Carrot

Firm, bright carrots with a proper snap. Sweet enough to eat raw, which is the honest test of a carrot — if it is woolly or bitter raw, cooking will not rescue it.

They go into everything: grated into salads and coleslaw, cut into batons for children, chopped into a stock or a soup base, and slow-cooked with milk and cardamom for gajar ka halwa. For juicing you want the thicker ones, which give more for the same effort.

Look for a smooth surface without hairy side-roots, and a firm, unshrivelled top end. A carrot that bends instead of snapping has lost too much water.

The fridge, in the salad drawer, out of any bag that traps moisture. If they came with tops attached, cut those off before storing — the leaves keep drawing water out of the root.

Ten days to two weeks refrigerated. If they go limp, an hour in cold water brings most of the snap back.