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Produce News for January 25, 2010

BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Monday, January 25):  Hey, have you seen the new Sherlock Holmes movie?  Well, it got me interested in becoming the Sherlock Holmes of produce, taking the mystery out of produce.  So I thought I’d take some questions from viewers, and one of the questions I had was, “How do you keep from stinking up the house when you’re cooking the Brussels sprouts.  Does depravity have no bounds?  Nothing worse than getting your kids or your grandkids to hate Brussels sprouts because you have overcooked them.  It has nothing to do really with the Brussels sprouts.  See, Brussels sprouts are very mild and sweet, but when you overcook them more than seven minutes, for every 60 seconds beyond seven minutes when you cook Brussels sprouts, it doubles the amount of those odiferous odors that come out of there – kind of makes it smell like rotten eggs.  So please, never in a million years overcook your Brussels sprouts, and you won’t stink up the house anymore.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

 
ONIONS (Tuesday, January 26):  [crying]  Why are you crying, my dear?   Oh, you’re slicing the onion.  Oh, well, when you eliminate the impossible, then what is left is the truth.  Why do you cry when you cut an onion?  Because when there’s friction from the knife, it causes all the sulphuric compounds, I can see them now - they float up very quickly.  It is actually elementary, my dear Watson.  Well, actually, it’s fifth grade science because the faster molecules move, actually that’s the faster they get up to your eyes and they make you cry.  That’s right.  So here’s what you need to do.  You need to take that onion like this onion here and put it right in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to 20 minutes before you slice the onions.  That way you have slowed down the molecular structure, the molecular movement of those sulphuric compounds, and it takes longer for it to get up to your eyes.  Plus, less crying.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 
TOMATOES (Wednesday, January 27): It is the curious incident of the tomato in the refrigerator.  The question comes in, “Why does my tomato get soft and mushy every time I pull it out of the refrigerator?”  Well, ma’am, it has it do with the refrigerator.  Tomatoes are a subtropical fruit.  Let me probe this tomato.  This came out of the refrigerator.   Let me probe it and see what the temperature is. Oh, oh….look at that.  It’s going down to 40 degrees.  That’s right.  That is too cold for a subtropical fruit.  So please, never in a million years put your subtropical fruit in the refrigerator.   Please give it warmth like it should have.  This is just like a banana – a subtropical fruit.  So what happens?  You put it in the refrigerator – it’s clled chill damage.  It literally breaks down the molecular structure on the inside of the tomato and causes it to get very mushy inside.  Please, don’t refrigerate your tomatoes.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

 

 
LETTUCE (Thursday, January 28):    I am the Sherlock Holmes of produce.  I take the mystery out of produce, and so we are doing questions all this week.  And one of the questions came in – “You know, when I put dressing onto my salad and I put it on the table for my family or friends or guests, why does it get real limp very quickly?”  Well, here is the answer.  If you were to take a piece of lettuce and you were to cut across the subsection there, and if you had a microscope, you could actually see that the lettuce leaf is made up…it looks exactly like a sponge.  That’s right.  And what happens to a sponge when you get it wet?  That’s right.  It gets very saturated and very limp.  And so when you put dressing on your lettuce, here’s what happens.  Sometimes there’s a little hole in that lettuce. So you put the dressing on.  Guess what.  The dressing finds that little hole, goes right inside that leaf and causes it to limp. So how do you prevent it?  Never put your dressing on until you serve your salad.  I’m Michael Marks.  Another fresh tip on produce.

 

  
POTATOES (Friday, January 29):  All this week we’ve been having fun.  I brought my Sherlock Holmes hat, my magnifying glass, and I’ve been the Sherlock Holmes of produce, taking the mystery out of produce all week in honor of the movie that just came out a month ago.  So the bane of our profession is to come to a conclusion before you have first ascertained the facts.  Why does a potato turn green?  Aha! There it is – a little green on that potato there.  Actually, you know, when I first started working in the produce industry, most grocery stores were like they opened at eight.  They ended at eight.  So like for 12 hours the potatoes were covered with black plastic.  Well, today a lot of stores are open 24 hours or they open at six in the morning and they close at like midnight.  So a lot more light goes on to the potatoes.  That’s right.  So light has chlorophyll, right?  Photosynthesis.  So on the potatoes it starts turning a little green.  Aha!  That’s what causes the potatoes to turn green.  Keep them in the dark, folks.  I’m Michael Marks.  Another fresh tip on produce.