City Produce

SLICED FRESH FIG

Almost everyone has enjoyed a Fig Newton. Perhaps, fewer folks have had dried figs, and fewer still fresh, ripe, juicy, sweet figs like those (pictured here) which were for sale last week at my favorite local produce stand here in St. Pete, City Produce Fruit Market (2701 4th St. N., St Petersburg, FL 33704; 727-822-4876; map).

FRESH FIGS

It had been since I was a child that I’d had fresh figs. In that case it was off fig trees in the backyard of my aunt Zo and uncle Doc’s yard in southern Mississippi. These days, the south still produces a lot of figs (see this article on Mississippi figs, Fruitful harvest: sumptuous homegrown figs are favorite mid-summer treats, from Mississippi Magazine, July-August, 2006 by Mary Leigh Furrh). But, the primary producer of figs in the US is California. For more on the specifics of fig production and history, visit these websites:

• a good history of the fig from the K & W Farms, a fig producer in Coachella Valley, California;
• more on history and production from the California Rare Fruit Growers website; and,
• the Wikipedia page on the common fig which has some good production statistics.

FRESH PRODUCE AND GREEK FETA CHEESE

You’ll notice in all those websites, that the fig was a staple of the ancient world from “southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region (from Afghanistan to Greece).”[ref] In the Inkwatu article on the Bosnian Food Store and Bakery, I reported on an excellent fig marmalade from Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia is a modern day country “bordered by Serbia and Kosovo to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west.”[ref]

Greece…therein lies the heart of this story about the City Produce Fruit Market, which is a superb, small, independent produce market in operation for many, many years, owned and operated by a local family of Greek ancestry.

SPINACH & CHEESE PIE W/PHYLLO DOUGH CRUST (Spanakopita)

As you might expect in any Greek market, they have fresh figs! And, more than one variety of feta cheese, in bulk. They also have assorted Greek pastries and treats, including one that I simply must purchase every time I visit: spanakopita, or cheese and spinach pie in a fluffy phyllo dough crust. To try your hand at making spanakopita yourself, follow this allrecipes.com recipe. It looks quite doable.

If you’d like to find more opportunities for trying Greek food in the Tampa Bay area, there’s no shortage of good locations, especially since Tarpon Springs, a town here in Pinellas County, has, “the highest percentage of Greek-Americans of any city in the U.S.”[ref].

All of the food pictured in the photos in this article are from City Produce and, taken together, cost less than $36 and that’s including the ½ pound of real Greek feta cheese. I recommend City Produce Fruit Market very highly for their Greek items and their fruit and produce, much of which is locally grown.

CITY PRODUCE

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Tagged as: Florida, FOOD, Greek food, markets, St. Petersburg, Vegetarian