The Bodegas of Washington Avenue

kobe: 21st Jun 2005 - 14:51 GMT

yea, you know, like the band :-D

www.cornershop.com

Anonymous (cpe-024-211-184-011.nc.res.rr.com): 23rd Jun 2005 - 02:05 GMT

bodega is spanish....a lot of grocers in nyc are latin american

Peter: 23rd Jun 2005 - 14:03 GMT

yeah, i know ;) i think we covered the bodega thing already, heh.

Jamie: 18th Nov 2005 - 10:35 GMT

also: is a shop window, like, in direct sunlight, the best place to store fresh vegetables and suchlike? I read this thing about potatoes the other day, about how they produce a toxin, i think it's called solanine, but don't quote me on that. In any case it's the same toxin that make deadly nightshade deadly. All potatoes contain a finite amount of this toxin, and a green hue which is merely chlorophyll is a good indicator of a high solanine content. normally cause its been in direct sunlight. it's probably a natural defence against being eaten i guess. As little as 1kg o potato could and has proved a fatal dose. But my point is, this stuff is produced in the skin. mucky dirty mud caked potatoes in paper sacks, like in the good old days guraded agains such horrors. the modern trend of washing them and sealing them in seethru plastic bags is surely a bad bad thing in light of this knowledge.

jeeff: 18th Nov 2005 - 16:14 GMT

a while ago me and hool were considering whether to eat an old potato covered in eyes and sprouts and things. we did some research on the web and learned all about potato toxins and decided to throw it out instead.

Jamie: 18th Nov 2005 - 16:19 GMT

Good call. Even the US FDA state that there is "no safe level of solanine in food". The old wives tale of the green bits being poisinous is onlt half true. The green bits are in themselves harmless, but are an indicator that the toxin level of the whole potato is probably above average and should not be eaten. the same is true of sprouting potatoes. plant them, don't eat them.

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 18th Nov 2005 - 16:27 GMT

I went to college in Epsom and lived above a shop with a succession of other art students. We were revolting. Whenever I discovered an old, sprouted potato in a dark cupboard I would plant it out back, because somehow, against all odds, it had survived the drunken "is there anything to eat?" conversation and escaped the grudging ‘buying food instead of beer’ situation. I like to think that there is a secret garden of liberated potatoes alive and well on Tattenham Corner. I’m soft like that.

elaine: 18th Nov 2005 - 16:29 GMT

the potato rampant - you could have a coat of arms with that on - lots of arms

jack: 18th Nov 2005 - 18:38 GMT

crush the potatoes and then boil them andlet the steam run through a hose to a bottle. now tomatoes are different. theyre red and have a better shape. and when they rot you can throw it at someone. yes kids love to hang out and play on a corner where there is a shop or grocery store. now in my time like 1952, we hung out on the corner of west 5th street and highlawn avenue and played kick the can on the four sewers. there was ralph's grocery store and sally's candy store. when the older guys played stickball on the avenue my friend and i kept score and we would run back and forth for bottles of coke for the thirsty players. we would then cash the bottles in for the deposit and in the warm summer afternoon we would share a popsicle and an eggcream. if we had enough money we would jump on the back of the mcdonald avenue trolley and go to coney island for some fun.