grumblebee
Contest Winner
Here is a quiz to test your food knowledge! 
1) I am cruciferal. Known to bring good luck to those who ingest me I am an herbaceous annual plant native to Europe and western Asia. Romans used my seeds as well as my leaves. As a member of the cabbage family I am related to watercress, mustard, and radishes. I can grow as high as twenty inches, but many times my tender baby leaves are harvested when they are about three inches long. My leaves are similar in shape to radish and dandelion, but our nutty bitter flavor is by far the best. I am a pretty perishable green and should be used in a couple days after harvest. Some people store me in a glass of fresh water (like cut flowers) that is changed daily, but most refrigerate me with a damp cover at my base. Raw I am a feature in many salads, a component in other salads, and combine magically with cheese (goat) and citrus (blood oranges). I can even add a zip to your best potato salad. Cooked I make a great base for fish or beef entrees, or wilted as a side dish. If your careful I can even be fried. Strong fiber, I am also a source Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and calcium. As a pharmafood I am considered to have the properties of a stimulant and a diuretic.
2) I am the pulp of a pod. I am native to India where my tree can grow to more than eighty feet tall. As a grown up I can easily reach the age of 90. My pod is sickle shaped and reaches a length of 8 inches. Seeds are imbedded in my sweet-acrid pulp. When first picked my pod is green and my pulp is white, but as a preparation for export I am covered with a thin film and left outside to air dry. This turns my pod brown and makes my pulp even darker than that. While I am most popular for my pulp, my hard glossy seeds are used as well. They can be ground into meal and used for cakes. In the countries where I am produced, my flowers and leaves are eaten fresh in salads, but I digress. My real fame originated from being a prime ingredient in Worcestershire Sauce but there is more to me than that. Other than being used fresh in numerous meat and fish dishes, I have been candied, dried, pickled, sauced, and used in chutneys. I have been added to soups, jams, sherbets, and can make a very thirst quenching beverage. Known to be a laxative, and aid to the liver and a stimulator of bilation, I am an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, and thiamine. I am a good source of iron and I also contain phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, and vitamin C. Check me out, I’m worth it!
3) I am grown on every continent of the globe except America. My earliest cultivation took place in China. I was made popular by Roman authors in the first century, medieval monasteries in England, and by the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote about us in beautiful gardens. With my hundreds of varieties I range in color from yellowish-green to deep purple, and in size I range from a small cherry to a hen’s egg. There’s even a dinosaur variety named after me. I contain one inedible pit in my center. I will ripen after picked, but this process is slowed by refrigeration. When I ripe I can be so sweet and so very juicy, public joy during my consumption must be refrained though often revealed by drippings on clothing. I am used dried in brandy, liqueur, jam, pudding, breads, cakes, compotes, oriental sauces, and a variety of other sweet and savory applications but am definitely best eaten fresh out of hand. I am fat free, low in sodium, and only contain 33 calories per piece. Often the mere mention of my name implies goodness and delight.
...any guesses? (I'll post more once someone gets these correct!)
1) I am cruciferal. Known to bring good luck to those who ingest me I am an herbaceous annual plant native to Europe and western Asia. Romans used my seeds as well as my leaves. As a member of the cabbage family I am related to watercress, mustard, and radishes. I can grow as high as twenty inches, but many times my tender baby leaves are harvested when they are about three inches long. My leaves are similar in shape to radish and dandelion, but our nutty bitter flavor is by far the best. I am a pretty perishable green and should be used in a couple days after harvest. Some people store me in a glass of fresh water (like cut flowers) that is changed daily, but most refrigerate me with a damp cover at my base. Raw I am a feature in many salads, a component in other salads, and combine magically with cheese (goat) and citrus (blood oranges). I can even add a zip to your best potato salad. Cooked I make a great base for fish or beef entrees, or wilted as a side dish. If your careful I can even be fried. Strong fiber, I am also a source Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and calcium. As a pharmafood I am considered to have the properties of a stimulant and a diuretic.
2) I am the pulp of a pod. I am native to India where my tree can grow to more than eighty feet tall. As a grown up I can easily reach the age of 90. My pod is sickle shaped and reaches a length of 8 inches. Seeds are imbedded in my sweet-acrid pulp. When first picked my pod is green and my pulp is white, but as a preparation for export I am covered with a thin film and left outside to air dry. This turns my pod brown and makes my pulp even darker than that. While I am most popular for my pulp, my hard glossy seeds are used as well. They can be ground into meal and used for cakes. In the countries where I am produced, my flowers and leaves are eaten fresh in salads, but I digress. My real fame originated from being a prime ingredient in Worcestershire Sauce but there is more to me than that. Other than being used fresh in numerous meat and fish dishes, I have been candied, dried, pickled, sauced, and used in chutneys. I have been added to soups, jams, sherbets, and can make a very thirst quenching beverage. Known to be a laxative, and aid to the liver and a stimulator of bilation, I am an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, and thiamine. I am a good source of iron and I also contain phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, and vitamin C. Check me out, I’m worth it!
3) I am grown on every continent of the globe except America. My earliest cultivation took place in China. I was made popular by Roman authors in the first century, medieval monasteries in England, and by the famous author Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote about us in beautiful gardens. With my hundreds of varieties I range in color from yellowish-green to deep purple, and in size I range from a small cherry to a hen’s egg. There’s even a dinosaur variety named after me. I contain one inedible pit in my center. I will ripen after picked, but this process is slowed by refrigeration. When I ripe I can be so sweet and so very juicy, public joy during my consumption must be refrained though often revealed by drippings on clothing. I am used dried in brandy, liqueur, jam, pudding, breads, cakes, compotes, oriental sauces, and a variety of other sweet and savory applications but am definitely best eaten fresh out of hand. I am fat free, low in sodium, and only contain 33 calories per piece. Often the mere mention of my name implies goodness and delight.
...any guesses? (I'll post more once someone gets these correct!)
