Handy tips for choosing fruit and veggies

[Robin Garr]

I ran across this article this morning, offering handy tips on selecting the best fruits and veggies. Useful info for farmers' market season. For fruit in particular, I find a discreet sniff is the best test ... I'll always pick a pear, peach or grapefruit with a distinct fruit aroma over one that's odorless. What are your secrets?

http://ow.ly/5sQqE

I use my nose, whenever possible: if it smells like nothing then it probably tastes like nothing, too. Of course, I also visually inspect the fruit and reject any with obvious mold or rot. I'll tolerate a small bruise if I plan to use the fruit immediately. I like dark, even color (for dark fruits) but that's a metric of last resort.

My Dad taught me to check melons by pressing gently on the stem end. That is the last part to ripen so if it gives a bit then all is well with the rest of it. (He claims to have learned that from his grandfather, who ran a fruit stand.)

I chat with one of the guys at my local produce store. His rule, when in doubt, is to go by weight... a juicy fruit will be heavier than a less-juicy one. This rule works on things like pomegranates, which fails other rules.

Many of these rules apply to vegetables except that, mostly, I want vegetables to be firm rather than pliant.

A hard one is how to pick chestnuts that don't have rot inside. The only workable rule I have found so far is: buy as soon as they enter the marketplace.

[Jenise]

I chat with one of the guys at my local produce store. His rule, when in doubt, is to go by weight... a juicy fruit will be heavier than a less-juicy one.

Also, winter squashes. Some stores can have, say, spaghetti squashes that have been around forever among some just recently received which, because the old ones don't show rot per se, never get weeded out. Don't buy lightweight squashes.

Onions are another produce item that reward the sniff test. The freshest and sweetest onions give off no odor, but within any pile of onions there will be those that give off hot or rancid odors. I sniff every onion I buy--and get more questions from other shoppers about it.

Onions are another produce item that reward the sniff test. The freshest and sweetest onions give off no odor, but within any pile of onions there will be those that give off hot or rancid odors. I sniff every onion I buy--and get more questions from other shoppers about it.

I can certainly vouch for your method Jenise. I keep my onions in my pantry, in a dark and cool area near the tile floor. When an onion starts to turn, you can smell it immediately. I remove the bowl, find the offending onion and toss. I can smell the onions in the grocery store, as well and will tell the produce guy about it.

Definitely smell, weight, look.
BTW I read somewhere recently that one should not store potatoes and onions together, but they gave no explanation.
Has anyone else heard of this and perhaps know the reason (if indeed there is a reason!?