Froot! It confuses me.

[tzikeh]

I know nothing about fruit. I mean, I know I *like* fruit, but that's the sum total of my knowledge.

This is not a joke. Mock now, get it out of your system.

Finished?

Right.

Yesterday, I bought:

apples
bananas
grapefruit
plums
peaches
cherries
strawberries
blackberries
raspberries
blueberries

• Which of these continue to ripen *after* you buy them (I know about bananas)?
  
• Which must be refrigerated, and which can be left out in the classic "fruit bowl"?
  
• Which rot quickly, and which can hang out for a while?
  
• When fruit shopping, what do you *look for* when you want to see if these fruits are ripe?
  
• What should I know about pears, or melons, or other things? With the "global" market, do we really still have "seasons" for fruit?

No, my parents never taught me anything about food, and I've lived on "food that comes in cans", "food that comes in bags", and "food that comes forty-five minutes after I place an order over the phone" for (counts...) nineteen years, give or take.

Coming soon to an lj near you: Chikkin! It confuses me.

Comments

[ratcreature]

I'd recommend getting a basic cook book/kitchen and food guide. Not one with specific recipes, but one that covers all kinds of food items and explains the basics of them. When I moved out from home I got a book that had a sections on ergonomic kitchen design and tools (you know, which knives for what, how to sharpen knives, which tools do you need in your kitchen, what to look for when buying appliances, how to organize food storage), a section on different foods (divided in chapters listing vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses, cheeses and other dairy, eggs, fish, meats...) with each food listed with information on how to store it and how long it keeps, how to judge quality or ripeness and all that, when it is in season, whether you can freeze is, how you can cook it and so on. And a final part with basic recipes, like basics doughs, soups, sauces and so on to learn cooking rather than just following recipes. I never used all the sections because I was already vegetarian and didn't need to know about all the meats and fishes and all that stuff, but it has been tremendously useful to be able to look up some things, and just learn about food preperation in a logical way starting from the basics.