Everything Crops Up in Hollywood

The Hollywood Farmers Market is one of the largest and best in California. Sunday, Phil McGrath’s stand, from Camarillo, had shelled English peas as tender and sweet as vegetable candy. Topknot Farms of Arroyo Grande displayed bright green snow and sugar snap peas and handsome stalks of Brussels sprouts. Tutti Frutti Organic Farm of Lompoc sold some of the season’s first favas and very flavorful cherry tomatoes. The Zamora stand, from Vista, had peeled and sliced nopales (cactus paddles), which are delicious in salads, salsas and omelets.

From Fresno, Mai Yang sold ferocious Thai red chiles, grown under plastic covers against the chilly weather. Lao Xiong had sugar cane in 2-foot pieces--you peel, slice and chew it, he explained, or (if you happen to have a sugar cane juicer) crush it to make a drink much appreciated everywhere sugar cane is grown.

Anna and Gerard Villalobos of Pauma Valley sold organic rhubarb, sweet navel oranges and ruby-fleshed Moro blood oranges. Tony Thacher of Friend’s Ranches, from Ojai, offered Tarocco bloods, which had lighter pulp but even better flavor for eating fresh. Santa Barbara’s Rancho Vista del Mundo sold fragrant light-green Mexican guavas and custardy cherimoyas. Cheng Lin of Fallbrook had very ripe Fuyu persimmons, less firm than fruit harvested earlier but very tasty.

Clearwater Farm sold Oregon black truffles from Mt. Shasta at $15 an ounce and little Hedgehog wild mushrooms from near Humboldt. From Chino, Nina Thomson brought fresh goat cheese rounds rolled in pepper and in herbs; crottins, which have rinds and are creamy inside; and little boutons de culotte marinated in olive oil and garlic. Kim and Clarence Blain of Circle C Ranch in Lake Hughes had quinces, dried cherries, chestnuts and, most delightfully, peacock feathers: regular colorful tails, brown and beige ones from the chicks, and even a few albino specimens.

Hollywood Farmers Market, Ivar Avenue between Sunset and Hollywood boulevards, Sundays, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.