Smaller is Better!

Photo by James Attaway 

I lived in Texas for a while, and let me tell you, when they say everything is bigger in Texas, they ain't kidding!  The first time I was served a pork chop (an inch thick and about a foot wide) all I could do was splutter "What size of pigs do you have over here?!"   However, size is always a matter of perspective, and on our tiny island, big isn't always better.

In fact, when shopping for fresh produce now I tend to look for smaller fruit and veg as it usually packs a bigger taste.  In fact, put "Baby" in front of just about any vegetable and I'll add it to my basket over their pompous, inflated, tasteless big brothers any day.

Case in point: strawberries.  Sure, we all know we are supposed to eat seasonal.  Seasonal produce is fresher, more environmentally friendly due to a lower carbon footprint in production and transit, and heck it just tastes better!   The problem is knowing what is in season at any one time.   These days everything is available to us all the time, and let's face it... most of us are so out of the natural grow-your-own loop that we are clueless as to what grows when.

Well, right now let me tell you that strawberries are in season, and if you want a good example of the difference between fruit in season and forced year-round produce, pop one of the teeny odd shaped berries in your mouth this month and compare it to the watery, bland giants that you see the rest of the year.

Enjoy what our country gives us naturally, when it gives it, and experience tastes and textures the way that nature intended.