Nasturtium. A plant which is grown in many cottage gardens. It has yellow, red or orange flowers. Both the flowers and leaves are edible, having a peppery flavour.
Tamarind. A sour-sweet fruit, sometimes known as the Indian date, used as a souring agent. It comes in long, dry brown pods which look almost like dried broad bean pods. Inside is a long, segmented fruit, like a long brown caterpillar. Each segment contains a hard, shiny black seed. As the pods dry the fruit becomes sweeter. A visitor from Mauritius suggested shaking the tamarind and, if you could hear that the fruit had detached and was rattling a little inside the pod, you would find that the fruit was sweet. All you need to do is to remove the pod and then chew the fruit, discarding the seeds. It is also available mashed and formed into a pulpy block or as a juice. In this form it is used like lemon juice.
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.
Despite their name these tall, athletic hens are a true British breed of hen, thought to have been bred by crossing Old English Game with oriental fighting breeds such as Asods and Malays, primarly for cock-fighting. When this was declared illegal they started to be bred for the showing or as table fowl. They are ancestors of modern hybrid broilers. They are also known as Cornish Game.
Ivy gourd. A small crunchy gourd reminiscent of a gherkin, green ripening to red, popular in the cuisines of India, Thailand, Indonesia and other South East Asian countries. The shoots and leaves can also be eaten.
The Indian gooseberry is a sour fruit used in chutneys and preserves, but more frequently used for medicinal purposes than culinary.
Strawberry Blite. A small, red, mulberry-like fruit, this grows on sprawling plants which are primarily grown as greens for salads or used as a herb, though should not be used in quantity. The leaves may also be cooked like spinach but, again, in moderation. The pleasantly sweet but essentially bland berries are small, pulpy and bright red, resembling strawberries. They provide an interesting accent to salads. The is plant prefers cool weather and damp mountain valleys but will tolerate heat. Native Americans used to use it as a dye.
Jujubes. These are wrinkled, olive-shaped berries with a stone which grow on a shrub related to buckthorn. They ripen from green, through red to dark brown. It has sticky flesh slightly reminiscent of a date. They are mostly dried, crystallised or made into thick jelly like Turkish delight.
