The subject of how to pick the best fruit and vegetables came to the surface last week as I watched a gentleman pick up a cantaloupe at the grocery store, smell it and put it back down and left the cantaloupes complaining that they weren’t ripe. Sounds fair, right? It is a valid remark until we look at the chemistry. A grocery store is kept cold. There are many reasons they do this, but look no further than the produce isle to understand the logic. Cold or cool produce last longer. But cold produce lack aromas. The chemicals that produce the intoxicating aromas of fresh fruit are inhibited when cold. Smell your fruit when warm such as at a farmers market, or picked directly from the plant.
So what to do? The curious person that I am caused my feet to move to the cantaloupe that was just returned to the pile. The gentleman had a good eye. The fruit was tan all over with an under lacing of light green. I picked it up. Good, it felt heavy for its size. I picked up a neighboring fruit of similar size with my other hand. It too had a nice color, it too was heavy; but not quite as heavy as the first, this fruit was discarded and another was picked up. The original cantaloupe never left my hand. I stood there as I normally do with one good fruit in one hand weighing other candidates in the other. A human scale. After just a few selections I decided on the original cantaloupe. Curiosity got me again and I sniffed. Nope. No aroma. Course I wasn’t expecting any. Confident in my decision the cantaloupe was purchased and taken home to my hungry children. Once home we slice that cantaloupe open and enjoyed on of the best fruits I ever had.
Weight works for most fruit. But weighing them does not. Confused? A metal scale will only tell us the weight of the fruit. We are actually comparing relative weight to size. If we ask for a heavy cantaloupe for instance. We could end up with just a big tasteless orb. First look for color correctness. For the cantaloupe this would mean no excessive dark green coloring at the stem or flower end. Now shape, this is a lesser trait, but still helpful. Cantaloupes are to be round to slightly oblong. If there is an oblong cantaloupe it may be fine, but I tend to see it as an unfilled balloon, not a deflated balloon as that would suggest it was once filled, just a balloon with more potential. Now pick up the selected fruit, gently bounce it in your hand. Get a good feel for the weight. Put it down if needed and pick it up again. Now pick up another cantaloupe very close in size and color. How do they compare? If needed now weigh the fruit on a scale. A baseline has been set, similar traits are now being weighed, not just two random pieces of fruit. The best reaction you can get when you pick up a fruit is “Wow! That’s heavy.”
Fruit that this technique works well on: cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, bunches of grapes, mangos, pears, tomatoes, papaya.
Watermelon is too darned heavy to use this technique on efficiently. Thumping is best. Some folks flick it with the fingernail side of their fingers. That just hurts. Use the padded side of your strong middle finger and thump. Envision a doctor gently tapping a child’s belly. He is listening for resonance. A nice deep thump is the best noise a doctor or watermelon picker can hear. Water slows down the transmission of sound. Lots of water means a deeper sound, less water means a brighter, higher sound.
Play with your fruit! Touch them, pick them up weigh them, thump them. When you get them home WASH them!
Quick fruit and veggie wash: to one gallon of water add the juice of one lemon and 1 t. salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved add the produce. Let sit for about 10 minutes, rinse the produce. This concoction is a mild acidic acid which will kill many germs.
