I think the questions are hard. But there's some good information. That's why I pass them along on this and several other lists.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sherri Crum Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 6:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [RecipesAndMore] Re: Food Trivia quiz 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
