Product Feature: Diced Kumara
Do you ever get to the end of preparing vegetables and look at the sheer amount of skins and waste you end up with?
A couple of reasons for you to consider choosing frozen prepared vegetables:
- A big time-saver. This is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, what with the current labour shortages in the hospitality industry. And that doesn’t go for just the hospitality industry, businesses in a lot of industries are struggling to find staff, and resorting to other means and efficiencies to try and keep up. At Fieldco, our Diced kumara goes through a quick blanching process. This is to lock in the flavour and colour before being frozen, but in doing so also cuts down your cooking time as well. Small kumara dice that you can quickly bulk up any winter soups or casseroles with an added nutrient boost.
- It’s doing your part to reduce food waste. No extra scraps to deal with, we’re able to get rid of them effectively and responsibly through our process division. The fresh produce that is used to make our frozen product range is a non-conforming grade, or non-supermarket grade so it is usually produce that would otherwise be just a contribution to the millions of tons of food that is wasted each year. What does a ‘non-conforming’ product look like? Usually it is a lumpy or out of shape vegetable, sometimes small blemishes on the skin, but inside, it is a perfect vegetable. We portion and prepare the vegetables, ready for you to use.
One thing to look out for when you’re buying is Country of Origin. You want to look out for New Zealand Grown as any other foreign country products really are not kumara, it’s sweet potato! For our Red Kumara Dice, we mostly use the Owairaka kumara variety. Small backstory on this variety…as legend has it, it was brought out by the Maori when they came hundreds of years ago. This variety has evolved a bit over time – theirs were a smaller and lumpier shape but were a staple in their diets because kumara was a vegetable that stored really well.
What’s the difference between Red and Orange Kumara Dice?
Beauregard, our Orange kumara, is softer in texture compared to the Original Red Kumara and has a faster cooking time. Its soft texture means it is best suited to use for a mash or as a potato or pumpkin substitute in any dish. It is also the sweetest tasting of all the kumara varieties. Try a recipe such as this delicious Chicken Pie
The Red Kumara variety is a great healthy substitute for the average potato. Today, the traditional Red is still the main commercial crop grown in the Kaipara because of its popularity. It has a deep red skin with a creamy white flesh and veined centre. Owairaka Red are a firm textured variety, making them an ideal salad or roasting kumara but also go great in winter soups or casseroles.
