Hannah has been asking for blueberries as her ‘fruit fruit’ for her after-meal dessert at home. I guess she enjoys picking up the small, round, purple fruits with her small hand and popping them methodically into her mouth. :)
Blueberries are getting affordable in Singapore but that doesn’t mean that they come cheap. The same goes for cherries. When in season, NTUC has very good offers. E.g. 2 boxes going at the price of around five bucks. The trouble with NTUC is quality control. Again, what I would call a hit-and-miss affair when buying fresh produce from them. Recently, i discovered a visual cue in differentiating sweet blueberries from those that are sour or tart. So far, it has helped me in having greater quality control over the blueberries I bought. :)
So here’s the secret. Look at the ‘backside’ of the berries. (Okay, the front side is the side with those characteristic zig-zag thingy sticking out.) If a berry is sour, its ‘backside’ is reddish. If a berry is sweet, its ‘backside’ will advertise by showing a complete dark blue colouration. That is, the whole berry is just one colour: dark blue. When choosing blueberries, I’d pick the box with mostly dark blue ‘backsides’. I also consider the size of the berries. Generally, larger berries are sweeter.
Oh ya, one more thing. Sometimes, the blueberries are left on the shelf for too long and they become soggy / mashy on the inside. Hard to tell from the outside sometimes. One might want to check for wrinkles on the skin or rock the box gently to listen for freshness. Yeah, you hear it right. Solid knocking sounds meant that the berries are perky while soft thuds meant that the berries have passed their prime. But please don’t quote me if you got caught rocking the blue babies at a supermarket hor. Be subtle, my friend, subtle. Don’t end up paying for blueberry pulp k. :)
p.s. If you’re going to use blueberries for baking, sour ones are fine. The thing about using fruits for baking or cooking, the sour ones taste better than the sweet varieties. Of course, you might prefer sweet tasting blueberries in your muffin and so buy them sweet ya.
Good girl Hannah!!! Blueberries are one of the best fruits out there. :)
Ling, blueberries and cherries can cost a bomb over here in Perth too. But I still try and get them because of their nutrients. Unfortunately these are seasonal fruits so are not available all year round. :(
Golden kiwi is Isabelle’s current fav as it is much sweeter than the green kiwis. :) Give them a go – if you haven’t already. ;)
Hi Anna,
I thought cherries are less expensive in Australia? Sigh, just my imagination then. :(
Speaking of golden kiwi, it was one of the first few fruits I introduced to Hannah when she started to take solid foods. I often fed her that as it is sweeter than its green sibling and has loads of nutrients too. My FIL likes to buy her the fruit almost every other weekend these days and sometimes she has become a bit sian of the fruit. I try my best to provide her a variety of fruits for a good balance and also for the purpose of appreciating as many flavours and textures available in our local grocery spread. :)