CRUNCH, CRUNCH ...WTF?

When making my 'Kaimai Steak' last night (my old favourite - savoury mince base with stock, rice, noodles, chilli, curry, spring onion, capsicum,  carrot, shredded cabbage and other bits and pieces - delicious), as I was chopping the vegetables the chopping sound was different and juice squirted from the carrot. Juice from the carrot. I looked closer. It was fresh. Very fresh.

Not as 'Fresh' as this carrot though

I checked the other vegetables I had bought. The broccoli was dense green and crisp. The potatoes had no musty smells. The capsicum were firm and shiny. The cabbage was crunchy. Everything in fact looked fresh, bright and delicious.

Yesterday, as I left work to come up North I stopped at a local rural fruit and veg shop. Where I work there are lots of market gardens and this one was selling a lot of its own farm fresh produce and other that they get from the early morning city markets.

I normally buy from supermarkets. I know, I know, I should know better but do it for convenience. The problem is that supermarkets have to be provisioned from their central warehousing system and the produce that reaches the shelves is never, or very very rarely fresh from that day.

I don't know how many times I have supposedly carefully selected product to discover when at home that: there is a rotten item at the bottom of a bag; the broccoli has dry and discolouring florets; the lettuce, cabbage of other leafy vegetable is saggy and wilting etc.

You kind of get used to mediocrity and it is only when trying something good in comparison that the faults show.

I am going to make an effort to buy my fruit and vegetables from the farm outlet from now on. The effort, in reality. means turning left instead of right when leaving work and driving about 400 metres.