When planning the Christmas menu for celebrations with friends and families, most people often think of meat, fish or shellfish, perhaps also a delicious dessert, but fruits and vegetables are not as present as they should. That, however, is changing, because in addition to the already traditional grapes, melon, pineapple or strawberries, fruits such as mango or lychees, staples of healthy eating, are gaining popularity.
In Mercavalencia, the major distributor in Valencia and its metropolitan area, they know quite a bit about it. Ivan Carlos Grande, president of the Federation of Wholesale Markets of the company, explained that traditional products always remain popular in the Christmas menu. Pineapples, he says, are the most consumed, although distribution and prices vary. "Now traders looks for pineapples imported by plane; pineapples which are harvested, packaged and distributed to the world within a day, when in the past it took fifteen days by boat," explains Grande. Of course, the product's freshness is reflected on the price. The transport alone costs between 1.2 and 2 Euro per kilo.
Also melons and grapes are always present at the Christmas table, especially the latter, although "habits are changing and increasingly more people are eating clementine segments instead of the traditional 12 lucky grapes."
News
In this context, exotic fruits brought from all over the world are gaining ground. Mangoes are the product achieving the most prominent role in this sense, since they are also grown in Spain. There is also a growing presence of lychees, mangosteens, rambutan, oxheart tomatoes or pitahaya, which give an exotic touch to the table. "Rather than as a base product, they are used to give a touch of colour, the exotic touch to the menu," assures this specialist at Mercavalencia.
As for vegetables, besides consumption being low, they are closely linked to the Christmas pot. In this sense, habits have not changed much, with leek, celery, chard and carrots as the most popular products.
In short, Christmas is a good time to eat fruit, both seasonal products in Spain and imported from other continents, mainly from South America and Asia.
Melon, grapes and pineapples can be accompanied by many other varieties that will bring colour and innovation to the kitchen during this very important holiday season.
Source: levante-emv.com
