PERSIMMONS

Fuyu Persimmons are short and firm. They're crisp and sweet and the skin can be eaten or peeled. They are great in fruit salads or baked in coffee cake. Best eaten when firm.

Hachiya are longer and more "peach-shaped.  They need to be eaten when very soft. Best eaten chilled,or scooped out with a spoon.  Often pureed and used in tarts, cookies, pies, sorbets, etc.  Avoid the seeds.


If you eat the Hachiya type of persimmon before it's completely ripe, you will find it bitter and chalky (due to tannins), and have the strongest mouth puckering experience of your life. It will numb your lips and tongue for a short moment. However, you can avoid this by soaking the persimmon in salt water for a minute before you eat it. The salt will remove most of the bitter taste in your mouth. Alternately, simply wait until the Hachiya persimmon is soft and ripe. Be careful of the seeds

HOW TO PICK A FRESH PINEAPPLE

Smell the pineapple.
Just pick it up and give it a good sniff.
The base of the pineapple is actually best for this. You want a nice sweet smell, basically, what you smell is what you taste.  Make sure it does not smell like it is fermenting though.

Make sure it is ready to eat. You can do this by pulling on the leaves at the top of the pineapple. If the leaf easily comes lose it means the pineapple is ready to eat.  A pineapple will not ripen any further – get any sweeter – after picking. It is sugar that makes pineapple sweet after ripe. The sugar comes from the conversion of starch reserves in the stump at the time of ripening.

Daikon
Largest of the radishes is the white carrot-shaped daikon, a staple of Japanese cuisine, which may grow up to twenty inches long. Daikon radishes are hotter than red radishes, but not as hot as black ones.







Back to Top

Beets      
Beets (Beta vulgaris) are related to Swiss chard, and beet greens can be used like chard. In addition to red varieties such as 'Detroit Dark Red', beets may be bright orange-yellow, such as 'Burpee's Golden', or have a striking red-and-white "bull's eye" pattern, such as 'Chioggia'. Beets are usually boiled or steamed, and then peeled. They may also be pickled.

Back to Top


Turnips     
Turnips (Brassica rapa) were cultivated by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Most turnips are purple above ground and white below, such as the 'Purple Top White Globe' variety, but they can also be yellow, such as 'Gold Ball', or white, such as 'Snowball'. Turnips are best when less than three inches in diameter. Older turnips should be peeled before cooking. Turnips may be steamed, boiled, mashed, or roasted. Turnip greens can be cooked like any other green. Turnips and rutabagas are closely related, but are different vegetables botanically. Rutabagas are larger and sweeter than turnips.

Back to Top


Rutabagas
Rutabagas (Brassica napobrassica), are a cross between a wild cabbage and a turnip. Rutabagas are yellow or white, usually with purple tops, and measure four to six inches in diameter. Rutabagas are one of the hardiest root crops. At the supermarket, rutabagas are often sold coated in wax for long keeping. Rutabagas, which must be peeled before cooking, can be boiled or steamed like turnips, used in soups and stews, or mashed like potatoes.


Back to Top


Parsnips        
Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) are a member of the parsley family. They look like long tan or pale yellow carrots, and are one of the hardest root vegetables to grow. Parsnips can be boiled like carrots, or added to soups or stews.




     




Back to Top

Celeriac  

Also known as 'celery root,' 'turnip-rooted celery' or 'knob celery'. It is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and well-developed taproot rather than for its stem and leaves. Celeriac may be used raw or cooked. It has a tough, furrowed, outer surface which is usually sliced off before use because it is too rough to peel. Celeriac has a celery flavour, and is often used as a flavouring in soups and stews; it can also be used on its own, usually mashed, or used in casseroles, gratins and baked dishes.