Tue 8 Dec 2009
Fruit Mysteries
Posted by pseudo under food
[9] Comments
I’ve always eaten a lot of vegetables (recovering 10-year vegetarian over here), but recently I’ve been trying to eat more fruit. I have a wicked sweet tooth, and I decided a few months ago that I should try, at least every once in a while, to satisfy it with a banana instead of a brownie. This has been a qualified success, but has given rise to some very pressing questions about fruit.
- Bananas. I’be been buying them in bunches of 5 and eating one sliced over my cereal every morning. Several times now, as the week has progressed, instead of turning the normal mottled yellow and black as the fruit ripens, the skins have taken on a uniform gray color. They look kind of sickly, and it seems like the fruit inside doesn’t seem to ripen as much. What gives? Banana blight? Are the bananas still okay to eat? (More specifically: am I going to die from the one I ate just now?)
- Apples. For a while, I was bringing apples to work to replace my usual mid-morning snack of rice cakes with peanut butter. But I noticed that often, when I ate an apple on a near-empty stomach, I would get a rush of intense and terrifically unpleasant nausea 5 to 10 minutes later. (The first time it happened, I actually emailed a friend in a panic, thinking that such sudden onset nausea must mean I was pregnant. True story. (I’m not. Pregnant. Phew.)) Am I the only one who experiences this? Do I have strange sort of temporary apple allergy, or is this a normal apple thing?
- Grapefruit. So delicious, yet so labor intensive. I’m considering buying a grapefruit knife. Should I?
Now, let’s see if I can keep this up on the long winter slog through citrusville until the stone fruits come into season again. Outlook not so good.
I don’t know about the apples and bananas (though I suspect the apple thing could just be a reaction to the sugars/acids in the apple). But as far as grapefruit goes, bypass the knife and get a grapefruit SPOON. (This one looks good: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=752&f=3024) Cut and scoop with one utensil.
Um, try again: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=752&f=3024
I second the spoon recommendation. And, in a pinch, could be a used as a rather unassuming weapon.
My personal beef with the grapefruit is that they SPRAY everywhere. My desk at work is ridiculously sticky by the end of wrestling with one of them.
Bananas – I’ve found that if you put bananas next to some other fruits or vegetables, it changes the way they ripen.
Apples – Will ripen other fruits faster, so keep them separate. But, that’s not what you asked, so I’m of no real help.
Grapefruit – I just peel them like an orange and eat them in wedges. Much easier.
I don’t know the answers to any of these, actually. Am fruit dunce, apparently.
I have the same problem with bananas. It grosses me out a bit.
Not sure about the apples or grapefruit. I haven’t had grapefruit in forever (although it sounds really good) but I remember they were really time consuming.
i was so disappointed not to learn the answer to the Gray Banana Quandry here in the comments that i did some googling of my own. per wikipedia, who obviously is the authority on everything:
“The flavor and texture of bananas are also affected by the temperature at which they ripen. Bananas are refrigerated to between 13.5 and 15 °C (56 and 59 °F) during transportation. At lower temperatures, the ripening of bananas permanently stalls, and the bananas will eventually turn gray as cell walls break down. The skins of ripe bananas will quickly turn black in the 4°C environment of a domestic refrigerator, although the fruit inside remains unaffected.”
and then from Produce Oasis: Gray-yellow or dull yellow bananas are an indicator of improper temperature handling and will probably not develop full flavor.
soooo sounds like gray bananas aren’t as tasty, but definitely not deadly. helpful? ish?
Not sure about the bananas….but the apple thing Totally happens to me. I even sometimes experiance ravenous hunger when eating an apple on an empty stomach. And a resounding YES! to the grapefruit knife. So fast and easy!!
I can confirm the wiki answer to the banana question. I worked in a produce department for years — all through high school and part of college. Bananas that get too cold are UGLY as they ripen. They’re fine, though they might not have as good a flavor as usual.
Another helpful banana fact — small bananas usually are the tastiest.