Red Grapes

Red grapes, sweet with a light skin tannin that stops them being one-note. Sold on the bunch, which is how you can judge them: the stem tells you more than the fruit.

These are for eating by the handful, for a cheese plate, and for freezing whole — frozen grapes are the best hot-afternoon snack in Dubai and take no preparation at all. They also halve neatly into a chicken salad.

Look for green, pliable stems and grapes that are firmly attached. If grapes fall off when you lift the bunch, it is old. A pale dusty bloom on the skin is natural yeast and a good sign; wipe it off at the sink.

Fridge, unwashed, in a container that lets air move. Washing before storing is the most common way people ruin grapes — water sitting between the fruit turns them to mush.

Wash only the handful you are about to eat.

Seven to ten days refrigerated.