New Spuds they were rubbish!!!

[puddicat]

Bought a bag from my local co op,steamed them,they were watery and tasteless, tried to jazz them up the next day,sauteed them with olive oil and rock salt,more paltable but still not all that,getting fed up with buying rubbish tastless or rock hard fruit,like pears that never soften,strawberries that are bitter,hang on what else can i complain about!!!!

[funnygirl]

Puddicat, I have noticed this as well and thought it was just me!!!

I brought some Golden Delicious apples and they were horrible and tasteless.
The trouble is our fruit and veg are being grown quickly with the help of chemicals which spoil them, rendering them tasteless!!

[MORELLO]

I've noticed that too. Fruit that is either over ripe or stays hard then suddenly perishes...

[whiffy]

For potatoes, cook if possible with a few leaves of fresh mint.

Heinz salad cream will redeem even the worst potatoes.

[tiggerblue10]

Jersey Royals don't taste the same as they used to either. And tomatoes on or off the vine are just as bad.

[puddicat]

tigger had no probs with the vine tomatoes they were delicious and sweet from the co op!!!

[scotgal]

I try to buy locally grown fruit & veg where I can because of the taste (or lack of) of supermarket stuff which is harvested long before it should be and has probably travelled half way round the world before it reaches your plate. Oh, oh i feel a rant coming on............

[Clanad]

At least here in the U.S., high-yield, disease-resistant, good-storage varieties do not always produce good flavor, but these are the kind chosen by commercial growers. Not unlike the tasteless, hard, semi-red things passed off as tomatoes. Problem is, the grower has to produce potatoes (and tomatoes) that are uniform in color, texture and size. They must also have a characteristic known as "shipability"... i.e., they must be tough enough to sustain being transported for days and miles.
Potatoes also are graded into their texture... two main divisions, fluffiness and waxiness. The "fluffier" varieties are grown (like our Idaho Bakers) for eating whereas the waxy types are grown for turning into frozen french fries and products for fast food stores. These rarely have much in the way of flavor, since it's expected they will derive flavor from the deep frying and salt.

Choose new potatoes that are at least 2 to 3 inches in diameter and always cook with the skins on. As some of the posters have suggested, the flavor can be enhanced by adding herbs. Even then, butter, salt and pepper (or other condiments of choice) must be used... Try to buy them loose off the shelf rather than bagged, if available. They're usually fresher and haven't had the "opportunity" to acquire that zesty bagged flavor...

[YvonneM]

Just thought I would let you know the best new potatotes are the ones I dig up from my own garden even if it is raining together with the runner beans and baby carrots Yummy

[scotgal]

I know what you mean yvonneM, we used to grow our own many years ago (organically if you know what I mean) and they were absolutely scrumptious!.I.m salivating just thinking about it

[Jugglering]

Puddicat - do you have a greengrocer (remember them ?) near you that you could get your fruit and veg from instead of the supermarket ? I go to my local farmer's market on a Sunday morning and get my week's supply from them - as others have pointed out above, the commerically grown stuff doesn't have much flavour these days, but the farmer's market fruit and veg is absolutely gorgeous, plus it keeps much longer because it's not force fed and full of water.

[puddicat]

Sorry juggle i dont, sadly i live in a town that the town centre is the focus, we have no indiviual veg shops, and one butcher one of the big boys in scotland dewhursts,because the rent for these shops are sky high!!!!

[Rtaxron]

You have given me an idea YvonneM,

Is there any veg seeds I could plant now, I have a spare space in my back garden, but its in the shade?

[J.JJ]

If you have hard fruit like pears etc and you want them to soften, place the pears in a brown paper bag on a plate by the window. THey should soften and be sweet in about a day.

This works I believe because the Suns rays are absorbed and concentrated by the brown paper bag.

Best of luck

John

[puddicat]

no knowlege yep no knowledge havent smoked for 24 years

[YvonneM]

My husband has just planted out the leeks they are tiny little leeks that he started in the greenhouse from seed . They will over winter in the garden ready for Feb/March time

[KRUSTYMAN]

As pointed out Jersey Royal's are not what they used to be, I can only assume that they making changes to the potato to get a higher yield or just over farming the ground leeching it of all the nutrients that used to provide the flavour. I haven't bought any this year, prefering to buy Cornish new potatoes or if you have to buy pre-packed from a supermarket read the packaging and look to see what the potato variety is. Charlotte's are dreadful, Maris Peer (not piper) are very tastey, whether simply boiled or sauteed in olive oil