# Biggest Vegetable or Fruit Surprise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668 "2010-03-16T16:52:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/21 "2010-03-17T03:02:52Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I’ve never actually eaten it, but those kooky frogs actually fry radishes in butter then eat them warm… > > For me, the dissonance on that one is almost too great to overcome. I’m not knocking it, since I’ve never tasted , but everytime I try to imagine it… well, it just doesn’t quite plumb. I mean, I love fresh crispy sharp and hot radishes with some salt, but I don’t want them cooked… They’re actually really good that way. I’m like you - I always think of radishes as something to eat raw. Then I went to a restaurant that served them braised, in a side dish with lentils. They were AMAZING. Now I throw 'em in braises all the time. They’re like little slightly spicy mini-turnips. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/22 "2010-03-17T03:34:02Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Gnocchi in a brown butter/hazelnut sauce, with sauteed greens, goat cheese, and diced **pear**. It was awesome. Perfect texture and flavor contrast with the rest of the dish. (I had this over the weekend at [Bouchon](http://www.bouchonbistro.com/) in Las Vegas, mmm…) I’ve been trying to come up with a different way with gnocchi. Thanks - this looks amazing! > [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Ever tried tossing the leaves in oil and kosher salt and baking it until it dries out? Kale chips! This sounds great! I’ve been munching on roasted seasoned seaweed - tasty, but not cheap. I’m off in the morning to the grocery store for some kale! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/23 "2010-03-17T03:35:07Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > There is gumbo without (blasphemy, I know). I’m very happy I can eat yummy gumbo without yucky okra, though I liked it when I was really young. Traditionally, when okra is not in season gumbo is thickened with file powder. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/24 "2010-03-17T03:41:32Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’ve been trying to come up with a different way with gnocchi. Thanks - this looks amazing! I think it was a reddish pear; the texture was definitely firm and grainy on the little cubes. The gnocchi used was the thinner tubular type, melt-in-your-mouth soft, yet each piece was browned on one side. The description, in case it gives you more inspiration, was “Gnocchi à la Parisienne: sautéed gnocchi with a fricassée of vegetables & beurre noisette.” The goat cheese lumps and pear were a happy surprise, and so perfect. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/25 "2010-03-17T04:19:23Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > There is gumbo without (blasphemy, I know). I’m very happy I can eat yummy gumbo without yucky okra, though I liked it when I was really young. Other than the file-powder gumbo, which has been mentioned, there is also a third category of gumbos which are roux-based. ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/26 "2010-03-17T10:59:39Z")
My broccoli surprise was that I like the stalks much more than I like the florets. I thought I didn’t like black olives as well, but it turned out that it was just the unripe-artificially-coloured ones. And the bane of my childhood, frozen green beans, turned out to be edible once I found out that they could be sautéed with Indian spices. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/27 "2010-03-17T11:06:35Z")
Many, many examples. I was raised by a mother who thought no veggie was good enough until it was cooked to death! So I grew up thinking I _hated_ veggies! Imagine my surprise when, in my teen years, salad bars came into vogue. That’s when I found out that I like a _lot_ of veggies if they are either raw or just _lightly_ cooked. Broccoli? Yep. As long as it’s raw (in a salad or with dip) or so lightly steamed that it’s still crispy. Spinach? As a base for a salad (with crumbled bacon, ripe tomatoes, diced hard-cooked eggs, and either ranch or blue cheese dressing, thanks!), it rocks! Cabbage? Sucks when it is cooked (not to mention that it makes the whole house smell like dirty diapers), but in a cole slaw, excellent! Peas? Yes, please! But only _baby_ peas. Raw in a salad, or lightly steamed with some salt and butter. I also, oddly enough, like to add a small handful of raisins to my tossed salad/Chef’s salad, etc. The sweetness/chewiness balances the crunchiness of the veggies and the savoriness of the dressing. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Papaya is always a disappointment because it LOOKS so great. It’s so gorgeous and sweet and tropical-looking. Only, it isn’t. Agreed. I like almost _all_ fruits. Papaya _looks_ great, but tastes like perfume! ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/28 "2010-03-17T12:30:05Z")
Collards are surpisingly delicious. I’d never tried them until I was an adult, since they smelled so bad cooking. (Yet I love all the smelly vegetables.) Mulberries always disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/29 "2010-03-17T12:36:51Z")
> [@MissMossie](#): > > I misread the ‘t’ as an ‘f’ and that was going to be my biggest surprise. Does beef ravioli grow on trees or is it, perhaps, a root vegetable? I’m glad I reread your post before I wrote my own. No, my grade school used to serve something they called “Harvard Beets,” which were boiled, sliced beets served in thickened pickle juice or something. The most thrown-away dish on the menu. But then I had beet ravioli! Mashed beet filling with, I think, just a touch of mascarpone cheese, and a light butter sauce. It is divine. There was that episode of _The Patty Duke Show_ where Patty is trying to suck up to her eccentric old aunt who is going to make dinner and announces what they’re having; Patty mishears it as “beefsteak” and is all enthusiastic. “Oh, I love beefsteak!” No, auntie’s specialty is beetsteak. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/30 "2010-03-17T17:49:39Z")
The first time I had raw corn sliced into a salad. Ooooh! So yummy! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/31 "2010-03-17T18:36:39Z")
Flat Italian green beans blanched then roasted in the oven with salt, pepper, and olive oil till lightly brown are a whole other vegetable. You can do the same with regular green beans, too. Walmart sells canned greens (called Sensibly Seasoned) and I buy them and mix with a well drained can of spinach because they are really spicy. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/32 "2010-03-17T19:57:27Z")
