Culinary Produce Quiz

I am a perennial found throughout southern India. I became a popular in Greek and Roman cooking after Alexander the Great’s soldiers introduced me to Europe. Today I remain popular in Eastern and Arab countries but receive little attention in the west with the exception of Scandinavia, who, strangely enough, has taken quite a liking to me. I am elite in my class, only being out priced by the likes of vanilla and saffron. Beginning as a thumb thick creeping root stock I grow up to 8 feet tall producing a three-celled pod containing up to 18 seeds. Long dark-green leaves with lanceolate tops and silky smooth bottoms protect my pod. My yellow or bluish flowers can be found near the ground. My Malabar variety is tops, but often substituted with the lesser qualities of the Cambodian or Sri Lankan varieties, respectively. Although I can be found in ground or seed form, it is best to buy me by the pod to insure I am not mixed with imposters. My pod color will vary by region due to the style of processing. I’m sun-dried and green in India, oven-dried and brown in Asia and Europe, and bleached white in the United States. Used as a substitute for gluten, I can be found in breads and cereals. I also add flavor to eggnogs, wines and liqueurs, fruit compotes, fruitcakes and marinades. I am a prime ingredient in curry and garam masala. A few of my seeds steeped in boiling water makes a soothing tea that will aid digestion. Sometimes you will find me used as a replacement for ginger or cinnamon. I am a good source of potassium and also provide calcium, iron and zinc. What I am?

I know you’re not going to believe this, and though I’m not sure I can explain it, I speak the truth. I AM MANY DIFFERENT PLANTS!! I know .. I know .. But please, let me try to explain. Originally I was a direct descendent of the maranata originating in South America, Brazil most likely. Spreading fast through the West Indies and Europe, I was soon to be found in every tropical region of the world, and then, well, everywhere. Then it happened. Other tuberous roots started making me! How am I supposed to remain clear when my name is so clouded up? Everyone’s jumped into the “my name” game. Rhizome, rootstock, corm and tuber, jumped on the bandwagon, even stems use my name. Fern like Zamia, coontie and comfortroot in the USA, Musa in the West Indies, and some ginger relative in East India all make me. Want more? Cassava in Brazil, palm in the South Pacific, My spotted arum version has some very colorful names including cuckoopoint (ENG), skunk cabbage (USA), and hare’s bread (FRA). Get it? It’s hard to remain clear and thick in times of such stew. I know it’s easy for you to swallow, after all I’m just starch, but it’s a poison tip to me. When I’m not figuring out who I am, you’ll find me in cakes, flours, gravies, soups, puddings, curing and/or creating wounds, or just hanging out in the cool water.  What Am I?

One of my earliest appearances is estimated to have been around 3400 BC. My first sighting was in Tehuacan that is south of Mexico. Almost immediately someone spotted me in Peru. Today I am primarily cultivated in South America and Europe. For the most part I am a long trailing or climbing plant, but a few of my relatives do the bushy thing. Yellow flowers and large shallowly lobed leaves protect me from the elements and snoopy passers-by. As a member of the cushaw family I have a smooth, nutty taste that is well complimented by cinnamon or nutmeg. By category, winter is in my name, but I am harvested during two other seasons. When harvested in summer I am tender and best suited for stewing, boiling, or baking in a pie. When I am harvested in autumn it is often fashionable to split me in half, parboil me (yooouch!), then stuff and bake me. My second harvest yields good meat for jams, preserves, or pickles. I am best when 10 to 12 inches long and about 5 inches in diameter. With a body shaped like a pear, my pale, tan, smooth skin peels easily to reveal my beautiful, finely textured, sweet, orange flesh (stay away if my skin is tinted green; it means I’m not yet ready). I am a great source of beta-carotene I am also a good source of Iron and Riboflavin along with vitamins A & C. Most likely you will enjoy me in one form or another on your turkey table today. What Am I?

I am the flavor. Others are jealous. They call me misfit, fat, short and stubby. But when it comes to taste they know who’s boss. My immediate family has origins in the Baltic Regions of Russia, and South America. It is sad but most likely true that I arrived in the United States in a horse’s feed bag. From these most humble beginnings it’s somewhat hard to believe that my pinkish-red skin would dazzle taste buds several generations later. It is also true that when compared to my siblings, I am rounder, and shorter. OK I admit it, I’m not exactly what my variety implies. While my smooth, moist yellow flesh is a show stopper on its own, eaters are consistently amazed with my interior streaking of pink. And my flavor, Oh, that nutty, rich, earthy flavor just can’t be beat. This makes me possibly the prettiest and tastiest tuber on the planet. As if all that is not enough, I hail from France, so good taste and good looks are simply natural to me. Best when baked whole and consumed warm for maximum flavor, I can also be roasted, steamed, grilled, fried, and sautéed, to reveal my creamy flesh and nutty flavor. No butter, sour cream, or bacon bits are needed on me, I’ll shine plain and simple. Keep me cool and dry and I will last a season or two. Get me wet and warm and I’ll grow purple tipped eyes to watch you. An excellent source of potassium, and when fresh a good source of vitamin C. I also contain good amounts of copper, folic acid, magnesium, and iron. What Am I?

I’m often called a homely tuber, and being thin-skinned doesn’t help. Some people consider me a cross between a potato and an apple. My roots can be traced back to the days of the Aztecs and Incas, and I have always been very popular throughout Central and South America. Today I am also grown in Asia. Although I am a legume, I am grown mainly for my tuberous roots. I have a nubby, pointed end, white juicy flesh, and a thin fibrous dusty brown skin. When full grown I can be as large as one foot in diameter, and weigh as much as 22 pounds, but I am usually dug up when I am about 5 inches in diameter and about 35 pounds. Cold kills, so you won’t find us in regions that have frost. Don’t even think about growing us anywhere North of the Texas Oklahoma border. I have two varieties: pachyrhizus tuberosus & pachyrhizus erosus (the second is the one you usually see). I have a sweet nutty flavor. While I’m watery when young my older, dried up relatives are usually ground into flour. I maintain my crispness when cooked. I get a beautiful tan and taste very sweet when deep fried. I can also be simmered in soup or sliced raw into salads, baked, steamed, boiled, or mashed. Use me like water chestnuts or grate as a passable (milder) daikon radish substitute. Loaded with starch, I am also high in vitamin C, and I have some iron.  What Am I?

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