Kohlrabi is a biennial vegetable, a low, stout cultivar of wild cabbage. Its unique name is derived from the German word for cabbage (kohl) and turnip (rabi). The kohlrabi originates from the northeast of Europe. Its consumption has stayed mainly in this area, while in others it is hardly known. The first description of kohlrabi … Read more
Artichoke also called globe artichoke is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as a food. Native to the western and central Mediterranean, the artichoke was domesticated and carried to the eastern Mediterranean in ancient times, though it was then valued for its young leaves rather than the immature flower heads. The artichoke is … Read more
Zucchini also called courgette, variety of summer squash. Zucchini like all squash has its ancestry in Central and South America. It was brought to the Mediterranean by Christopher Columbus around 500 years ago. However, the varieties of squash typically called “zucchini” were developed in northern Italy in the second half of the 19th century. The … Read more
Celery is a type of vegetable, often used in salad. It is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery is believed to be the same plant as selinon, mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey about 850 B.C. Our word “celery” comes from the French celeri, which is … Read more
Cauliflower is one of the cultivated varieties of the cabbage plant family and is closely related to broccoli. The cauliflower originally came from Cyprus. In the 1st century AD, Pliny included what he called cyma among his descriptions of cultivated plants in Natural History: “Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma,” (“Of all the varieties … Read more
Broccoli is an annual or biennial vegetable belonging to the cabbage family. The word “broccoli” comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means “the flowering crest of a cabbage”, and is the diminutive form of brocco, meaning “small nail” or “sprout.” Broccoli has been around for more than 2000 years. Like the other close … Read more
Asparagus is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial plant species in the genus Asparagus. A distant cousin of the onion, the distinguished asparagus is also a member of the lilaceae family. Its history goes back as far as that of the leek and has been consumed for over 2000 years. This garden plant originated in … Read more
A pumpkin is a cultivar of a squash plant, most commonly of Cucurbita pepo, that is round, with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and deep yellow to orange coloration. A pumpkin, from a botanist‘s perspective, is a fruit because it’s a product of the seed-bearing structure of flowering plants. Vegetables, on the other hand, are the … Read more
Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). In 1887, U.S. tariff laws imposed a duty on vegetables, but not on fruits. This meant the status of tomatoes become … Read more