Food Facts

Similar to a cross between a grape and a blueberry, the acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berry is a small, reddish-purple drupe consisting of a cluster of seeds, with only around 15 percent or so being edible, harvested from tall, slender palm trees found around the Amazon River basin of South America.

These berries are also quite perishable, but have significant nutritional attributes when eaten fresh…

Cultivated by the Aztecs 8,000 years ago and still a native crop in Peru, the ancient history of amaranth can be traced to Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Today, it’s grown in Africa, India, China, Russia, throughout South America, and emerging once again in North America.

Somewhat of an unknown quantity to many, amaranth is tall – often six feet – with broad green leaves, bright red or gold flowers, and around 60 different species…

Watermelons have reputed roots in Africa, with the first recorded harvest in Egypt somewhere around 5,000 years ago. From there, they were sprouted throughout Asia and Europe. Colonists brought seeds with them to the New World, where around four billion pounds of watermelons are now produced every year. It’s easily the best-loved fruit in America.

A member of the Cucurbitaceae family with – you guessed it – cucumber, as well as squash and pumpkin,…

Deliciously tangy and one of the most highly prized natural foods in South Asia, the tamarind – the melodic name of which comes from the Persian “tamar-I-hind,” meaning “date of India” – is gaining recognition and appreciation throughout the world. Said to be native to Africa,

this exotic fruit grows on exceptionally tall trees of the fabaceae family, such as peas, beans, and other legumes, mostly in the warmer, dryer areas of Asia, Mexico, and India.

With names like buttercup, banana, turban, Hubbard, along with various crook-necked and green and white striped varieties, squash is technically a fruit, belonging to the pumpkin family.

Squash varieties include butternut (pale orange and keyhole-shaped), acorn (green and squat), Hubbard (green and taller with tiny surface bumps), delicata (pale orange with thin, green horizontal stripes). When selecting…

Blueberries are distinctive in so many ways. Not only are they the only blue food, but there are also more blueberry species native to North America – the main ones being highbush, lowbush, and rabbiteye – than any other continent.

They’ve been abundant on the North American continent since the dawn of time, and were a staple in the Native American diet. When the first colonists arrived, they were shown how to gather blueberries, dry them in the sun, store them for winter, and perpetuate their growth.

While dates don’t appear to be particularly special with their oddly wrinkled, brown exterior, they’re satisfyingly chewy and flavorful. Undoubtedly a favorite since the Garden of Eden, dates are considered a drupe because they contain a single pit or stone at the center.

Date palms, which produce these little beauties, were brought to America’s Western coast by Spanish missionaries in the late 1700s…

There are hundreds of them – varieties of tomato, that is – tiny types like grape, plum, and cherry for snacking pleasure, firm, petite Romas, good for cooked foods, and hefty beefsteak, ideal for BLTs and burgers.

The colors can vary as well, from the palest pink to yellow, and even purple. Preparations of tomato are endless: sun-dried, fried green, stew, sauce, paste, ketchup, juice, Bruschetta, veggie soup, pizza, salsa, salad…

Some advice: refrigerating tomatoes halts the ripening process and diminishes the flavor and texture…

It’s ironic that even though the Aztecs probably used them as one of their staple crops, it may have been Spanish conquistadors who introduced tomatillos (which translates to “little tomatoes” in Spanish) to the New World, after first carrying them back to Spain.

Sometimes called husk cherries or tomato verde, tomatillos are a small, green Mexican fruit with a Japanese lantern-type shell surrounding it…

Grown in the Mediterranean region as far back as 2,000 B.C., beet cultivation spread to Babylonia in the eighth century, then to China around 850 A.D.

Beets, along with their greens, belong to the Goosefoot family, known as Chenopodiaceae. Within the botanical family, beet greens are factored alongside spinach, Swiss chard, quinoa…