Selecting Produce: Tips for Buying Fruits & Veggies

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The discussion focuses on selecting high-quality fruits and vegetables, emphasizing specific criteria for various produce items. Key points include the importance of firmness and specific tactile qualities, such as potatoes being free of green spots, avocados being slightly squishy, and carrots needing to be very firm. The thread highlights the significance of smell as a ripeness indicator for cantaloupes and the necessity for garlic bulbs and onions to be firm. Participants share tips on how to assess freshness, such as the snap test for asparagus, carrots, and green beans, and the squeak test for pea pods and lettuce. There is also a debate about the appropriate way to inspect corn, with some advocating for feeling through the husk rather than peeling it back, which can damage the produce. The conversation touches on the cultural differences in produce handling, with some recalling experiences at specialized grocery stores where knowledgeable staff assist customers. Overall, the thread serves as a guide for consumers to make informed choices when purchasing fresh produce.
  • #51
Evo said:
According to this, they don't ripen.

http://www.hawaii.edu/ur/University_Report/URJuly/pineapple3.html

I disagree, I often let the pineapples ripen a bit after I buy them because I like them sweet. It seems that it's not supposed to be noticeable. I guess the "official" definition of ripening is if the fruit's sugar content increases, which they say the pineapple doesn't. I know that the flavor changes noticebly for me, so maybe I get freak pineapples? Or maybe, more likely, I'm a freak

In mexico, they love the fungus that grows on corn, it's called huitlacoche, also known in English as "corn sdmut"

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/mushrooms/Corn_smut_P7200179.JPG

Evo, that corn pic is so disgusting! Looks like really bad warts...ugh.
 
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  • #52
Evo said:
According to this, they don't ripen.

http://www.hawaii.edu/ur/University_Report/URJuly/pineapple3.html
Awesome! Thanks!

Evo said:
I disagree, I often let the pineapples ripen a bit after I buy them because I like them sweet. It seems that it's not supposed to be noticeable. I guess the "official" definition of ripening is if the fruit's sugar content increases, which they say the pineapple doesn't. I know that the flavor changes noticebly for me, so maybe I get freak pineapples? Or maybe, more likely, I'm a freak

If I had to guess, I'd say the pineapple begins to break down, making its sugars more accessible.
 
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  • #53
I seem to recall that you can even buy cans of corn smut in Mexico. There must be some dish that it goes in. Can't imagine it would be good on it's own.
 
  • #54
Math Is Hard said:
I seem to recall that you can even buy cans of corn smut in Mexico. There must be some dish that it goes in. Can't imagine it would be good on it's own.

I intrepidly Googled "Mexican corn smut," and carefully looked at what came up through half-squinted eyes.

Apparently, to make it sound more appetizing than "smut", they renamed it "http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/huitlacoche.htm" "...ahahahah...

Edit: from the link,

The Aztec named this dark growth found on corn huitlacoche which translates (rather bluntly and literally) to "ravens excrement".
 
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  • #55
lisab said:
I intrepidly Googled "Mexican corn smut," and carefully looked at what came up through half-squinted eyes.
:smile::smile:
 
  • #56
lisab said:
I intrepidly Googled "Mexican corn smut," and carefully looked at what came up through half-squinted eyes.

:smile: That is a risky one.

Nice to know that you can get your smut right over the internet nowadays. We used to have to drive all the way to Mexico to get it.
 
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  • #57
Math Is Hard said:
:smile: That is a risky one.
probably not as risky as "Mexican porn smut" :devil:
 
  • #58
Math Is Hard said:
Nice to know that you can get your smut right over the internet nowadays. We used to have to drive all the way to Mexico to get it.

Ah yes...the smell of Tijuana back-alley in the morning...good times.
 
  • #59
Evo said:
According to this, they don't ripen.

http://www.hawaii.edu/ur/University_Report/URJuly/pineapple3.html

Ripening a Pineapple at Home

Do you sometimes buy an under-ripe pineapple anticipating that it will ripen at home? Don't bet on it.

Duane Bartholomew, dean of the University of Hawaii agronomy and soil science department, says a pineapple is ready to eat when harvested. The flavor of one that is harvested too early will change only slightly if left to ripen at home.

Some fruits such as bananas, peaches and pears do ripen when kept at room temperature for a few days because they contain starch that is converted to sugar during the ripening process. But not pineapple.

As the pineapple sits on your kitchen counter, its shell will gradually turn yellow beginning at the base of the fruit. If left standing for a few days, the fruit will become completely yellow. But there will be no increase in sugars as would occur if the fruit had been allowed to ripen in the field.

This is the University Report, I'm Tracy Orillo Donovan.

his tongue is broken. and i got to wonder too if the ones picked for consumption locally are picked later than those shipped to the mainland.
 
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  • #60
DaveC426913 said:
If I had to guess, I'd say the pineapple begins to break down, making its sugars more accessible.
That would be my guess, too, if they don't "ripen" in the actual sense of the word.

I've purchased two pineapples at the same time that were mostly dark greenish on the outside and cut one up right away. The fruit had a hard texture and really tart flavour. The other I let sit on the counter until the skin was more yellow and, when cut, the fruit was more tender and sweeter tasting. Now, maybe the second pineapple was just like that the whole time, but, my experience with yellowish skinned pineapples has yielded consistent results. I don't cut up the really green ones because I didn't enjoy the one that I did. Given the small sample size, it could have been simply a hard, tart pineapple that wouldn't have changed over time. I don't know.
 
  • #61
you can't trust that guy, he works for Big Pineapple.
 
  • #62
GeorginaS said:
That would be my guess, too, if they don't "ripen" in the actual sense of the word.

I've purchased two pineapples at the same time that were mostly dark greenish on the outside and cut one up right away. The fruit had a hard texture and really tart flavour. The other I let sit on the counter until the skin was more yellow and, when cut, the fruit was more tender and sweeter tasting. Now, maybe the second pineapple was just like that the whole time, but, my experience with yellowish skinned pineapples has yielded consistent results. I don't cut up the really green ones because I didn't enjoy the one that I did. Given the small sample size, it could have been simply a hard, tart pineapple that wouldn't have changed over time. I don't know.
I think they're wrong. I *know* that pineapples become softer and sweeter with time. It happens with every pineapple, I've been doing this before some members were born, that's too many to be a fluke. That's *ripening* in my book. I don't care if chemically the amount of sugar hasn't changed, the flavor and texture changes noticeably. But don't let it sit too long, it starts to turn into alcohol. I guess they would disagree there too.
 

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