Balsam apple. A small, cylindrical, knobbly, dark green vegetable of the gourd family with red flesh and a very bitter flavour. It lightens and turns yellow as it ripens. The bitterness can be reduced by salting before cooking or using in salads.
Melon baller. A kitchen implement with a wooden handle with a small sharp edged bowl at one end. This is used to scoop ball shapes from, particularly, melons but can also be used for other similarly textured foods such as cucumber. Larger ones are used for ice cream.
Candlenut. A round, waxy oil nut from Indonesia, they are rather similar to macadamias and can be substituted for them. They are roasted and crushed and then added to soups and curries to give texture and richness. They should always be cooked, as they are mildly toxic when raw.
"Barbary fig." Prickly pear. The delicious but risky fruit of a cactus. The sweet, juicy flesh ripens from green to a deep apricot-pink colour. It is sensible to use leather gloves when dealing with these fruit as they are covered in fine, penetrating prickles. They are normally eaten raw but can be cooked, with the edible seeds becoming hard with cooking.
