Good morning everyone and Pete… time for another post which is this crazy idea from one of my fellow scribes …but food fun…this week its food that ends with the letter T…this letter is similar to S in so much that you can find many words ending in nut, beet, root, plant, fruit …Which meant I could choose many words so I have tried to find foods which don’t have the addition of those words but are a fruit, vegetable or term in their own right although there are some exceptions…all good fun once again!

Arhat:

A fruit native to Southern China and here in Northern Thailand…named after the Buddhist monks who first cultivated the fruit centuries ago it is also known as Monk Fruit or Buddha Fruit.

Arrowroot :

Arrowroot powder is a versatile ingredient and often used in gluten-free recipes. Arrowroot powder is extracted using simpler, more traditional methods, without the use of high heat or harsh chemicals, unlike cornflour.

Gaining in popularity in the Western world as a thickener… people are looking for substitutes and alternatives to cornstarch, either due to corn allergies and sensitivities or to avoid anything GMO and pesticide-laden.

Not only a thickener it can also be used in baking…blended with other flours for desserts and baking bread…arrowroot mixed with dried herbs can be used as a coating to your fried chicken.

Just be aware that you cannot substitute it on a 1:1 ratio..think gloopy mess trust me I know x…If replacing cornstarch start with a 1/3-1/2 ratio until you get your desired consistency.

Blackcurrant:

I have happy memories of picking blackcurrants with my grandma for her jam making and the purple fingers and mouth she used to tell me I ate more than I picked. Something I can’t get here even dried not sure why that is…The blackcurrant is packed with vitamin C and I envy anyone who has bushes in their garden…I can remember the taste and that little pop of sour…

Carrot:

An orange root vegetable although it does come in other colours purple(my fav), black, yellow, white and red it is instantly recognisable I would think…That crunchy, tasty highly nutritious vegetable is a staple in my kitchen it can be boiled, steamed, roasted made into soups, added to sets and casseroles, slaws are just eaten raw with hummus and don’t forget carrot cake …heaven… my daughter had a carrot cake as her wedding cake in Jamacia…not your ordinary carrot cake slightly more decorative and sumptuous…

Carrots are a particularly good source of beta carotene, fibre, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants. They also have a number of health benefits the perfect health food…

Candlenut:

I have heard of candlenut but know little to none about it…Difficult to establish where the Candlenut is native to due to it being quite early on distributed throughout the new and old world tropics…it has quite a varied past and many names around Asia…Wikipedia

Chaat:

Chaat or chat is a savoury snack that originated in India, typically served at roadside tracks from stalls or food carts across the Indian subcontinent in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Chestnut:

Roasted chestnuts I have early memories of chestnuts being roasted in the embers of the fire or on bonfire night in the ashes…later in life when I was taken to London by my aunt and Uncle it was a treat to buy them from the kerbside vendors…indeed they can also be found roasted in a similar way here…it is only as I have become more of an experimental cook that I have used chestnuts in my cooking.

Is it a fruit or a nut?

Botanically, most nuts are the seeds of a fruit, while true nuts — such as chestnuts, acorns, and hazelnuts — are fruits in and of themselves.

My favourite chestnut is the water chestnut…the one you find in Chinese dishes that lovely crisp bite they don’t have a hard shell-like the chestnuts of my childhood but a soft black skin…

Healthwise…they can be eaten: boiled, roasted, and dried, or in the form of jam, flour, soups, in pasta dishes, in cakes and desserts… They are also excellent sources of vitamins and minerals (such as manganese, molybdenum, copper and magnesium).

Of course, there were also the fruits of the horse chestnut...Who remembers playing conkers as a kid…it was such fun until the health and safety brigade got involved…I mean I have had few black eyes from a conker but it never killed me and now…I’m not even going to get started…

Confit:

Seems to be quite fashionable now especially on TV cookery shows…Confit is any type of food that is cooked slowly over a long period of time as a method of preservation. Confit is a cooking term to describe food cooked in grease, oil or sugar water, at a lower temperature, as opposed to deep-frying.

Eggplant:

Eggplants, aubergines or brinjal are all one and the same depending on where in the world you hail from…a low-calorie vegetable which provides a range of nutrients and fibre…very popular in the Meditteranean and also in Asia…

Here in Thailand eggplants are used in curries, dips, eaten raw my favourite are those little purple ones eaten raw…or the big, purple glossy one can be grilled with parmesan, made into a moussaka, or sliced and layered into a lasagne…one of my favourite ways is brined with cabbage…

Pak Dong…Is Thai pickled cabbage which comes in many forms from just cabbage or cabbage and green onions this version has added small yellow eggplants…

Ingredients:

• 1 white cabbage. cut or torn into pieces.
• 8 large spring onions chopped
• 12-15 sm yellow eggplants halved
• Coarse Salt.

