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I'm looking for truly high quality dried fruit. I've got a few sources already in mind, but this is one of those hunts that can benefit from the accumulated knowledge of this board. I'm thinking of a variety of items, including apricots, pineapple, figs...actually, a number of different things. A local source I can go visit would be great, but if you know of a mail-order place, I don't mind that either. Thanks!

Without a doubt, the highest quality dried fruit I've ever encountered is from Russ & Daughters on the lower east side of Manhattan. I don't know where they source it from but they take it very seriously.

I'd walk to NY for their tart dried plums.





Expensive and worth it. They ship.

For many other reasons, Russ and Daughters is one of my favorite places on Earth.

Best,
Michael

Russ and Daughters
179 E. Houston
New York, NY
212-475-4880
http://www.russanddaughters.com/

As is true of so many things, a trip to Lincolnwood Produce would serve you well. They've got a large selection of dried fruits and nuts as you enter the produce dept. They are not offered up in buld as in the Russ & Daughters picture. They are pre-packaged in ~8oz. plastic containers.

I cannot comment on the quality level since I have only recently started buying dried fruits and don't know how to judge them yet, but the Berwyn Fruit Market on Harlem, just south of Ogden seems to have a decent selection of dried fruits, and their pricing is good. I have purchased apricots, mango, papaya, guava, pineapple, plums, and strawberries there and liked them. Most of them were $2/LB, except for the strawberries, which were higher. They have a couple other dried items which I have not tried yet. How do you plan to use them?

Thx for info, is other place worth going?
I may drop by next month.

I order 4.5 lb bags of huge, plump red, white and black raisinis -- also dried peaches, nectarines (yellow and white) and plums (no, not prunes, really) online from Rosendahl Farms (although I think they are now called Batth Farms.

I first bought them at Costco and loved them, but when Costco stopped carrying them, I just googled them and got lucky.

www.rosendahlfarms.com

russ and daughters is one of my favorite stores, as well. (only partly because it is called 'daughters', not sons!) their dried fruit can't be beat. it's astoundingly moist and flavorful. i dont think there is anything as good in chicagoland. having said that, i often buy dried fruit at the home economist in skokie. 9159 w. gross point rd. just joan

If you have to go to mail-order, take a look at the Houston Pecan Company.

http://houstonpecan.com/

We visited frequently when my son lived in Houston, and have ordered by mail. They have the freshest and crispet nuts, and the most gorgeous dried fruits of every kind that I have ever had.

Not that it relates to quality, but - the owner is a Mr. Cooper, who is a now-elderly Jewish European refugee who arrived in this country shortly after WW II. He has been in the fruit and nut business in Houston for the last forty or so years because... he was on Schindler's List. Just a little brush with history.

Mike

Arax Foods on Milwaukee Ave. just north of Ballard in Niles has some amazing fruits. They may not be just what you're looking for--these are individually packaged, in a paper cup and cello-wrapped. You can mix and match, they are all $5.99 per lb. They are preserved rather than just dried, but are not dripping with syrup, rather beautifully moist. They have figs, prunes, apricots, a small (about an inch to an inch and a half diameter) green apple, green (as in unripe) walnuts (which are actually black after preserving), and some kind of squash or perhaps cucumber.