Sunday, October 18, 2009

Where are the grapes with seeds?

I am frustrated with the difficulty of finding grapes with seeds. For a few weeks in September we were able to find them at the farmers market. Whole Foods has not carried them for several seasons, the Giant near my house always had them last year but they are not available there this year either...

I understand that the crunchy, sweet, seedless varieties available today were developed to appeal to consumers. I prefer grapes with seeds for a few reasons. In nearly all cases seeded grapes have more intense flavor, not necessarily sweeter but more complex which I prefer. I eat nearly all grape seeds, ocassionaly very large or bitter ones I discard, and I enjoy the texture that they add. It also appears from everything that I have read that many of the health properties of grapes actually come from the seeds themselves. They are believed to be extremely high in antioxidants and to strengthen the human immune system. It seems absurd that buying grape seed extract is popular but buying grapes with seeds is nearly impossible. This is not the case in many other countries around the world where grapes with seeds remain popular.

Hopefully the absence of the of seeded grapes will pass...I have noticed in the last couple of years that watermelons with seeds are more available than they have been in a decade. I am a fan of the seedless watermelon but my daughter Martin-Lane swears that the texture and flavor of a good seeded watermelon is better than that of a good seedless watermelon. This summer we enjoyed quite a few watermelons with seeds.

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