The peanut, also known as the groundnut fruit, is a type of pea that is often used as if it were a nut. Peanuts are cheaper than real nuts like cashews.
Peanuts are used to make peanut oil, peanut butter, and peanut sauce.
Recipes featuring peanuts include
Gado-gado
Warnings
Moldy peanuts are deadly. They contain aflatoxin. In time, even low […]
The strawberry is a small sweet fruit.
Choose red strawberries, being careful to avoid any signs of rot. Rotting strawberries tend to have mushy spots that might be discolored and sunken, often turning a bit violet or lavander. Unripe strawberried tend to be merely pale, sometimes almost white.
When chopped up and boiled down with sugar, strawberries […]
Rhubarb is a relative of buckwheat and has an earthy, sour flavor. Rhubarb thrives in cold climates and originated in Western China, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia and neighboring areas. The traditional role was medicinal — the dried root was a popular remedy for a wide range of illnesses. Its primary function was to induce vomiting, although […]
Watermelon is usually large, sweet, heavy, juicy, bulky, prone to causing stains, and very big. Japanese watermelons are often cube-shaped, to better fit in a small refrigerator.
Many melons originated in the Middle East and gradually spread its popularity across Europe. Ancient Egyptians and Romans enjoyed cantaloupes or muskmelons. Melon seeds were transported to the United States by Columbus and eventually cultivated by Spanish explorers in California.
Melons are in the same gourd family as squashes and cucumbers. Most melons have similar structure […]
The prickly pear is a cactus fruit. It is 2 to 4 inches long and shaped like an avocado. Its skin is coarse and thick, not unlike an avocado’s and it ranges in color from yellow or orange to magenta or red. Tubercles with small prickly spines can be found on the prickly pear’s skin. […]
The pawpaw (also paw paw or paw-paw) is a fruit that is 3 to 5 inches long. The pawpaw tree, Asimina triloba, grows in the non-coastal parts of the southeastern quarter of the USA. The pawpaw is related to the cherimoya and soursop, not the papaya. Pawpaws taste and feel somewhat like bananas, and can […]
The grape is a popular small fruit. Dried grapes are called raisins. Grapes are commonly used to make jam, jelly, and wine.
Half of the world’s fruit production goes to grapes. Most grapes are used for production of foods marketed as being without added sugar. For this use, the juice is treated to remove the flavor […]
The persimmon is a fruit that has fallen out of fashion for its poor keeping qualities. There are two main types, the tall Hachiya type and the short squat Fuyu type. Choose persimmons that are very soft but not mushy, and be very careful not to bruise them.
Although there are countless different varieties of persimmons, […]
The kiwi (or kiwifruit, see footnote) is a fruit. It is the size of a large hens egg, and a is grown only in temperate climates. Kiwi flesh is said to taste and feel vaguely like strawberries, but with a strong green taste. When canned, kiwis become mushy and lose their color.
Raw kiwifruit is also […]