Let’s see… my biggest was beets - I think I had canned beets once or twice as a kid, and going from that to roast whole beets, with a little gorgonzola sauce was a revelation; I probably do beets with more than 50% of my meals now… Homemade sauerkraut (and, in fact, anything cabbagy) was another - I never knew it could be anything but limp, smelly grossness. In fact, now that I think about it, anything where my first impression was my mom’s cooking… ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/33 "2010-03-17T20:20:59Z")
My wife brought home two pomelos the size of footballs. The yellow-green balls sat on the counter until yesterday morning when she stripped the thick rind and separated out the pink grapefruit- like sections. Sweeter than winter grapefruit, this is a new citrus fav for me. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/34 "2010-03-17T20:51:03Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > They’re actually really good that way. I’m like you - I always think of radishes as something to eat raw. Then I went to a restaurant that served them braised, in a side dish with lentils. They were AMAZING. Now I throw 'em in braises all the time. They’re like little slightly spicy mini-turnips. I’m going to have to try that. I’ve hated radishes ever since I chomped down on a huge raw radish during a particularly hungry moment as a child. It was so spicy it hurt my nose and made my eyes water. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/35 "2010-03-18T01:11:38Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I’m going to have to try that. I’ve hated radishes ever since I chomped down on a huge raw radish during a particularly hungry moment as a child. It was so spicy it hurt my nose and made my eyes water. So did Scarlett O’Hara - and she vowed never to be hungry again after that. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/36 "2010-03-18T01:34:32Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > They’re actually really good that way. I’m like you - I always think of radishes as something to eat raw. Then I went to a restaurant that served them braised, in a side dish with lentils. They were AMAZING. Now I throw 'em in braises all the time. They’re like little slightly spicy mini-turnips. > [@overlyverbose](#): > > I’m going to have to try that. I’ve hated radishes ever since I chomped down on a huge raw radish during a particularly hungry moment as a child. It was so spicy it hurt my nose and made my eyes water. Another thing that I have noticed about the “french fried”/braised radishes is that they seem to use a different variety of radish than is typically available in generic and supermarket/fruitstand ,“over the counter”, American quantities. They ideally seem to use the very young radishes of a variety that is oblong, or elongated, with just a tint of rose’ at the top and mostly white, kindo of looking like a turnip in duotone… they often fry them or braise them along with the radish greens leaves, too. I imagine they must be much more sweet and less spicy than the typical large round red spicy salad variety that is typical to the US. That’s another thing, sometimes between cultures, the same vegetables are not even the same vegetables, these french, fresh, radishes and American Radish cultivars or varieties are just the tip of the iceberg in vegetables that are much better outside the US because they are not genetically engineered for appeareance and yield… rather for flavor and locality.. For example Giant white radishes are common in Germany, and most Americans would not recognize them as such, although IMHO they are superior to “American Supermarket Radishes”. They go great sliced with some salt and vinegar, a honking Fresh Bread Bretzle and a litre of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/37 "2010-03-18T01:57:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Other than the file-powder gumbo, which has been mentioned, there is also a third category of gumbos which are roux-based. The roux-based type is the the one I’ve had. [They look a a bit like this.](http://www.southerngumbotrail.com/images/john%20laudun3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/38 "2010-03-23T04:34:16Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > For example Giant white radishes are common in Germany, and most Americans would not recognize them as such, although IMHO they are superior to “American Supermarket Radishes”. They go great sliced with some salt and vinegar, a honking Fresh Bread Bretzle and a litre of beer. That’s a German vegetarian Abendbrot or supper- Hell’d be a great lunch, for that matter… and beyond that, it is vegan. Unless you are a wacko vegan and don’t eat the meat of Yeast. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/39 "2010-03-23T04:41:58Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Ever tried tossing the leaves in oil and kosher salt and baking it until it dries out? Kale chips! I am so doing that this weekend! That sounds great \< to me, anyway \> I have to agree with the mustard greens. I tried to eat them solo and holy cow; I love spicy things but dang, those bit hard! I bet they’re great mixed with something else, though. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668/40 "2010-03-23T13:37:57Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Another thing that I have noticed about the “french fried”/braised radishes is that they seem to use a different variety of radish than is typically available in generic and supermarket/fruitstand ,“over the counter”, American quantities. They ideally seem to use the very young radishes of a variety that is oblong, or elongated, with just a tint of rose’ at the top and mostly white, kindo of looking like a turnip in duotone… they often fry them or braise them along with the radish greens leaves, too. I imagine they must be much more sweet and less spicy than the typical large round red spicy salad variety that is typical to the US. Maybe they are a different variety, but I can tell you, the plain ol’ round red radishes that are sold around here braise quite nicely. For what it’s worth, the color tends to fade, and they get white and/or pink as they cook - sometimes the duotone you mention - and the spiciness tends to mellow as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-vegetable-or-fruit-surprise/532668.md?page=3)