Let’s Pickle:

Layer Cabbage, Onions, eggplants and salt in the dish add a little water. Mix it all together with your hands.

We then leave the dish covered on the kitchen top or in the sun for 1 day.

Then drain and lightly rinse and add more salt if required. Cover and leave for 2/3 days or until it reaches your ideal taste. With pickled cabbage, it is purely down to personal taste some like it saltier or sour more than others. Just play with it and you will soon discover your ideal version.

My daughter in law who is Thai doesn’t like it as sour as we do… she doesn’t like the Winegar taste as she puts it… Once it reaches your required taste it is ready to eat.

This recipe is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Kumquat:

A kumquat is an edible, orange-like fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. Though the citrus fruit resembles an orange in shape and colour, it’s actually quite small—about the size of an olive. Typically, kumquats are round or oblong.

Kurrat:

Kurrat, or Egyptian leek (Arabic: كراث‎), is grown in the Middle East for its leaves. It is closely related to elephant garlic and leeks and is generally regarded as being in the same species, though it is also commonly listed as Allium kurrat.

Kurrat is a very popular vegetable in Egypt and other Mediterranean countries. Kurrat was found in an Egyptian tomb and has been cultivated for at least 2000 years ago.

Lotus Root:

A popular vegetable in Asia…Lotus roots are usually sliced crosswise to reveal their attractive pattern of holes. They are traditionally added to soups and stews or simply stir-fried, as well as braised in soy sauce. They can also be thinly sliced and added raw to salads. Another favourite way of enjoying them is deep-fried into chips.

Loquat:

What is the difference between a Kumquat and a Loquat? Loquats are in the Rosaceae family the same as apples, pears, peaches and nectarines. Kumquats are a citrus fruit — think of them as the small, tart cousins to the more popular sweet orange. … Both are little orange-coloured oval fruits…

The Loquat is native to China …the seeds, and leaves are packed with powerful plant compounds and have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years.

Mangetout:

Flat pea pods are also known as snow peas or sugar peas…eaten whole either in stir-fries or curries they are picked while very young …a good source of B1 (thiamin) and folic acid. And because you eat the whole pod, mange tout is a greater source of the antioxidant vitamins A and C than ordinary peas. They are also an excellent source of dietary fibre.

Cons: Overcooking will deplete the nutritional value.

Pluot:

A fruit name I wasn’t familiar with…it is a hybrid fruit…Plumcots…are 50-50 crosses between plums and apricots a Pluot is more plum than apricot and has a smooth skin.

Rocket:

Rocker or Arugula is a leafy vegetable known for its fresh, tart and peppery taste…of Meditteranean origin, it is a low growing annual herb. Fresh salad rocket is one of the greens rich in folates. 100 g of fresh greens contain 97 µg or 24% of folic acid.

Salt:

Often the subject of discussion and portrayed as the villain and that which we should restrict in our diets BUT we can’t live without salt…salt is actually an important nutrient for the human body. Your body uses salt to balance fluids in the blood and maintain healthy blood pressure, and it is also essential for nerve and muscle function.

Salt is also an essential ingredient in cooking…

Salt is also a whole post…in the meantime here is one of Sally’s posts on Salt and as always interesting and factual…

Sculpit:

Is an Italian green often called stridolo, it has long, thin lance-like leaves that can be chopped and added to egg dishes, risotto, salads, soups, and even pizza.

Yeast:

Yeast is a single-celled fungus. … It takes 20,000,000,000 (twenty billion) yeast cells to weigh one gram, or 1/28 of an ounce, of cake yeast. A tiny organism with a long name. The scientific name for the yeast that baker’s use is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, or “sugar-eating fungus”. A very long name for such a tiny organism ..an essential ingredient in baked goods and bread…

That’s all for today I hope you have found something interesting and unknown…I hope Pete can oblige with something I haven’t mentioned ending in T…I am so kind to Pete…haha..x

Next week it will be culinary terms ending in the letter U…Yuzu…

Stay safe, have fun and laugh a lot as you know what I am going to say it is free and proven to be good for your health…..Laughter aside…My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who have been or will be touched by this Covid-19 virus…the new lockdowns and restrictions..stay safe be aware and social isolate where required and we will beat this thing…xx

Thank you so much for your visit today I hope you have enjoyed the read…Please feel free to leave a comment as you know I love to chat…Love Carol xxx