Hi Jan, I didn't get any of them either--but I usually don't.
I do love to read them, however, and appreciate your passing them along. Thanks for sharing, and Happy New Year! Sherri On 1/4/09, Jan <[email protected]> wrote: > > I didn't get any of these so don't feel bad if you don't either. > Food Trivia Quiz > FoodReference.com > 1) Originating in Southeast Asia and India, cultivated for 5000 years, > this member of the cashew family can range in size from a plum to 5 > pounds. It is one of the most popular fruits in the world, but was > originally a small, fibrous, acrid, sometimes toxic fruit that tasted of > turpentine. Can you name this fruit? > > 2) I am native to all continents except Australia. Of my 450 varieties, > many are used for food. According to Greek legend, I was the staple food > of the Golden Age, although now I am mostly fed to animals. I was used > as a rather inferior coffee substitute during the American Civil War, > and I can be used to make a good flour. What am I? > > 3) The following paragraphs are all about one plant, can you guess what > it is? > This plant is an herb that most likely originated in and around Malaysia > some 4,000 years ago. It spread and developed many varieties over a wide > area from India to the Philippines and New Guinea. About 2000 years ago > travelers carried it eastward through the Pacific and westward across > the Indian Ocean to tropical Africa. > > Various sacred texts of Oriental cultures mention it. There are > references to it in the Hindu Mahabharata and the Ramayana of the poet > Valmiki. Buddhist writings mention a beverage made from it that Buddhist > monks were allowed to drink, and Yang Fu, a Chinese official of the 2nd > century A.D., describes it in his 'Encyclopedia of Rare Things'. > > Theophrastus, who wrote one of the first scientific botanical works > describes this plant in the 4th century B.C. Alexander the Great saw it > growing in the Indus Valley in 327 B.C. and Pliny the Elder describes it > in 77 A.D. The Arabs introduced it to Egypt, and it made its way > westward across the African continent. > > The Portuguese found it on Africa's Atlantic coast in the 15th century, > and Prince Henry the Navigator had some transplanted to the Portuguese > island of Madeira, where they still flourish. > > In 1516 Friar Tomas de Berlanga planted it in the islands of the > Caribbean. It made the trip to Britain from Bermuda in 1633, and the > Portuguese also introduced it to France, and it became common in the > 18th century. > > Its present name probably comes from one of the languages of the Congo > area. Today it is even grown in Iceland as a commercial crop, and world > production is spread out in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. > There seems to be some disagreement as to which is the world's largest > producer, either Brazil or Uganda. India follows, growing somewhat less > than half of Brazil's crop. The Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia, > Honduras, Tanzania, Rwanda, Indonesia, Thailand, Cote d'voire and > Vietnam are also important producers. > > It grows best in temperatures from 50 degrees F to 105 degrees F, and > requires 100-200 inches of annual rainfall. In some areas its sprouts > are covered and allowed to grow without sunlight so they mature into > thick, long spikes that resemble large white asparagus. Itss sap causes > extremely serious stains that are very hard to remove from both hands > and clothes! > ---Can you name the herbaceous plant described above? > > Answers > > 1) Mango. > > 2) Acorn. > > 3) Banana. In Iceland, bananas are grown in soil heated by geysers! The > banana "tree" is entirely herbaceous, it has no real trunk - what > appears to be the trunk is actually the leafstalks rolled tightly around > one another. Since it is herbaceous and has no real trunk, it is not > considered a tree by botanists. > > Courtesy of FoodReference.com. > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
