Horticultural is a weblog devoted to gardening on a London allotment (these days there are weblogs about everything under the sun, or not under the sun as is often the case in London), and a week ago it featured a post about a strangely shaped cucumber (see Strange fruit).
The Chinese cauliflower
While on holiday in France last month I came across a strangely shaped vegetable. It was labelled Chinese cauliflower, and was so weird that I photographed it (see right). I passed up the chance to try it at the time, but now I can’t help wondering what it tastes like. Could its taste be as unusual as its shape? I wonder.
PS – I didn’t know cucumber was a fruit. What exactly is the difference between fruit and veg?
Kevin,
Good question. A fruit has everything to do with reproduction. The botanical definition of a fruit is a ripened ovary – it is the result of fertilization. The dictionary defines a fruit as the pulpy flesh that surrounds seeds. Having said that, today a fruit is defined by its sweet flavour. A vegetable doesn’t have a botanical definition and can be any part of the plant: fruit, root, stem, leaf, etc. Therefore, some vegetables can also be classified as a fruit, like the cucumber and the tomato. Does that help?
Meredith beat me to it!