I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam!

I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam! Sweet potatoes and yams are very different animals. Yams are tropical tubers known to grow seven feet long with flanges like toes whose skins are like a slick, thin blackish brown bark and the flesh ranges in color from off white to crimson to burgundy. Grown in South America, Africa and the Caribbean, the meat is fairly dry, starchy and not as sweet as the sweet potato we grow in the U.S. (see Boniata or ñame – yam?).
The sweet potato got its name from shrewd marketers. Columbus was given the root of a morning glory variant by Taino tribesman on St. Thomas, who called it batata which begat patata and potato. Early American colonists cultivated the sweet potato as a staple and animal fodder – premium Virginia hogs are fed sweet taters and goobers to yield prize-winning hogs. White potatoes, tubers of the nightshade family, first in arrived in Europe with the conquistadors, then came to the colonies in the 17th century and began to overtake the orange fleshed root in popularity; it is now the world’s 4th largest food crop. In order to differentiate the two, and increase consumption, the moniker “sweet potato” was born. The yam name came from the African nyami, which was similar to a root consumed by slaves in their homelands.
Cogito ergo spud “I think, therefore I yam” Herb Caen

Is this my artichoke or yours?

Artichokes are one of the world’s monstrosities, according to Pliny, which must in part contribute to its favor as something enjoyed by the decadently wealthy throughout history. Charlemagne ordered them to be planted in his realm; Catherine di Medici re-introduced them to the court table. The globe artichoke, which is now the most commonly eaten variety, is a member of the family known as thistles; those spiky stalked asters are also kin to the sunflower (French girasole) one of whose number gives us the root tuber known as the Jerusalem Artichoke. The globe is generally consumed before the spiny purple flower blooms, the leaves and the hearts being the preferred parts. Usually steamed or blanched, the leaves are often dipped in sauces and the tender insides and bottoms are eaten. The delicate hearts can be eaten many ways: in dips, with pasta, pickled, in salads or any way your heart desires. Low in fat and calories, high in fiber, they are also full of minerals and compounds that remove toxins from the blood to improve the health of many vital organs.
“Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke.” Margo Channing

A rose by any other name

“Ever since Eve gave Adam the apple, there has been a misunderstanding between the sexes about gifts”

Nan Robertson

Ah the apple, the world’s favorite fruit has been around since the Garden of Eating, er, Eden. Actually, apples seem to have traveled with nomads from Kazakhstan to the Nile valley over 10,000 years ago and seeds are present in Iron Age burial grounds. The apple is a member of the rose family and is the seedpod formed after the blossom falls. In many cultures, the word for apple translates as a generic term for an edible fruit or vegetable: pomme de terre, pomme d’amour, pomodoro; this is why the confusion exists about the apple as the forbidden fruit: it really could have been figs or any number of fruits. Over 7500cultivars of apples are known; in the U.S., we commercially grow about 100 of them. China is the largest producer and apple pie maker, we’re #2. An apple a day can lower risks of cancer – an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamin C, and fiber, they’ll keep you fit and trim – ask your doctor!

We’re going bananas over here!

We’re going bananas over here! Bananas are among the most wonderfully useful plants known to man: they have been used for food, clothing and shelter for over 10,000 years! Archaeologists have found remnants of banana cultivation in New Guinean digs dating to the ninth millennium B.C. They found their way into Buddhist texts by 600 B.C. and into the mouth of Alexander the Great in his conquest of western India. Early bananas had hard seeds inside; the popular “Cavendish” variety has removed this inconvenience. This cousin of the plantain also starts out hard and starchy, but its meat becomes soft and sweet as it ripens. The fibers of the plant have been used for centuries to produce textiles as fine as silk and as strong as canvas. Extremely high in vitamins and minerals, the banana has been called the nearly perfect food: low in fat, high in fiber, it high in simple carbohydrates, which are useful to animals that aren’t sedentary. There are over 300 varieties of bananas, some of which grow to over 50’ in height in less than a year! Bananas mature about three months from the time of flowering, with each bunch producing about 15 "hands" or rows. Each hand has about 20 bananas while each bunch will yield about 200 "fingers" or bananas. An average bunch of bananas can weigh between 80 and 125 pounds (35 to 50 kilograms). The world grows nearly 80 million tons annually, with India producing over 20% of the total, so eat up!

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana” Groucho Marx

Let's Get Started!

How can you really live without fresh fruits and vegetables? You can't ... Not really?

Now I love beef (and I have no plans to stop eating pastrami), but beef can't be produced with out produce. Beef.org At http://www.beef.org/resoMeatProductionisWasteful.aspx, disputes many claims about how the production of Beef wastes foodstuffs and deprives the poor of nutritional essentials, citing and wrangling with many scientific studies . As an economist I see validity to both sides of the argument; as a gourmand, I see that beef cannot be produced without nature's garden. The food chain begins and ends with plants; after we die, do we not push up daisies?

Let's talk about why we love our fruits and vegetables...

In the U.S. the summer hosts some of the most wonderful fruits and vegetables that are only available fresh at this time of year: stone fruits. Though in winter they are also available from the southern hemisphere, likewise that season is inevitably short, so take advantage of the bounty while it is in bloom. Among the stone fruits are cherries, http://www.cherrymkt.org/ ; peaches, http://www.scpeach.com/default.asp, nectarines, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectarine ; apricots, http://www.califapricot.com/ ; and plums, http://www.uga.edu/fruit/plum.htm . (For further reading on "Plum", see P.G. Wodehouse, http://www.wodehouse.org/ ). For me, the stone fruit is one of the many examples why fresh produce makes eating so exciting: the best of it is only available in short bursts, so enjoy it while it is ripe and when the season is over move on to the next season and enjoy another fruit or vegetable; if you use this maxim in your planning, your menu will never be dull and your palate will always be pleased.

Let’s develop a fruitful relationship; please reply with your thoughts and comments.

And remember to Eat Joe Veggies!

Veggie Joe