My name is Kathleen Raskin, and as a kid, I can remember learning about vegetables, fruits and other edible things. Orange was not only a fruit but the color of it. Potatoes are brown, and everything else you learn in kindergarten. There comes a point in life, however, that you learn that everything isn’t inside of a neat little box. Apples can be green and red. Grapes can be purple, red or green. It doesn’t quite destroy your world view, but it definitely turns your world upside down. I remember when my mom fed me my first blood orange. I was very confused, but then I took out some books in the library. I was amazed and I want to share some of my favorite ones with you.
Vegetables and Starches
One of my now favorites that I have discovered is purple potatoes. They have an incredible buttery taste without extra additives or fattening preservatives. Purple potatoes offer a host of awesome benefits from working as a healthy food-coloring agent to helping regulate blood pressure to aiding athletic performance and more. From there, you will want to explore the 16 varieties of sweet potatoes that you can use for various Thanksgiving recipes. If you have a furry little friend of the Lepus variety (a.k.a. a bunny), you could confuse them with red carrots and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Fruits
To me, the biggest example of how a fruit can mess with your mind, is the blood orange. Inside, or the flesh of the fruit, is a bright red, as if you were stabbing the sphere. The flesh develops its characteristic maroon color when the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night. Sometimes, dark coloring is seen on the exterior of the rind, as well, depending on the variety of blood orange. It is a hybrid, probably between the pomelo and the tangerine. There are plenty of others, too, like brown pears and so much more.
Oh yeah, there’s smelly food too
I’ve sat down after a day at work, and turned on a cooking show, and one of the secret ingredients was called durian. I had to look it up, thank goodness for being able to pause live television. It is considered the world’s smelliest fruit. Regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the “king of fruits”, the durian is identifiable for its large size, extremely strong and powerful odor, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness and it is used to flavor a wide variety of savory and sweet dishes in Southeast Asian cuisines. Whatever different odd food you are looking at, take it from me, Kathleen Raskin, you can find it out there.
