[food quiz] know your fruit & veges

1] Rich in vitamin C, derived from a wild mustard plant, Cato the Elder praised this vegetable for its medicinal properties, declaring that "it is first of all the vegetables" and thus it is our first this evening.

2] From the nightshade family, was first captured and domesticated in southern Peru and northern Bolivia, had a part in the disaster of 1845 and bears white to purple flowers with yellow stamens.

3] The elephant garlic and Egyptian kurrat are also in this family, are hardy -many varieties can be left in the ground during the winter to be harvested as needed, essential to vichyssoise.

4] Status disputed, also from the nightshade family, as are its close cousins tobacco and chili peppers, has a weak, woody stem that often vines over other plants, possibly not grown in England until the 1590s.

5] Contains no fat, very few calories and a great source of fibre, can be peeled, steamed and then eaten warm with butter, extracts obtained from the roots are used industrially as red food colourants, good for for fevers and constipation.

6] Often eaten boiled with roast dinner, particularly at Christmas, contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre, are believed to protect against colon cancer, due to their containing sinigrin, hated by some.

7] Member of the Brassicaceae family, relatives include the mustards and turnip, summer varieties include "Rainbow Mix", red, white and purple, "Cherry Bell" and "Flamboyant Sabina" which is cylindrical, winter varieties include "Black Spanish Round".

8] A biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, is a domesticated form of Queen Anne's lace, the β-carotene is metabolized by humans into vitamin A, can be used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsilitis.

9] Provides more than one fifth of the calories consumed by humans in their global diets, can be grown practically anywhere, even on steep hillsides, is controversial due to talc coating and processing and is the 66th Secretary of State.

10] Our Lady of Thermidor, used to take baths full of them to keep the full radiance of her skin.

Fontenelle, gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to them, considered poisonous in Argentina until the mid-nineteenth century.

Answers here.