Finding a Good Produce Market

Don Kruger
Mirror Contributing Writer

Certain vegetables are good measures of produce markets.
   A grocer who doesn't cull out bad string beans doesn't know much about vegetables. String beans are either good or bad. There's no in between. Spinach is a good measure, too. A good produce market will open up the bunches, wash out the dirt, clean them up and re-bunch them. Bad spinach is usually an indicator of a produce market that doesn't take good preparation seriously.
   Knowledgeable staff is critical to good service. Do they know which fruits and vegetables actually taste good right now? Do they take the time to sample the food themselves? If you ask a produce person what's good and he or she says "everything," watch out!
   If you get a generic answer, ask for a sample. See if they taste the sample first. Do they care enough to make sure you don't get a bad impression? Are they honestly attempting to provide you with quality product or are they just trying to get it on the shelves? Is it the "have a nice day" approach or a real commitment to top flavor and quality?
   Just the other day a friend of mine was shopping at a super chain and asked the clerk what was good. "Everything," the clerk replied. But the peaches were not ripe, and way too hard to be palatable. The clerk then went on to say that nectarines were better, but he was wrong again. Of course, the clerk hadn't tasted either the peaches or the nectarines. In the end, the only thing that was any good were the Braeburn apples from New Zealand. Everything was picked early and hard so as to be mass transportable and easy to display. Flavor & ripeness had nothing to do with the store's product selection.
   My suggestion is, you need to develop a rapport with the produce department. Let them know you expect to have samples available and that you demand freshness and good tasting fruits.
   You also want honest and knowledgeable service people. It would be nice if they cared about the fruits and vegetables they sell and not treat them as if they were a mere commodity. Knowing varieties and where fruits and vegetables are grown are things that should be basic knowledge to any good produce person.
   Presentation counts, too. It should be beautiful, It should make you feel like you want to eat it. Berries need to be picked through and packed appropriately. Melons should be cut to reveal their interior color and samples are always a good idea.
   Customers need easy to read signs and understandable pricing. Too often misleading price labeling can lead to surprises at the cash register. Try and figure out which is a better deal—price per pound or price per package. In the end, it is up to consumers to train the food vendor on what they want. Communicate with them fully. Let them know what brands or varieties you like. Let them know you appreciate taste samples and that you expect them to know about their product.

WHAT'S GOOD NOW
PLUMS are getting good now. SANTA ROSAS are here. They are red and turn purple as they ripen, extremely juicy and a great variety. I can't recommend any other plums right now.
   TEMPTATION MELONS, a new variety, grown in the Central Valley of California, orange flesh with a green rind, very sweet. We like this one a lot! CANTALOUPES are at seasonal best pricing right now. Pick out golden firm melons, never soft, a crater-like soft end is a sign that the fruit has flipped off the vine. Good smell is also a sign of ripe fruit. The special melons like the Crenshaws are a couple of weeks away.
   APRICOTS and CHERRIES are coming ripe out of the northwest despite the coldest May and June on record. Is this global warming?
   NORTHWEST RASPBERRIES and BLUEBERRIES are now beginning. This is truly the finest region for these varieties. YELLOW FINNISH and RED POTATOES are fresh in. I like the small creamier size which are the size of a silver dollar. My favorite recipe is to cut in half, brush on olive oil, season with garlic powder, a little salt and ground pepper and bake for 20 minutes. A great healthy way to eat potatoes.
   FREESTONE PEACHES out of Central valley are starting. FLAVOR CREST, ELEGANT LADY and SUMMER LADY are a few of the best peaches available. Unfortunately, one of the great fruits of summer is often badly handled by growers. They too often ship fruit below sugar standards. Because shipping ripe fruit might involve greater risk, but that is little use to the consumer as the fruit is not tasty. Keep the fruit out until it smells and then place ripe fruit in the refrigerator to stop the ripening process.

Market Report

Santa Monica

Laura Avery
Mirror Contributing Writer

While we're waiting for the BLENHEIM APRICOTS to appear which, if you have never had one, is the very best there is, we are enjoying a bountiful time of year. Fitz Kelly tantalizes us with his myriad varieties of peaches and nectarines. He and his neighbor, Art Lange from Honey Crisp, grow experimental varieties of stone fruit and get to make up names for them prior to their commercial release. Last week, Fitz featured a peach called Begorra.
   Two varieties of FIGS, the GENOA and BLACK MISSION, are coming into season. Figs produce twice during the year and the ripe ones are harvested while the next crop is still green.
   Weiser Farms has two new potatoes—the RED FINN APPLE, a long fingerling with thin red skin and creamy texture, and the BUTTER BALL, a chubby, round, russet-like potato that is extra buttery.
   THOMPSON SEEDLESS GRAPES come in from Thermal weeks ahead of the regular harvest. Robert Lower's THOMPSONS are the only grapes around that are not treated with gibberalic acid—a naturally occurring growth regulator that thickens the grapes' stems and allows them to take in more water, thus increasing their size, but diluting their flavor. All California grapes are treated with "gib" except Robert's.