I have recently been introduced to two different foods that I never knew existed. Sweet Chocolate Peppers (bell peppers that have ripened from green to a dark chocolate brown color) and Pineberries. I caught my first glimpse of chocolate peppers at the East Lansing Farmers Market this morning and was immediately drawn to them. The smoothness of the pepper and the dark mocha color made the unique vegetables almost appear to be a 3-D chocolate bar you might find in Willy Wonka's factory. Yet, it was simply a pepper. A beautiful, brown, sweet, pepper. Chocolate peppers are beautiful but what has really captured my attention recently is the relatively new fruit, the pineberry. It looks identical to a strawberry except that it is white with little red seeds and it taste like pineapple! I first saw a picture of the fruit via a twitter post last week and I have been meaning to look it up every since. According to wikipedia (and yes, despite what the faculty at MSU thinks, I still consider wikipedia a credible source):
Pineberries were bred from a wild strawberry originating in South America where it grew wild, but was nearly extinct until 2003, when a group of Dutch farmers banded together to save the plant. The Pineberry is said to have the same genetic makeup as the common strawberry.
I don't think pineberries are sold in the US just yet, but when they are, you bet I'm going to get my hands on some!
Forget grapples (grape apples), I want some pineberries!
- Lizzie
"I want it to be sunny so I can have champagne lager and pineberries in the park." - Sarah