Leeks with solid middles ... and another mistake!
 

Many leeks have solid middles.
Is this a problem?
They seem to cook OK.

The mistake was to get leek modules from a company which supplies
farmers.
They were ready to eat in July - and that is when I am normally planting
out the ones I have grown from seed.
The main value of leeks as food is to get something which can be
harvested fresh from October to April.
These are distressingly early!
--
Chris

Leeks with solid middles ... and another mistake!
 

On 08/12/2013 14:42, Chris wrote:
Many leeks have solid middles.
Is this a problem?
They seem to cook OK.

The mistake was to get leek modules from a company which supplies farmers.
They were ready to eat in July - and that is when I am normally planting
out the ones I have grown from seed.
The main value of leeks as food is to get something which can be
harvested fresh from October to April.
These are distressingly early!

Sounds like the flower stalk growing up through the leek. In my
experience this means they have been stressed by being too dry or too
wet or simply left too long. The flower stalk can have a bitter taste
and eventually it will become very big in relation to the rest of the
leek. I find it best to cut out the stalk and discard it... but like I
say, at the stage the leeks are past their best.

--
David in Normandy.

Leeks with solid middles ... and another mistake!
 

"David in Normandy" wrote

Chris wrote:
Many leeks have solid middles.
Is this a problem?
They seem to cook OK.

The mistake was to get leek modules from a company which supplies
farmers.
They were ready to eat in July - and that is when I am normally planting
out the ones I have grown from seed.
The main value of leeks as food is to get something which can be
harvested fresh from October to April.
These are distressingly early!

Sounds like the flower stalk growing up through the leek. In my experience
this means they have been stressed by being too dry or too wet or simply
left too long. The flower stalk can have a bitter taste and eventually it
will become very big in relation to the rest of the leek. I find it best to
cut out the stalk and discard it... but like I say, at the stage the leeks
are past their best.


The flowers look good in a vase, a drop of bleach in the water will kill the
smell.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK