For the freshest produce, try to find locally grown, in-season fruits and vegetables. The closer you are to where the produce is grown, the less time it sits in a truck and warehouse. If you're shopping for harvest at a farmer's market, shop early in the day. Scan the farmer's entire produce offering to get a general idea of the quality before you purchase. Choosing the best Missouri Fresh Produce Market and crop means knowing what to look for and what to avoid when buying fruits and vegetables.
The problem with an all-year round menu of unlimited potential is that your offering will be mediocre, homogenized, and bland. To say nothing of not being as healthy as it could be. With produce more than anything, you can taste a very pronounced difference between an item fresh off the tree and something that's been frozen and stored in a bin for six months. True, you can't tell the difference at a steam table restaurant in the middle of the desert - but you aren't that kind of restaurant, are you?
In spring: Buy fresh artichokes, apricots, asparagus, beets, avocados, cauliflower, radishes, cherries, spinach and rhubarb. In summer: Buy corn, berries, cucumbers, garlic, eggplant and tomatoes. In fall: buy apples, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, squash, sweet peppers, pears, and sweet potatoes.
Meat - the surface of the red meat should look matte and dry, with a dark, rich red or slightly purplish color. Good quality red meat should be marbled nicely, with thin threads of white fat spreading through the meat. Often you can tell a lot about the quality by just looking at it; bright red pieces of beef or lamb that are wet with blood haven't been hung properly and will probably be tough and tasteless. Chicken should be glowing and bright skin color. Try to avoid any meat wrapped in plastic foil; it's likely the meat will smell sweaty.
With much of the growing and harvesting today handled by machines and with produce being shipped around the world, several other criteria take priority with taste and nutrition taking a back seat. The focus is instead on how sturdy it is, how easily it can be shipped, and the eye-appeal. When today's farmer may never even actually touch the crop, things that make it easy for machine handling like the uniformity of size even come into play.
Asparagus should be firm and bright green with purple-tinted buds. The thinner asparagus stalks are more tender and flavorful than thicker asparagus. Avocados should be slightly soft and squeezable but not mushy. If you buy avocados hard, let them sit on a kitchen windowsill for a few days to ripen.
Bananas can be greener and less ripe than you like them because they ripen fairly quickly. You can extend the life of your bananas by refrigerating them when they reach the perfect ripeness stage. The peel will darken, but the flesh will be unaffected, and their freshness will be extended. Tomatoes should be bright red, firm and free of bruises.
Whatever fresh yield you are buying, the golden rule is - look, smell feel, and when in doubt, don't buy it. If you have to ask yourself 'Is it good?' Then probably it isn't. Trust your instincts.
The problem with an all-year round menu of unlimited potential is that your offering will be mediocre, homogenized, and bland. To say nothing of not being as healthy as it could be. With produce more than anything, you can taste a very pronounced difference between an item fresh off the tree and something that's been frozen and stored in a bin for six months. True, you can't tell the difference at a steam table restaurant in the middle of the desert - but you aren't that kind of restaurant, are you?
In spring: Buy fresh artichokes, apricots, asparagus, beets, avocados, cauliflower, radishes, cherries, spinach and rhubarb. In summer: Buy corn, berries, cucumbers, garlic, eggplant and tomatoes. In fall: buy apples, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, squash, sweet peppers, pears, and sweet potatoes.
Meat - the surface of the red meat should look matte and dry, with a dark, rich red or slightly purplish color. Good quality red meat should be marbled nicely, with thin threads of white fat spreading through the meat. Often you can tell a lot about the quality by just looking at it; bright red pieces of beef or lamb that are wet with blood haven't been hung properly and will probably be tough and tasteless. Chicken should be glowing and bright skin color. Try to avoid any meat wrapped in plastic foil; it's likely the meat will smell sweaty.
With much of the growing and harvesting today handled by machines and with produce being shipped around the world, several other criteria take priority with taste and nutrition taking a back seat. The focus is instead on how sturdy it is, how easily it can be shipped, and the eye-appeal. When today's farmer may never even actually touch the crop, things that make it easy for machine handling like the uniformity of size even come into play.
Asparagus should be firm and bright green with purple-tinted buds. The thinner asparagus stalks are more tender and flavorful than thicker asparagus. Avocados should be slightly soft and squeezable but not mushy. If you buy avocados hard, let them sit on a kitchen windowsill for a few days to ripen.
Bananas can be greener and less ripe than you like them because they ripen fairly quickly. You can extend the life of your bananas by refrigerating them when they reach the perfect ripeness stage. The peel will darken, but the flesh will be unaffected, and their freshness will be extended. Tomatoes should be bright red, firm and free of bruises.
Whatever fresh yield you are buying, the golden rule is - look, smell feel, and when in doubt, don't buy it. If you have to ask yourself 'Is it good?' Then probably it isn't. Trust your instincts.
About the Author:
When you are looking for information about s Missouri fresh produce market, come to our website today. More details are available at http://www.anthonysproduce.com now.
No comments:
Post a Comment