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Kitchen Goddess

Fall’s Fresh Bounty

Indulge in Autumn's Cornucopia

September 16, 2007
By Andrea Farnum

 
 

Late summer and early fall are sacred for food lovers. Just as we’re enjoying the last of summer’s tomatoes, corn and the ubiquitous zucchini, we’re also blessed with our first glimpses of fall’s apples, pears, pumpkins, squash, grapes and pomegranates.

That said, I always get a bit melancholy at this time of year. The sight and scent of the first apples are a clear indication that summer is history. I call it Seasonal Fruit Disorder. This affliction is incurable and eternal, but it can be countered by indulging in the best of fall’s bounty. The only way to get over the lusciousness of summer is to embrace the fresh tastes of fall.

The best place to assuage this seasonal malady is at Baltimore’s farmers’ markets. If you have never experienced the markets, then it’s time to crawl out of your cave. Every Saturday and Sunday, local farmers and culinary artisans display mouth-watering examples of the Earth’s bounty. Shopping at the markets is the next-best thing to picking your own fruits and vegetables, and it’s a great way to rub elbows with your neighbors.

Whether you are a devotee of the farmers’ market or are more comfortable in the aisles of your local grocery store, you need to know how to choose the right produce. What color should a fruit or vegetable’s skin be? How soft or hard the texture? What should it smell like, or should it even have a smell? (What smells ripe for one fruit can mean rotten for another.) What’s a shopper to do?

With the food know-how provided here, you’ll be able to pick the freshest fruits and vegetables. Since we can’t taste everything before we buy (although that does sound great), we must use sight, smell and touch to find the primo-est of produce.

Don’t despair at summer’s end. Dive into fall’s cornucopia of mellow, succulent fruits and vegetables and enjoy!

APPLES

All of you teacher’s pets out there know that selecting the perfect shiny red apple is about firmness. If you can dent an apple with your fingers, it will make disappointing eating. Softness is often a sign of mealiness, which is the kiss of death for an apple. The only exception to this rule is the Yellow Delicious variety, which can feel softer to the touch than other apples.

Apples continue to ripen after they are picked. Keeping them cool retards this process. Never leave apples out at room temperature — nothing will ruin an apple’s flavor faster than letting it sit on the counter.

PEARS

Pears are a member of the rose family. (Might Shakespeare have said that “a pear by any other name would taste as sweet”?) The sugary, juicy and even buttery nature of the pear makes for delicious eating. Unlike apples, pears ripen better off the tree, which explains why they are often as hard as rocks when you buy them at the supermarket. When choosing pears, look for fruit that is firm, smooth and unblemished.

To ripen pears at home, place them in a brown paper bag at room temperature for a few days. Once they’re ripe, refrigerate them (or eat them right away!). Also, keep pears away from garlic or onions: Pears absorb odors and will pick up the scents of any nearby fruits or veggies.

POMEGRANATES

Originally from Persia, pomegranates are thought to be the forbidden fruit that tempted Eve. They have a hard, red skin enclosing hundreds of edible, fleshy seeds, each surrounded by a juicy, translucent pulp.

The taste, which can range from syrupy sweet to sour and tangy, depends on the variety of pomegranate and its state of ripeness. When choosing a pomegranate, look for one with a thin, tough, unbroken skin.

GRAPES

Immortalized in innumerable still-lifes, grapes have a luscious, sensual character that makes them the sexiest of all the fall fruits. Grapes’ freshness can be judged by the condition of their stems. Brown, dried-up stems mean the grapes were picked long ago. The grapes that make it into your shopping bag should have green, healthy stems.

Choose grapes that are plump and wrinkle-free. Since grapes tend to spoil and ferment at room temperature, they should always be stored in the refrigerator. Loosely wrap unwashed grapes in a paper towel and place in a plastic bag. This way, they’ll keep fresh in the refrigerator for several days.

SQUASH: PUMPKINS, BUTTERNUT AND ACORN

A squash’s size bears no relation to its taste. Concentrate instead on the skin, which on a winter squash should be dull. A shiny skin indicates immaturity and the need for more ripening.

Choose squash that are firm and hard without cracks or soft spots. Store in a cool, dry place, but not in the refrigerator.

If you like your pumpkins for eating instead of carving, look for one with an inch or two of stem left. Pumpkins with shorter stems decay more easily. Also, look for a pumpkin with a rich orange color with skin that can’t be easily broken or scratched by your fingernail.

SWEET POTATOES

Is it a yam or a sweet potato? Most cooks use the terms interchangeably, but they are in fact quite different vegetables.
Yams, native to Asia and Africa, have a thick skin and flesh that is white, orange or purple. Popular in tropical countries, yams are usually boiled, baked or fried as chips.

Sweet potatoes have either a tan skin and yellow flesh or a darker tan skin and sweet orange flesh; the latter variety is often confused with a yam. In the United States, the sweet potato reigns supreme.

When choosing sweet potatoes, pick ones that feel heavy in your hand and are free of blemishes, cracks, wrinkles or black spots. Decay can spread a bad flavor throughout the whole potato, so avoid sweet potatoes with any sign of deterioration. Store in a cool, dry place.

ANDRE FARNUM is a caterer, event planner and entertaining specialist with more than 20 years of culinary experience. Before turning to catering, Farnum worked for four years as a police officer in New York City. Visit her
website at www.kitchen-goddess.com.

 
 
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