Pears are like that. They are hard when they are picked and ripen for a long time before they are ready to eat. (My MIL used to say that pears were the only fruit that you have to stay up half the night waiting for them to be perfectly ripe because once they are ripe they go overripe so quickly.)That still counts as fresh. It's not like lettuce. Lettuce from the garden can last 2 weeks or more in the fridge. Lettuce from the market is wilting and losing it in a few days. It must already be really old by the time it gets to the store.
The Japanese idea of eating lots of variety everyday is very interesting. Thirty or 40? Wow. Do herbs and spices count? I wonder if I even get close. I don't know very much about Japanese food but I remember reading that no meal is complete without some kind of pickles. I mean fermented not vinegar pickles and not just cucumbers either. They ferment an amazing variety of food.
Re: variety, freshness
It's not like lettuce. Lettuce from the garden can last 2 weeks or more in the fridge. Lettuce from the market is wilting and losing it in a few days. It must already be really old by the time it gets to the store.
The Japanese idea of eating lots of variety everyday is very interesting. Thirty or 40? Wow. Do herbs and spices count? I wonder if I even get close.
I don't know very much about Japanese food but I remember reading that no meal is complete without some kind of pickles. I mean fermented not vinegar pickles and not just cucumbers either. They ferment an amazing variety of food.