Pineapple and other produce issues.

I am sorry I did not take a picture of the whole pineapple but I had no idea that this pineapple experience of mine was going end up being a post and that I was going to hit a wall........and start screaming in my head.

Fruits and veg here are a challenge for me, maybe for many westerners here in China for all I know. It is a fact (according to me) that we, in the US,have the best produce on the face of the earth. Perhaps I just mean to say it's better then China. In the US you can find any fruit and veg at anytime of the year - or so it seems. Yes, you may pay more for blueberries in a month when both South America and North America are not producing a lot of blueberries, or the fact you have pay a premium because they are being flown 3,000 miles to your local grocery store, ok, I can handle that but at least the produce is cared for and spoiled fruit is discarded or not sold in the 'premium' section of the fruit area. I have wonderful experiences with fruits stands in Rome, Italy and in many places in Europe. The fruit vendor sells you the undamaged, un-dented, unbruised fruit and will sometimes throw in a free piece that doesn't quite meet up to the standards of the fruit you have paid money for, you know the dented pieces. I have a fruit and veg lady here who will give me some fresh herbs or a few stalks of scallions or a couple of red hot spicy chilies if she is feeling generous or perhaps it's when I spend more than $15.00 at her stand. So it's not all bad here but........I just can't stand it, believe or understand how in the world when I go to the big hypermart - TESCO or Carrefour that they sell rotten fruit.

Last week I went into Carrefour, a 2 level shopping extravaganza, a bit like Walmart.  On one floor they sell TV's, teaspoons, toilet paper, tobacco, furniture, bicycles and other hardware and the other floor is a grocery store. You pay more for the food products then out at the street stalls but one assumes that they have a better supplier and they take better care of the produce. Why one would think that, I have no idea. As I was walking toward the fruit section, the smell of rotten fruit was overwhelming. Disgusting really. I looked around and immediately saw a large pile of pineapples. I walked over ( gagging slightly in my mouth, it was that bad) and looked at the fruit. The sharp leafy tops were soft, wet, mushy and the fruit was very yellow and over ripe creating the smell. I then walked over to the mango section and saw soft fruit with small fruit flies flapping around. Yuck. I just walked out of the store.

Two days later I saw another large grocery store - TESCO, went in and headed right for the fruit. Pineapples looked nice - coming from the Philippines? Firm fruit, nice leafy top, I picked one that looked a little under ripe, hoping for a bit of a tart taste. I took a small one paid for it and walked home. I was hungry for fruit and set about washing the outside and then cutting it open. You can see what I encountered once the fruit was cut open. A rotten piece of fruit.

Here are some other things you can buy at the grocery store.

Turtles for soup = long life in China, not for the turtle.
Look at the little frog looking right at me.

Everyone loves frogs legs.....or is that in France? Bull Frog stew is very popular here. Tastes like chicken, right?!

These are dried fish, although it kind of looks like dried bats from this distance. Really dried fish.
Cooked chicken, toe nails and all! This is the prepared food section of the deli counter. No cooked frogs or turtles but this very nice boiled chicken was for sale, I like the parsley blanket, very tasteful. Cost of the various items in the case 2 to 3 dollars per kilo = 2.2 pounds.

I can't wait to come home to an American style grocery store.