Some things you might not know about artichokes:
- are in the same family as lettuce.
- are a kind of thistle
- The core of the artichoke stem is edible as well – don’t throw it away!
- If you cook artichokes in an aluminum pot it will turn the pot grey.
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Some things you might not know about figs:
- There are about 800 species of figs.
- The ‘fruit’ that we eat is not a fruit, but actually a collection of flowers called an inflorescence.
- These flowers grow on the inside of the ‘fruit’.
- Each species of fig is usually pollinated by its own species of wasp in a symbiotic relationship.
- It is thought that figs could be the oldest cultivated crop (preceding wheat and rye by up to 1000 years).
- Figs have a higher quantity of fibre than any other dried or fresh fruit.
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Some things you might not know about capers:
- native to the Mediterranean basin
- are the pickled or salted flower buds of the plant Capparis spinosa L.
- caperberries are semi-mature fruit that have been pickled
- the strong flavour is largely due to the presence of mustard oil.
- capers have been known for thousands of years and were mentioned in the writings of Pliny the Elder.
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Some things you might not know about artichokes: