We’ve all seen food that looks down on its luck. It may be bruised, gashed, moldy, soft, wilty or some other adjective.
No matter how bad it appears, I try to cut away the offending parts to salvage what I can. I’m sure many of you do the same. If you don’t, here’s proof that you should:
Before
This red bliss potato has a nice gash in it.
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After
By trimming away just a centimeter under the rough part, you might be surprised to find that it’s fine. Magic.
I’m curious: Have you noticed any fruits or vegetables that are particularly ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside? Personally, I think plantains take the cake. The ripe (maduro) ones look like hell…but taste like heaven.
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Two housekeeping items: You may have noticed there was no post on Tuesday. It wasn’t due to my long-held grudge against that day, but because I’m moving to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule for the time being. With the book, the baby and the blog, there are only so many hours…
Also, I’m hoping to have a new “exhibit” in the “gallery” tab soon. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I think you’ll find the photos interesting.
Comments
12 responses to “Ugliness Is Only Skin Deep”
I do like how the cut off piece of potato looks like wax lips for the eco-conscious jokester.
-Katy
Ha. Yeah, I can see that. Maybe I’ve been changing too many diapers, but it kind of looks like a rear end to me.
Jon,
Since getting the Maines Paper and Food Service Warehouse contract, I’ve seen all manner of produce gone bad, and I can smell the difference, feel the difference, hear the difference and even see the difference between good and bad produce now. First off, broccoli is something we see far too much of in here. Folks, when it’s wriggly, it’s still delicious and nutritious. If you’ve ever let broccoli REALLY go bad, believe me you’d know. The color on the crowns goes from green to brown to white, and the smell . . . WHOO! Mushrooms are another one of those ones I see far too much of. If a mushroom has gone bad you will smell it, believe me. You’ll open up your fridge and say “Boy, who got fresh fish, and where is it?” That’s right, bad mushrooms smell like good fish. But really, to get to the question you posted, I would say that peppers and tomatoes are too often forsaken for some blemish, while the rest of them is still quite delicious. Also, a lot of eggplants get thrown away because of their shape, but meanwhile the fruit itself is still very much intact and fresh. I’ve been working so much with discarded produce, that I forget sometimes how squeamish some people are. I would probably have eaten that potato without cutting off the pucker.
Peace and Love,
Dan
P.S. When will your loyal readers get a glimpse of what’s to come in this book we’ve been hearing so much about?
LOL about the baby’s butt thing.
I cut bad/ugly spots off of produce all the time. It’s never occurred to me to look for shapes in them, like you do with clouds in the sky, though!
Dan, Dan, Dan. Did you just subtly call me squeamish? Just kidding, but trust me, I’m not.
I just shed a tear for those misshapen eggplants. Now why would anyone do that?
As for the book…I don’t know about a glimpse, but suffice it say it will examine how and why we waste food at all levels of the food chain and suggest remedies for the problem. And hopefully do so in detail while being entertaining. How’s that sound?
Kristen–happy produce shape watching!
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned tomatoes. the ugliest ones are the tastiest!
Oh yeah, good call Rinchen. There are even things called “Ugly Tomatoes.”
http://www.seedfest.co.uk/resources/ugly-tomatoes.html
I think it was Cliff Claven on the tv show Cheers from the 80s who looked for faces of famous people on potatoes. I remember he found Nixon- probably any potato looks kind of like Nixon.
Who knew vegetables were so funny?
That counted as a damaged potato? No way. Cutting bad spots off is normal. (I’m probably preaching to the choir.) I miss the produce shop near where I lived, many a year ago. They had a bin for “damaged” produce. Since that was my year of living dangerously close to broke, that bin was a favorite of mine. Old potatoes are perfect for soup and chowda, veggies past their prime great for soup and omlets and fine for stir fries, and many in the bin were fine except for a spot or two.
I wish the big stores had bins like that.
Angela–thanks for reminding me of that hilarious side plot from the great Cheers. In another life, when I used to write about television, I interviewed John Ratzenberger aka “Cliffy.” I’m not sure he was acting all those years…
William B–That potato wasn’t in any sort of damaged bin, just the regular one. Then again, that store doesn’t have a discount produce area. Like you, I always look there first when I’m in stores that have them.
Celeriac!