SC - selecting fruits and vegetables

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

hey all from Anne-Marie
on selection of produce

here's a few tips my mommy and the nice man at the local independant
grocery store told me....

1. regular button mushrooms should be white. dirt is ok. no squishyparts,
and the cap underneath should be sealed. Dont buy a lot of stem.
2. cantelopes should have a faint orange tint behind the "net". the place
where the vine was should be slightly soft, and if you sniff there, you'll
smell a nice melon smell.
3. asparagus should be local! and if you bend it, it should snap close to
the root end, not up at the top, and not just bend
4. carrots when you go wiggle wiggle shouldnt flop around
5. differnt varieties of pears are at different hardnesses when ripe, so
sniff 'em and if they smell like a nice ripe pear, you're good to go.
Otherwise, buy one and eat it. if its good, buy more...
6. bananas should be unblemished and uniformly yellow. If you buy them
green, let them sit in a paper bag or on the counter in a bowl with other
fruit to ripen
7, avacados can be ripened in a bag too, and should be bought as squishy as
possible, as long as they're uniformly squishy (ie ripe, not just mooshed)
8. As a general rule, bigger isnt better for fruits and veggies. Often the
bigger ones are just woody or watery. 
9. if you're buying herbs or greens in bags, avoid water in the container
like the plague...this often means they've been frozen by accident and will
go mushy in a day or so.
10. tomatoes should smell like tomatoes. If they dont, they wont have much
flavor...
11. Bell peppers should be nice and shiney and unblemished, but most
importantly, if you take your finger and rub the skin, it shouldnt wrinkle
or move (this is sign that they're older and drying out)
12. be polite about squeezing fruit...often it bruises it and the produce
man gets cranky. I find a good sniff helps, and if they're good, they'll
give you a sample even.
13. everything is better when its local, and most importantly in season.
Apples in the new crop are tasty treats. Apples from a year ago can be
mealy and flavorless. Ditto tunrips and even squashes.

again, I find the nice man in the produce dept of my local Ballard Market
to be an amazing help. Also, if I'm doing a banquet, I call my local Sosio
brothers produce stand and ask them to pick out primo stuff for me ahead of
time. I show up, pay them and leave with boxes of wonderful stuff.

I understand that in France, when you go to the grocer, you are not
supposed to handle the food. All much more sanitary, but somehow
unsatisfying!!! I find the sniff and inspect ritual a very important part
of my grocery shopping....the hunting and gathering genes, I guess :).

good luck!
- --AM