Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by admin
In Zimbabwe this cucumber is called ‘gaka’ or ‘gakachika’ and it is primarily used as a fruit-snack, salad and rarely for decoration. It is eaten young, mature green or when ripe – bright yellow/orange (eaten at any stage of its development / life cycle. It grows naturally in the fields and also in the bush). However, some people leave some to rot in the fields for next summer seeds/plants. Its taste has been compared to a combination of cucumber and zucchini. The spiny fruits have a bland citrus or banana-like flavour. The fruit turns bright orange when it is ripe. The ripe interior has a lime green jelly-like flesh with large seeds.
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Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by admin
Oriental radishes have extremely large roots. The Sakurajima variety, one of the largest, weighs up to 50 pounds. Most are in the 1 to 2½ lb class at full maturity. It is quite common for the leaf spread to be more than 2 feet. The leaves differ from spring radish types by being greatly notched and spreading from the tops of roots in a rosette fashion. Some varieties form large round to top-shaped roots, while others are cylindrical in shape. The flavour is generally rather mild compared to other small radishes.
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Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by admin
The collard is a green leafy vegetable. The dark green leaves are borne in rosette fashion around an upright, stocky main stem. The long stemmed leaves resemble cabbage leaves, except that they are oval in shape instead of round. The nutritious leaves are cooked as greens. Collard greens are a staple vegetable of southern U.S. cuisine and soul food. They are often prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in “mixed greens”. They are generally eaten year-round in the South. Typical seasonings when cooking collards can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat), diced onions, vinegar, salt, and pepper (black, white, or crushed red). Traditionally, collards are eaten on New Year’s Day (along with black-eyed peas or field peas and corn bread) to ensure wealth in the coming year, as the leaves resemble folding money
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Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by admin
Chives are perennials easily distinguished by their growth in dense clumps, lack of well-formed bulbs, and ornamental quality violet flowers. The tubular leaves are 6 to 10 inches long. No other onion has such a wide geographical distribution as the chive and few species are more variable. The slender, tubular, hollow green leaves are used for garnish and seasoning for salads, soups and stews, being cut as needed. They are also used as ornamentals, either in the garden or in household pots, because of their attractive rose to violet flowers atop the uniform green clumps. Dried chives are increasing in popularity.
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Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by admin
The Belgian endive is an important European vegetable. It has a delicate, somewhat bitter flavour and is used cooked in a variety of dishes and raw in salads. The edible product is the blanched cluster of leaves often yellow tipped from the compact bud, which is usually called the head or chicon. It is high in fiber, iron and potassium. Curly endive, or frisée has narrow, green, curly outer leaves. Sometimes called chicory in the United States and is called chicorée frisée in France. Escarole, or broad-leaved endive has broad, pale green leaves and is less bitter than the other varieties.
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