Cultivated wild vegetables sell well as market demand is strong
A spring rain brings a spell of warmth, and the wild vegetables in flower beds and fields grow even more vigorously. During the Qingming holiday, the pattering spring rain disrupted many people's plans to go out and dig wild vegetables. However, yesterday a reporter saw neatly arranged Chinese toon, kalimeris, shepherd's purse and other "wild vegetables" in several supermarkets and farmers' markets in our city.
In the fresh produce section of a large supermarket in the city, traditional wild vegetables such as shepherd's purse and kalimeris appear one by one in the supermarket after being cultivated. Resident Chen Lian, who was shopping for groceries in the supermarket, was selecting kalimeris: "In the past, to eat kalimeris, you either had to dig it yourself or go to the farmers' market and try your luck. Now the supermarket also sells kalimeris, which feels much more convenient."
However, Aunt Zhou, who has tasted cultivated kalimeris, feels that these uniform kalimeris have lost their authentic "wild" character. She explained that the two kinds of kalimeris differ in appearance: wild kalimeris is shorter and sturdier, with a redder color, while cultivated kalimeris grows tall and slender, and its distinctive aroma is not as full. In the past, when kalimeris was scarce, just a small handful used to garnish a cold dish or a cooked dish would give the whole dish a rich aroma; now, even when a whole plate is kalimeris, her family still asks what new variety of vegetable this is.
Chinese toon, with its distinctive fragrance, has also entered supermarkets in large quantities this year. Bundles of red-purple Chinese toon are neatly stacked together, standing out sharply among the many green leafy vegetables, and the price is anything but modest: yesterday the price of Chinese toon was 34.99 yuan/500 g.
"This year Chinese toon came onto the market a few days earlier than last year. Compared with previous years when it broke through the 50-yuan mark, this year's price is not considered high," introduced Zhou Sumeng, the person in charge of the supermarket. "The wild vegetable series has been selling well since it entered the supermarket. Because it is a variety only available in spring, although the price is a bit more expensive than ordinary vegetables, there are still many customers who come specifically to buy it."
The taste of Chinese toon also stirred Aunt Zhou's memories: "A dish of Chinese toon scrambled with eggs is a shared memory of me and my sisters from childhood. Now that life is better, I want my daughter and grandchild to taste the flavor of our childhood too." However, compared with the Chinese toon picked and eaten fresh in childhood, the Chinese toon sold on the market now seems to have lost a bit of its fun. (Yu Jiarong)