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Just had my first "lemon cucumber."
http://www.burpee.com/vegetabl...emon-prod000691.html

I had never even heard of them. The police chief brought a couple of bags of tomatoes, peppers, yellow squash, and these things to share with the county judge and me. I thought it was an heirloom tomato. Did a little research...country of origin unknown but thought to be Russia.

Oh...and the taste. Milder than a regular cucumber. And while it's generally not a problem for me anyway, I had no burps. DH said it still smelled like a cucumber and he didn't even try it.

TFS, I never heard of lemon cucumber before. Lucky you having someone willing to share their home grown vegetables.

When son was in elementary school, for show 'n' tell I would find "not your ordinary" fruits for him to take. About 20-22 years ago, all I had to do was let his teacher know that he had a cutting board and a knife in his backpack. (CAN'T do THAT NOW!) After he got his books situated, she put the backpack in her closet. Star fruit, mango, papaya, "blood" oranges, etc.

Some of them may not be unusual to you, but they were to little kids. (I don't like papaya or mango...)

YEARS ago, a fruit/veggie stand opened up in an old gas station garage in Ridley, PA... called Zagara's. They seemed to have every veggie/fruit you'd ever want, all year round. Eventually, expanded and opened a store in Marlton, NJ and then one "right up the road" from me. Kinda ancester to Whole Foods and Wegman's. On their opening day, I made a purchase to take to work for "show and tell"... stuff I had NEVER seen or tasted before. Bougth 3 leichis (spelling?), some "donut" peaches, something called a "finger" avocado, and a couple other things.

Yesterday was in favorite little Asian market and they had Dragon Fruit. Have seen them on cooking shows.. beautiful looking, told they taste a little like kiwi/pear. Didn't buy one... were almost $4 each, so passed.

About 15 years ago, I was traveling on business in San Francisco and stopped at the Ferry Street market where I had my first taste of locally grown Summerwhite peaches. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The flesh was pale white-pink with a scent like honey and jasmine. Unbelievable. I bought several to eat in my hotel room.

Since then, I have not found a white peach to rival the taste of that first one.

DH loves papaya but I don't care for it. I love mangoes but they have to be really sweet, some people eat them with salt when they are not really ripe. Guava is good too. Yuca is something I never had till I met DH, boiled is good but you haven't lived till you've eaten it cut up and fried like french fries. YUMMY!
Love fried sweet plantains too.

I've been a BIG fan of Gordon Ramsey's "H*ll's Kitchen" since it first aired years ago but tonight's episode stumped me - what is a "sunchoke?"

Just had some watermelon radishes, quite nice. They are pale green on the outside and pink/red on the inside. They look just like slices of watermelon when they are sliced.

I remember the first time I ate a red skinned pear. OH MY GOODNESS! It was like eating honey.

1st DH thought broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts were odd vegetables. If it didn't grow in their garden, it wasn't "regular" food. He found out that he liked them all.

quote:

Originally posted by 16paws:
Just had some watermelon radishes, quite nice. They are pale green on the outside and pink/red on the inside. They look just like slices of watermelon when they are sliced.

Oh, yeah!! I tried these for the first time last year at my local farmer's market. Incredibly crunchy, slightly peppery like Japanese daikon but, far more beautiful.

I was told that the early harvest ones are milder and sweeter than the late harvest radishes. Either way, they are a winner in my book.