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Produce Quiz --- What am I?
My fruit and flowers were used
by the ancient Romans for everything from perfume to honey. I was also
considered a symbol of love and given to one's intended as a sign of commitment.
Even though I have been around for over 4,000 years my popularity remains in
Asian and Mediterranean countries. My yellow skinned fruit looks like a cross
between an apple and a pear. I am really not digestible raw and am best cooked.
My intense fragrance and high pectin content makes me a natural for jams,
jellies, and marmalades. In fact, the word marmalade comes from "marmelo"
which is the Portuguese word for my name. Added to an apple or pear tart I am a
burst of extra flavor. I am also added to pork casseroles, or put in chicken
pot roasts to add an unusual and exquisite flavor. (4/25/96)
I am a pear shaped vegetable
in cool green or white. I grow on a prolific tropical vine that can grow up to
one hundred feet long and produce as many as two hundred fruits. My average
weight is one pound, and my average length is four to six inches. I am native
to Mexico and Central America and was part of the diet of the Aztecs, Mayans,
and other Indian cultures long before the Spanish arrived. My flesh is cream
colored and I have a single large seed in my center. I am an excellent dieter's
substitute for the avocado, as I can be subjected to the same type of treatment
(with the exception of having to be cooked first), but I have virtually no
calories. Other uses include slicing, battered and fried, baking, soups, or
grating over salads. My leaves and roots are also edible. (4/18/96)
Related to the breadfruit and
the fig I am the largest tree fruit in the world. I can weigh eighty to ninety
pounds, but I am usually sold as four or five pound fruits. My greenish-yellow
skin is completely covered with pointed warts and I turn yellowish-brown when
ripe. With an intense fragrance, my ripe yellow or pink flesh is juicy with
flavors of melon, mango, and papaya. I am native to India and Malaysia and was
named by Portuguese explorers. My large seeds, in fleshy sacs called "bulbs",
are often roasted and eaten with a similar taste to chestnuts, or boiled and
ground into flour. My seeds are rich in calcium and my flesh contains carotene.
I am made into preserves, dried, and used in fruit salads, candies, curries, or
meat dishes. When unripe yet mature, I can be cooked as a vegetable. (4/11/96)
My first recorded use is in
China in about 2700 B.C. Originally I was used medicinally as a powerful
laxative, and a known cure for venereal diseases. It was not until the
eighteenth century that my stalks became popular for eating. My leaves contain
oxalic acid and are toxic. I'm field grown from late winter to early summer,
and hothouse grown all year, but my field flavor is stronger. Although I am
often used as a fruit, I am a member of the buckwheat family, an almost
indestructible perennial, whose stalks grow up to two feet long. Often combined
with strawberries or ginger, I am awesome as a fruit soup, pie, sauce for meats,
jam, sorbet, or ice cream. I can even be fried or poached. (4/4/96)
West Virginia has an annual romp on
my behalf. My broad, tapering, violet-streaked leaves emerge in the early
summer and then die back soon after. I do not bloom until midsummer and then I
do so leafless. I have a wild, woodsy aroma and a ferocious onion-garlic
flavor. Although some brave ones devour me raw I need to be procured dirty with
my roots on, and usually cooked to bring out my flavor. A few minutes in
boiling water can turn my overpowering scent to sweet and gentle. I can be
blanched, braised, used in vinaigrette, soups, pies, quiches, or served hot with
butter or hollandaise sauce. If you find me, you won't get on or off! (3/28/96)
When my coiled frond pokes through
the soil it is a solid indication of SPRING! I am only available to harvest for
about two weeks before I unfurl into graceful greenery of inedible plumes. The
eastern United States is my prime terrain, but I am also harvested in the
Pacific Northwest as well. My taste is a cross between asparagus, green beans,
and artichokes, with a very appealing chewy texture. I am an excellent source
of vitamin A and a reasonably good source of vitamin C and fiber. I can be
steamed, simmered, braised, sauteed, or boiled. I am an excellent side dish
with hollandaise, maltaise, or butter sauces. I can also be drizzled with any
vinaigrette, or added to salads, raw. (3/21/96)
I am one of the oldest known
vegetables, as I was eaten by the Chinese several thousand years ago. Eaten
with vinegar before a meal I can temper the worst of stomach aches and / or
hangovers. I am red, pink, green, blue, purple, or white and sometimes
variegated. I can be in head or leaf form. I contain a good amount of vitamin
C and some vitamin A. I was used as K-rations when Ceasar invaded Britain.
