Produce

Last week I bought some mulberries from a vendor at a farmer's market whose other (non-produce) products I've enjoyed in the past. I did it against my better judgment since: A) a taste test at the market didn't impress me 2) the vendor had a lot of berries where other vendors were sold out and C) you later. When I got home I discovered the berries were full of teeny tiny bugs that were resistant to my attempt to drown them -- in fact a few swam to the edge of the bowl and tried to climb out. I stuffed the berries and their bugs down the garbage disposal and sprayed a bleach cleaner in and around the sink in case the bugs tried to escape. Apparently, this is a fairly common problem.



The trip to the market wasn't a total waste since I got some lettuce from a different vendor that was fantastic. I bought a head that had romaine, red leaf and green leaf in one. It's weird to rave about lettuce, but it was really very good.



I bought some cherries from the grocery store the other day and I decided to clean them with a vinegar solution I read about in a Newsweek article (there's also an NPR article with an audio clip on the subject). It worked brilliantly since the fruit tasted better than it did when I washed it with tap water alone. I was worried that the cherries might taste vinegary but they didn't. I've put the spray bottle in my fridge for future use.



I wonder how the vinegar solution would have worked against the bugs of the mulberries? Some of the links above suggest a salt wash but I can't imagine the salt not soaking into the fruit.

In case you were wondering, the FDA recommends washing produce with water. I'm not sure how to comment on that.