Best Fruit Now

Take this sheet with you to the market! Shop as if you have Tommy K at your side!
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Recommended Selections for October

• Best Now
• Avoid Now
• Try Now
• Fruit Odds

Best Now

Honeycrisp Apples

Hopefully you have already discovered this extra crunchy, super sweet variety that is taking over apple orchards around the nation! Developed in 1991, in Minnesota, the Honeycrisp is a hybrid between the Macoun and the Honeygold. This apple is in such demand that supplies will likely go fast, so enjoy them NOW. Another great variety to look for NOW is the Cameo. The Cameo has a little more tang than the Honeycrisp, if you see the Cameo try them and compare! I buy around 10 lb of Honeycrisp every week and watch them vanish. I just store them on the counter we eat them so fast, but they are AOK stored in the fridge for up to a month! In years to come keep an eye out for the SweeTango apple, a sister to the Honeycrisp it is also great!

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Bosc Pears

Definitely one of my favorite pears, they are running great NOW! We have been on a dry spell on real good Bosc pears. The South American crop was just fair and new crop harvest has been underway long enough now that the growers are no longer rushing the fruit to market picking the fruit too green. NOW they are perfect! I eat my Bosc pears the way an old mentor of mine, named Harvey Schannauer, showed me and I recommend trying the same. What you do is hold the Bosc pear in your hand “upside down”, yes with the skinny part of the pear in your hand and the wide part on top, like an ice cream cone. Ever since Harvey showed me that “trick” for enjoying Bosc pears, nearly 20 years ago, I have enjoyed my Bosc pears nearly daily in October. Try it for yourself, you will not be disappointed. Look for pears that have a real golden russet, full brown with a hint of lighter gold coming through as the pear becomes more tender. If they are still hard, let them sit out on the counter for a couple of days until they yield to gentle pressure. Delicious! Truly a gift of Fall, try Harvey’s method!

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Autumn Royal Black Seedless Grapes

OMG you NEED to find these. These are a large black seedless grape that is super hard and crispy, large to extra large in size and has a wonderful European flavor. 50 years ago there where very few grape varieties for the markets to sell, as a matter of fact there was only one type of seedless grape, the green grape known as the "Thompson". The Thompson didn’t have to be called Thompson, since it was the only seedless grape, the industry uniformly just asked for “Seedless” and everyone knew what the customer wanted. BUT today, the tradition continues WHEN there are many different varieties of seedless grapes in the markets. There obviously are red, green, and black seedless. BUT there are several varieties within each color too! Each variety has it’s own special characteristics, more on that later. So, I tell you all this, because, the BEST of all the seedless BLACK varieties right NOW is the Autumn Royal. These should be pretty easy to find as most stores will carry this black variety NOW.

Also you might want to enjoy all the great grapes in stores NOW. The season will be ending early this year and this means NOW is the best quality and PRICES we will have for months. October will be the best quality and price month for grapes until February! Prices will be doubling in November! I wish I could buy grape futures!

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Avoid Now

Nectarines, Peaches and Plums

These “stone fruit” items are like the bad act that just wont get off the stage at this point. C’mon..move on out…enough already! October is time to move onto Fall fruits, I am somewhat of a traditionalist on this issue, however, if I tought that stonefruit was juicy and good tasting I wouldn't be dissing them NOW.

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Cantaloupe and Honeydews

These melons were fantastic this summer! Thank you Mother Nature for another fine summer of these refreshing treats, however the time has come to move on and look for alternatives. Occasionally you can get lucky, but odds are against finding great melons NOW.

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Berries

Like our melon season, the berry season was fantastic this year. Blackberries are mostly coming in from Guatamala right now, and taste like radishes, skip 'em! Blueberries are from storages and taste old. Strawberries are fresh and probably your best bet, but unlikey to be great.

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South African Navel Oranges

I travel to many retail stores every week looking to see what items are being promoted and how the fruit is looking on the shelves. And I still see plenty of stores promoting South African Navels. These are well past thier peak, and are clearly looking old on store shelves. You can tell old age in oranges when they get soft and now longer are able to hold thier round shape. Oranges that look like Rubik's cubes are the extreme example!

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Try Now

Persimmons

Persimmons are just going in early October, there are two main types. Hachiya are the tall, bullet shaped ones - these are best enjoyed soft. Fuyu are the flatter, hockey puck shaped ones- these are best enjoyed firm, but not rock hard. Persimmons are a true Fall fruit, if you haven’t ever tried one, go for it. Maybe for your first time go with the Fuyu as they are easier to find right as they can be eaten firm. ENJOY!

Pictured here are FUYU variety.

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Pomegranate

Hopefully you have enjoyed the pleasure of eating a fresh pomegranate at its PEAK of flavor! This fruit can be a little tricky NOW. They are tricky because there are many old varieties harvested in September still hanging around on store shelves. If you can find a pomegranate with the familiar POM brand sticker on it, it will be excelllent, that is the only guarantee I can offer you in this transition month. In November you almost can't miss with Pomegranates. The tangy sweet deep red aril variety you are looking for is called "Wonderful", not Foothill, or even Early Wonderful. If the store clerk shows you the case the fruit was shipped in, and the case says WONDERFUL VARIETY then you will love them even without the POM label.

These fruits have been cleaning human bodies of toxins for thousands of years; they are one of Mother Nature's original medicines. Treat your body to this ancient pleasure, you will not be disappointed. The fresh pomegranate is really only GREAT for a short period of time.

To best enjoy this SUPER FRUIT try this trick. To begin, get prepared by filling a pot with water (at least 6 inches) and have your strainer at the ready. Using a sharp knife (adults only please) cut a circle around the top of fruit, kind of like you where cutting the lid out for making a jack o lantern pumpkin, cut only a quarter inch into the fruit and around a 3 inch diameter, gently push and pull till this top comes off revealing the red arils (the real name of those gel coated seeds) inside. Then make four cuts from top to bottom along the "ribs" (where the white membrane meets the exterior skin of fruit). Now place your pomegranate into the water and use your fingers to gently push and pull the fruit apart and the arils from the white membrane. You will see that the flavor loaded arils sink the bottom of your pot and the membrane and exterior will float. When done separating, skim off the white stuff from top of water and then simply strain. You now have a large amount of arils you can place into a serving bowl. Chew the arils, seeds and all, that's the way us in the biz do it! When buying, look for fruit that has a round circumference a sign of freshness, and exterior scarring is no problem at all, avoid shriveled looking fruit.

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Fruit Odds for October

These are the percentage chances of blindly buying excellent quality fruit off the store shelf this month. Click on the headers to re-sort the list.

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Tagged as: Berries, bosc pear, cameo, fuyu, hachiya, harvey schannauer, Honeycrisp, melons, Persimmons, pomegranate, sweetango, thompson seedless, wonderful pomegranates