich in vitamins and nutrients. 

Well, the greenmarket we went to was located in 103^rd St Roosevelt Avenue on a Friday, around 12:00pm. “We?”, Yes “we”, I asked my friend if he can come with me to see what this is and let me tell you, it wasn’t what I had in mind. I expect a greenhouse for some reason, but it ended up being those little houses and vegetables underneath them. You would see lots of greens and other colors too, even vegetables with different colors rather than their usual original colors. For example, purple carrots and purple potatoes, I don’t know about you but that to me was new to see. Based on sophisticatedgourmet.com, the carrots, apples, beets, onions, peppers, and so much more, was in season, which explains why I saw most of what’s on the list, at the greenmarket. I forgot to mention, there was about maybe 2 stands just for apples. Apples that were green, red, and mixed between yellow-ish orange. There was even some drink called Apple Cider, which we bought a pint of. The taste was pretty much Apple Juice, but it was more organic, if that makes sense. I was familiar with mostly everything there but just the newly colored vegetables that I mentioned before. The prices seemed reasonable, with it being fresh and all. As in, it wasn’t packaged in a plastic bag but brought in by a box, “what’s the difference?” I’m not sure but when I worked in a market, distributing produce, the ones from the box seemed better and real, rather than going to get something fast and simple in a supermarket. The whole thing was great and something I would look forward to go to when buying produce for some recipe. One thing I loved was the Apple Cider, even though I never tried it, it was good and really fresh, like if you can taste the skin of the apple.
    Also, I’ll be using Peppers as a vegetable I will be focusing on, it’s just something about the different colors and how it’s used it almost most Spanish dishes for flavor. By the way, I mean all peppers, meaning from Bell Peppers to Chili Peppers. There’s not much in the brochure but when searching online “where do peppers come from?”, the results that come up is Tropical America. The fact that you may see it diced or strips, sometimes used in a dip, or even charred if you want to, I think peppers deserve a little bit of recognition in this culinary game.

Greenmarkets exist for simple reasons which include, creating an establishment where New Yorkers could support local businesses conserving farmland while ensuring fresh produce. Most super markets have an extremely low quality of produce, due to the extreme mass quantities being produced at a time. Some things that are in season currently include many variations of squash, like winter squash and sugar pumpkin. Pears varieties like green Asian , golden Asian and bartlett pears were present as well. I noticed that there was an abundance of apples and apple based products. For example, apple cider donuts, hot apple cider, apple tarts and types of apples like Macoun (a new harvest) and gold rush. Though I’m familiar with these items, I was not aware of the different colors cauliflower came in like purple and orange. How festive for the holidays! Seasonal goods like the cauliflower were higher in price coming at $6 per head. In addition to this I noticed that the ready to eat baked goods and ciders were ranging from $3.50 up to $8 depending on how large the item was. The prices are reasonable considering the ongoing inflation issues going on. Apples prices ranged from $3.30 per pound. In my local supermarket apples go for around $1.99 per pound, which is significantly cheaper, but in comparison the quality ranges are very different then a greenmarket. Overall, if I had the time to visit the greenmarkets near my home I would definitely take advantage of better quality produce. 

by Anthony Caliendo

The Greenmarkets are in all 5 boroughs, Staten Island having 2, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens having multiple and the Bronx about 9. The reason for green markets existing is because these markets are selling fresh produce like fruits, vegetables, affordable food, people wanting to try new things or samples, and ingredients. The food that is usually being sold right now at the greenmarket that I had visited which was the Union Sqaure Greenmarket was, lots of Vegetables and Fruits like Squash, Apples, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Celery, Kale etc. The prices on the other hand seemed to be pretty high as it was mainly “per item”, and not by “Pound” or “Oz” like it is usually would be at a smaller market or supermarket, one of the few items i noticed was sweet Potatoe and other types of potatoes being sold for $4 per one and some fruits like pears or apples being sold for around $3.25-$4. So, the produce here at the greenmarket is a little more money and expensive, but I also feel it could vary by location. 

The ingredient/item I decided to choose was Bell Peppers. Bell Peppers are typically classified as a fruit, and they can be used for many things like Sauteed Peppers, Stuffed Bell Peppers, Stir Fry, Grilling and more. The flavor is usually a lot better when it is grilled or cooked in a pan/mixed in with other foods but eating them cold has a bitter taste to it. This fruit originated in Central and South America and has been transported worldwide since the late 1400s. A few special things bell peppers provide are also reliable sources of vitamin A and fiber, as well as also having antioxidant properties which help against fighting diseases like cardiovascular disease.