Once a year I am used in great quantity. I am grown all over the planet and can
survive all types of climates. (3/14/96)
I am a sticky furry pod
sometimes referred to as "Slave Fruit". I came to the New World out
of Africa along with the first black Americans. In Africa I caused bloody raids
when one tribe coveted another tribe's thriving crop. Though traditionally
green I also have a beautiful red variety. I am a large herbaceous plant
growing from two to eight feet high. My pods are ridged along their two to
eight inch length. I am harvested unripe to avoid becoming fibrous and
undigestible. In India i am eaten fresh and in curries. My leaves and shoots
are eaten throughout Africa. i am relished in Greece, Egypt, and Middle Eastern
countries and called bamyah or bamieh. In the United States my use is primarily
in the Southeast as a thickener for soups and a major ingredient in gumbo.
(3/7/96)
I am the aromatic fruit of a
spiny shrub, Solanum muricatum, native to the Andean region of South America. I
also grow in New Zealand, California, and other subtropical climates. My
inedible skin is smooth and glossy, golden with streaks of violet. My egg shape
can range in size from that of a plum to a large (not Mexican) papaya. I am
usually eaten as a table fruit but can be used in purees or fruit salads. I am
a member of the Solanaceae family but not known to be poisonous like my cousin
the deadly nightshade. (2/29/96)
I am an underwater rhizome and
can be up to four feet long. Some people think I am a string of sausages. When
my reddish brown skin is peeled, I must be kept in acidulated water to prevent
my creamy white flesh from turning brown. When sliced i create a beautiful
pattern. With a potato-like texture and a coconut-like taste, I am a good
source of starch and flour. I can be stir-fried, stuffed, steamed, battered,
and for New Years I am often candied. (2/22/96)
I am the fruit of the Chicle
tree, which produces a milky latex that is boiled down to form the major
ingredient for chewing gum. I am native to South America, but I am also grown
in the West Indies, the Philippines, and other tropical climates. Some say I
look like a cross between a potato and an apple. I am round, lemon shaped, or
oblong, about 3" in diameter with a rough, grayish-brown skin. I have 4
inedible black seeds with a soft, sweet, fragrant, fine grained pulp and a maple
sugar flavor. My honey-blonde to deep reddish-brown pulp can be used in
pancakes, rice, custard, and sherbet. (2/15/96)
I am native to Brazil, but in
this country I am grown in California and Florida. I am best eaten when ugly
and wrinkled, my flavor an intense mixture of jasmine, honey, and lemon. My
flower is remarkably beautiful and its religious implications are the reason for
my name. I am egg shaped and my seeds are edible. I can be amazingly
refreshing drink right out of my shell or combined in souffles, sorbets, or cake
fillings. (2/8/96)
I was used in Germany as an aid
to fertility. Want more? O.K. I was grown by the Egyptians in about 2780
B.C., when I was included in the rations given to the workers on the Great
Pyramid. Want more? O.K. I am the root of a plant in the mustard family. My
skin can vary in color from white to red to purple to black (and many shades in
between). In shape and size I can be round, oval, elongated, and can run the
gamut from globes 1/2 inch thick in diameter to oblong giants 1 1/2 feet in
length. My flavor is mild to peppery depending on variety and age. I am eaten
raw, cooked, or as a sprout. (1/25/96)
I am a bitter aromatic and I
act as a cleansing tonic, especially for liver and kidney functions, and as an
expectorant. I am a member of the parsley family and originated in Russia and
the Middle East. Though I am usually harvested for my leaves, my root is edible
and was enjoyed by the early Greeks and Romans. I am a hardy annual that grows
wild in damp, shady spots and I am one of the first herbs to appear in the
spring. My delicate flavor can't withstand drying or prolonged cooking, so use
me just before serving. (1/18/96)
Depending on my variety I can
be either sweet or sour, with me you never know what you are going to get. When
my ribs start to slightly brown I am ready to eat. I am a glossy yellow
ellipsoid with five wings or ribs, and a slightly waxy skin. Though my primary
production for U.S. production is out of Florida, I have been an important crop
in Asia for centuries. I am an excellent grilled. I am also used in drinks,
fruit salads, sorbet, purees, creams, and mousses. If you reach for me you will
get one! (1/11/96)
I am the flower bud of a bush
native to the Mediterranean and parts of Asia. I am sundried and pickled in
vinegar, or sometimes olive oil to bring out my flavor. The smaller I am the
better I am, but I can be as large as your little fingertip. My pungent flavor
lends piquancy to many sauces and I am also used as a garnish for meat and
vegetable dishes. I am the secret ingredient in the famous "special sauce".
(1/4/96)
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