Fickle Friends, French AF, and Fallacies
Are You Suffocating Your Cheese (Without Realizing It?)
You were today years old when you found out that you had been storing cheese incorrectly all this time. It’s not your fault, and we are going to get you all sorted out in the cheese storage department in no time! Today, we are setting the record straight with 5 foods that you are most likely storing incorrectly.
Top 5 Foods You Are Storing Incorrectly
First up, our leafy green gal pals, THEY are what’s missing when you think why does my food taste so boring? Am I boring? Don’t spiral, just call on your herb friends and take your food up a notch! I have a MINIMUM of two herbs on hand at all times. Sometimes this number creeps up, and I start to revolve whole dishes around what herbs need to be consumed. You haven’t lived until you have made a different version of tuna salad with all the tender leaf herbs—do it, I dare you!
Herbs
You might get 90% of this one correct, but what about that 10%? Are some of your herbs going bad faster than you can say PESTO? And you say, but why, dear herb, are you so fickle, and what do you need from me? I will give you the world, but you have to tell me what you need!
We asked, and the herbs answered.
Herbs with delicate leaves are happy as a clam to be put into a small container of water, like a bouquet of flowers, and then stored in the fridge. Alternatively, herbs that are more hardy can be wrapped in a damp paper towel and stored in the fridge. But of course, I have examples.⬇️⬇️⬇️
Delicate little baby herbs - They need to be treated as such, with tender loving care. When you bring your herbs home, cut off the bottom tips (like you would flowers), remove any rubber bands or plastic ties, and put them in a small container of water, then store them in the fridge. The leaves of these herbs are tender and prefer a cooler environment.
Cilantro
Parsley
Mint
Dill
Tarragon
Chervil
Hardy substantial herbs - (You know the ones who probably lift weights and talk about protein in their free time.)They need to be wrapped in a damp paper towel, stored in an air-tight container to prevent them from drying out, and then placed in the fridge. These herbs can generally last a long time because they are sturdy!
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Oregano
Marjoram
Chives
But what herb are we missing?? The star of the summer and every Italian feast! Our gal Basil is the outlier in the store-herb-in-fridge community. So, where do we store Basil? In the cupboard, the freezer, on the catio, so the cats can smell it when they are napping in the sun? No.
Basil, our fickle herb friend (you know the one who says they are easy but then has a zillion and one caveats), is best stored in a small container filled with water, like a bouquet of flowers, BUT it needs to be kept on the counter. Basil is very sensitive to temperature, and the leaves will turn black quickly if you store them in the fridge. I have watched this happen in countless kitchens! Someone needs to send out a PSA.
📣 Store your Basil at room temp, people!
Cheese
How are you storing your cheese? Let me take a stab at it. Wrapped in plastic and then stuffed in your cheese drawer. We all have one, and depending on how extreme our cheese habit is, it may have taken over one of the drawers designated for vegetables. No judgment here.
Cheese is alive, and it needs to be able to breathe (relatable). If we are storing cheese wrapped in plastic wrap, we are suffocating it, thus speeding up the spoiling process.
The correct way to store cheese is to wrap it in parchment or wax paper, which allows the cheese to breathe. You can then store your cheese in loosely wrapped plastic, an airtight container, or in your designated cheese drawer to help the cheese from drying out. Keeping your cheese in a drawer or container also helps keep out any fridge smells from permeating into your fancy French AF cheeses. It also helps prevent your whole fridge from smelling like an extra funky gym sock, AKA that wedge of Roquefort you have been daring yourself to buy from the cheese counter. It smells like a locker room but tastes like a dream💞. Protect your cheese investments and wrap them in parchment.
Olive oil
Not sure who we can pin this storage flaw on: kitchen designers, architects, aesthetically pleasing cooking shows, or our plain dumb laziness? Who is responsible for this where-to-store the oil fallacy?
Let’s say it is convenience-driven; that seems fair. You should NOT be storing your oil near your stove top. The fluctuation of temperature is not good for oil. Oil is sensitive to both heat and light. Being in an environment where the heat fluctuates and the oil is exposed to lots of sunlight will speed up the spoiling process.
Oil should be stored in a cool, dark place, out of sunlight and away from heat. Does this mean you need to keep your bottle of oil in the basement and run down and get it every time you need to sauté green beans? NO. (Above the stove is also not a good option because of temperature fluctuations.)
Here are my ideas:
Store oil in a dark bottle - This keeps the oil slightly more protected from the light.
Store oil in the cupboard - Dark and out of sight, get out the bottle before every cooking session, and then just put her right back. NDB.
Keep a small dark bottle of oil anywhere that is convenient, ONLY if you are a heavy cooker and will go through the bottle fairly quickly.
Are you running to your kitchen to move your oil bottles? Well, don’t run, but put it on your list of things to do. You will preserve your oil and be a happier person because of this. I guarantee it.
Onions and Potatoes
They are a match made in heaven everywhere but where you store them. I know what you are thinking, they both need a cool, dark place to hang out until they are called to serve their respective culinary duties. BUT not so fast, they are not as simpatico as we want them to be.
Onions release ethylene gas that makes potatoes sprout and spoil at a rapid rate. It’s not just the onions who can play in this game of storage sabotage. Potatoes have a high moisture content, and when this moisture is released, it can cause the onions to soften and rot!
The crux of this storage situation is that BOTH potatoes and onions like to be stored in a cool, dark place, with good air flow…how many cool dark places does one have in their kitchen?! Who is responsible for this? We need answers!
Bet you learned something, and if you did, send this to a friend of yours! Word of mouth recommendations are top-notch. Kind of like me delicately telling you that you are storing your herbs wrong. Do you have any storage tips that you want to share with the class? I am sure there is a laundry list of things we are doing incorrectly.
Cheers,
Nicole | Butter Cult
