I was in and out of supermarkets and fruit and vegetable stores all of last week and this week as well. One thing I noticed right away was that none of the markets had any fresh horseradish roots on display. This is kind of strange as they are always out by two weeks before Pesach. I asked the produce managers when they would be getting the roots, and the answer was "IF we get them it won't be until a few days before the holiday." IF? Apparently the unprecedented warm winter temperatures we had this year have affected the horseradish crop. Producers are first selling any product to the manufacturers of jarred horseradish. After that, the consumer will--hopefully--get some.
And then there is is--without long spells of cold, the bite of the horseradish root is reduced. I've got male members of my family who look forward to the tear-producing aroma of freshly grated horseradish root. It just might not be there this year.
My suggestion? If you find that horseradish root now, grab it--you might not get a chance again.
5 comments:
No problem getting it in NJ.
And I'm not sure about the weather thing - sounds like an excuse. My mother's father used to grow it in the garden in England, and the climate there is not the same cold climate we have here.
Found it in Queens yesterday but all they had was lots thinner then other years and kind of limpy.
Root vegetables grow in the cold, typically fall weather, climate. Attempts to grow root veges in Florida depend on a cold enough winter to simulate a northern (or English) fall.
Our uncharacteristically warm winter resulted in a bumper crop of tomatoes and strawberries (my produce store is selling Strawberries for $0.75/cup), but the cool season veges didn't make it here... not a lot of locally grown cabbage or leaf vegetables, had to truck them in from the rest of the country.
Farmers generally contract to sell much of their produce with bulk buyers, the local markets carry the oversupply (since they NEED to fulfill their allotment, they over plant), generally making higher margins on those than the bulk sales.
I will be sad if I'm at the mercy of the jarred crap this year, but not shocked.
OTOH, hey, cheap Strawberries all winter/spring!
Most of the fruit stores in frum Brooklyn had the roots and pretty good ones too. I guess the high volume of buying there means that producers delivered more product there.
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