home > Kitchenware Ingredients Fruit - Information about Fruit from Start2Cook.co.uk         1) Cooking Ingredients 2) Information about Herbs and Spices 3) Information about Meat 4) Information about Vegetables 5) Information about Fruit 6) Cooking Techniques 7) Great Recipes 8) Cookware Kits 9) Cooking Utensils 10) Strainers And Colanders 11) Kitchen Gadgets and Gizmos 12) Whisks 13) Splatter Screens 14) Graters 15) Wooden Spoons 16) Can Openers 17) Peelers 18) Paring Knives 19) Pointed Knives 20) Bread Knives 21) Chefs Knives 22) Filleting Knifes 23) Cheese Knives 24) Vegetable Cutters 25) Corkscrews 26) Ice Cube Trays 27) Salt Pots and Pepper Pots 28) Serving Spoons 29) Serving Ladels 30) Slotted Food Turner 31) Fish Slices 32) Measuring Jugs 33) Egg Pancake Rings 34) Pastry Brushes 35) Slotted Spoons 36) Potato Mashers 37) Garlic Presses 38) Vegetable Peelers 39) Egg Slicers 40) Cutting Chopping Boards 41) Ice Cream Scoops 42) Fridge Freezer Thermometers 43) Meat Thermometers 44) Food Safety Covers 45) Corn Cob Holders 46) Food Handling Tongs 47) Cooling Racks 48) Spaghetti Servers 49) Apple Corers 50) Pizza Cutters 51) Spatulas 52) Measuring Spoons 53) Gas Lighters 54) Fizz Keeper Caps 55) Wine Saver Systems 56) Cookie Cutters 57) Timers 58) Skewers 59) Basting Stock Pots 60) Kitchen Weighing Scales 61) Silicon Bakeware 62) Pan Sets 63) Iced Lolly Moulds 64) Oven Trays 65) Cutlery Sets 66) Stock Pots 67) Baking Trays 68) Pressure Cookers 69) Roasting Racks 70) Grill Pans 71) Sandwich Tins 72) Bun Cake Baking Trays 73) Griddles 74) Pizza Crispers 75) POTS AND PANS 76) CUTTING CHOPPING PREPARING 77) STIRING AND SERVING 78) SUPER FAST COOKING 79) ROASTING IN THE OVEN 80) WEIGHING AND MEASURING 81) OVEN BAKING 82) FRIDGE AND FREEZER TOOLS 83) DRINKING AND WINE TOOLS 84) ANTONY WORRALL THOMPSON 85) Food Storage 86) Potato Ricer 87) Popular Products > Apple Grown in temperate regions, apples are one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. There are over 7,000 varieties in existence, many of which are grown in Britain but, despite that, only around 12 varieties are commonly sold in UK supermarkets, of which many are imported. Colours range from red, to yellow and green, but all varieties fall into one of two categories: eating, also sometimes called dessert apples (including Cox's Orange Pippin, Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Braeburn, Gala, Pink Lady and Jonagold) or cooking, with the latter being more tart in flavour, a result of their higher levels of malic acid (the best is Bramley, though Blenheim Orange, Grenadier, Reverend W Wilkes and Ida Red are also available). The texture can be very crisp and juicy or more yielding, according to variety. All apples are a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as fibre.     > Apricot A relative of the peach, nectarine, plum and cherry, apricots are fragrant, with a soft, velvety skin that ranges from pale yellow to deep orange. Inside there's a large kernel that will fall out easily if the flesh is ripe. Apricots need a warm climate to thrive - in the summer most come from hot European countries, and there's also a short winter season for apricots grown in Chile and South Africa.     > Banana Probably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the Arabic for finger, 'banan'. There are a number of varieties, inluding red bananas (which have a yellow-pink skin and flesh) and the small sugar bananas, which are around 3 inches long. But the most commonly sold type in the UK is Cavendish - the longer ones tend to come from Latin America, as they pick them later, and the smaller ones from the Caribbean, where they pick earlier. All bananas are extremely nutritious; rich in potassium, riboflavin, niacin and fibre, and the rapid energy boost given by their high sugar levels means that they're a great snack.     > Blackberry A purply black-coloured berry comprising many individual seed-containing fruits surrounding a cone-shaped core. Wonderfully juicy, they're good raw (straight from the hedge!) or cooked and are bursting with vitamin C. Wild, they're often called brambles.     > Blackcurrants The most intensely coloured and flavoured of all currants, blackcurrants are highly aromatic and have a delicious tart flavour. Recent research findings suggest that eating blackcurrants can help prevent the onset of Alzheimers disease.     > Blueberry Small, round, smooth-skinned and fleshy with tiny seeds, blueberries grow on shrubs on peaty moors and uplands, predominantly in North America and New Zealand. They have a balanced, tart and sweet flavour, although the cultivated type (which is what's mainly available in the UK) has a less intense flavour than the wild variety. The high levels of phytochemicals, which are thought to help protect against cancer and heart disease, mean blueberries are considered one of the top superfoods for good health.     > Bramley Apple A large, flattish cooking apple, green in appearance but sometimes with specks of red. The flesh is white, juicy and acidic and when boiled it turns into a frothy pulp making it what many consider the best cooking apple of all.     > Cherry One of the delights of the summer, cherries are much loved for their succulent texture, flavour and gorgeous good looks. The juicy flesh can be sweet or sour, depending on which of the hundreds of varieties they are. Cherries are divided into three groups: sweet, sour and hybrids.     > Clementine The smallest and sweetest variety of tangerine is sweet and tangy, contains no seeds and is recognisable by its loose, baggy bright orange skin. Tangerine segments can be eaten on their own or dipped in melted chocolate. The zest can be candied or used to flavour recipes.     > Coconut A large hairy, brown nut that grows on the coconut tree, found throughout the world's tropical islands and countries. The coconut tree is known as the 'Tree of Life' given its usefulness: its wood is used for furniture and building, its branches make great thatched roofs, and its nuts for eating and drinking. Inside the nut is white flesh which is used in both sweet and savoury dishes. The creamy milk commonly used in curry sauces and rice dishes does not actually come from the milky liquid in the centre of the nut, instead coming from the coconut milk and cream squeezed from the flesh.     > Cranberry A tart, ruby-red coloured berry which grows wild on shrubs throughout northern Europe and North America. High in vitamins C and D, potassium and iron they are believed to be a natural remedy for a host of health conditions. Cranberries come into their own around Christmas but are good for much more than accompanying the turkey. Their sour flavour lends itself well to both sweet and savoury dishes, as well as drinks.     > Damson A small fruit with vibrant dark blue skin and a strong, sour flavour, damsons are similar to plums and a member of the rose family. They have a large stone and are often juicy, but tend not be eaten raw due to the tartness of the flesh.     > Date Dates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits - it's thought that they were a staple part of the Babylonian diet 8,000 years ago. Grown in North Africa and Israel, there are several varieties, but only a handful are exported to Britian. Colours range from honey yellow, red to brown, the last of which is the most common. Available fresh or dried, they're very sweet, with a rich, deep flavour and a lush, slightly chewy texture. The mahogany brown Medjool variety is the sweetest, and tastes a little like toffee.     > Goji Berries Increasingly hailed as a superfood in the UK, goji berries have been eaten as a nutrionally rich food in China for around 2000 years. The bright red berries, sometimes called 'wolfberries', 'Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree' or 'Matrimony Vine", have a woody, slightly raisiny taste - a bit like cranberry. They are cultivated worldwide, with most imported from the Tibetan plateau and China. The berries are packed with vitamin C and antioxidants, 18 amino acids and 21 trace minerals - it's no wonder that some marketing claims that these are the most nutritionally rich fruit available.     > Gooseberry The size of large grapes, but with a more spherical shape, gooseberries are related to the blackcurrant, and have been a popular British fruit since as far back as Elizabethan times. Early in the season they are bright green, with a veined effect on the skin, and quite hard and tart - they are best for cooking with, in particular to make the classic English pudding, gooseberry fool. Later on, softer, sweeter varieties become available, often yellow or red coloured - they are good eaten raw. Some varieties have sparse, thin hairs.     > Grapefruit Named for the fact that the fruits grow in grape-like bunches, grapefruits are the largest citrus fruits, growing up to 18cm in diameter. Inside, the flesh is segmented, like an orange, though the flavour is more tart. They come in both seeded and seedless varieties and, although the skins are always yellow, sometimes with a faint blush of pink, the flesh varies from yellow-ish white through to pink and ruby red. Grapefruits are also a good source of fibre and vitamin C.     > Kiwi Fruit The brown and hairy exterior of this egg-shaped fruit doesn't look promising, but inside it's a different story - sweet, yielding, bright green flesh, prettily dotted with black seeds. The flavour is distinctive but hard to pin down - some say it's like strawberry, others say pineapple. Its named after the bird of the same name from Zealand, where it's also grown, though its other name, Chinese gooseberry, reflects its original country of origin. Very high in vitamin C, kiwi fruit is far better eaten raw - cooking it destroys the vitamin content and the green colour. The enzymes it contains makes it good for tenderising meat, but they'll also cause milk to curdle and will prevent gelatine and aspic from setting, so don't attempt kiwi ice cream or jelly.     > Kumquat It looks like a small, oval orange, but the kumquat, which originates in Asia, is a member of another species, fortunella. The flesh of a kumquat is quite dry and has a sharp flavour, while the skin is sweeter; the two different flavours complement each other well so that the fruit succeeds in both sweet and savoury dishes. The rind, flesh and pips of kumquats are all edible, though some people prefer to remove the pips.     > Lemon Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits around, and contain a high level of Vitamin C. Although the juicy yellow flesh is a little too sour to eat on its own, its citrus fragrance and tartness means it's wonderful combined with all manner of ingredients and dishes, from the sweet to the savoury. The bright yellow skin can be used as well, when zested. A kitchen essential.     > Lime The same shape, but smaller than lemons, with a bright green, fairly smooth skin, limes are highly aromatic and have a taste that's both stronger and slightly sweeter than lemons. Limes are an important ingredient in Mexican, Indian, Latin American and South-East Asian cookery. Three main types are available: Tahitian, which is the largest, with the most acidic flavour; Mexican, slightly smaller, very aromatic, and with a particularly bright green skin; and Key lime, which have a paler skin, a high juice content and a strong flavour. Like lemons, lime are high in vitamin C.     > Nectarine A smooth-skinned variety of peach native to China, similarly flavoured to peaches with slightly more acidity. The flesh is light pink, yellow or white and is delicate and sweet. Nectarines are high in vitamins A, B, and C, and are lower in calories than peaches.     > Orange One of the best-known citrus fruits, oranges aren't necessarily orange - some varieties are yellow or dotted with red. Types fall into one of two categories - sweet or bitter. Sweet varieties of orange include the Navel orange, which is named after the navel-like bulge at one end, which contains a tiny, baby fruit. They are seedless, easy to peel, and have a juicy, sweet flesh. Valencia have smooth, thin skins, with very few pips, and are particularly juicy. The skins of blood oranges are tinged with red, and the flesh ranges from golden to a deep ruby - they are juicy and aromatic. The most well-known bitter orange is the Seville, only around for a few weeks in January. They are too sour to eat raw, but are great for marmalades or cooking with, and have a rough skin.     > Papaya Native to tropical America, papayas are a large fruit also known as paw-paws. They have vibrant pinky-orange flesh and a sweet, juicy flavour similar to peach. Though their grey shiny seeds are edible, they tend to be discarded. The skin of papaya contains the enzyme papain, which is used as a meat tenderiser and also in the manufacture of chewing gum and toothpaste.     > Peach Sweet, juicy and fragrant, peaches are one of the most beautiful fruit around. Around the size of a tennis ball, they are covered with a velvety down, and most commonly have a red-blushed yellow skin and golden yellow flesh, apart from white peaches, which have a pink-blushed cream skin and pinky white flesh. It's possible to find flatish, disc-shaped varieties of peach, but the most common type is spherical, with a little peak (known as a 'beak') at one end. Just like nectarines, they come in either clingstone or freestone varieties - the name indicates how easily the stone is freed from the flesh.     > Pear Like apples, to which they are related, pears come in thousands of varieties, of which only a small fraction are sold in the UK. Their fine, slightly granular flesh is much more fragile than apples and, unlike most fruit, they improve in flavour and texture after they're picked. Most pears are wider at the bottom than they are at the top, though a few varieties are more spherical in shape. They're not as brightly coloured as apples, most having skins that range from dull bronze through to soft green, though you can also find red varieties such as Red William.     > Pineapple With its tuft of spiky, dusty green leaves and cross-hatched, golden orange skin, the pineapple has an unmistakable appearance. A single pineapple is, in fact, a collection of multiple diamond-shaped fruits, each one the fruit of an individual blossom. Grown in the tropics, their juicy yellow flesh is sweet with an acidic tang and very fragrant. There are hundreds of varieties, ranging from those small enough to feed just one person, up to quite substantial sizes. Pineapples contain an enzyme called bromelin which breaks down protein, making it great in marinades or to tenderise meat or fish; but the same enzyme, in its raw state, prevents gelatine from setting, so don't, for example, try to make jellies with the raw fruit (though cooked is fine, as heat destroys the enzyme).     > Plum The juiciest fruit in the stone fruit family, plums come in many different varieties, some sweet, some slightly more tart. All plums however have certain characteristics in common, with smooth, richly coloured skins and a hard central stone. Plums vary in hue from deep purple to red, yellow and green. The cloudy bloom on their skin is natural and isn't an indication of poor quality. All sweet dessert plums can be used for cooking, too.     > Pomegranate Now mainly grown in America, Spain, the Middle East and India, pomegranates originated in Iran. They have a round shape, like an apple, with a hard, shiny skin blushed with red or yellow. Inside, scores of edible little white seeds are held in jewel-like, ruby-coloured sacs filled with sweet, juicy flesh. The sacs themselves are packed in a bitter, pale yellow pith. Pomegranates have always been highly prized for their flavour, but their recent emergence as a highly nutritious superfood, packed with antioxidant vitamins, has made them even more popular. The skin and the pith should not be eaten.     > Quince The two different shapes - apple and pear in which quinces grow are an obvious clue to the fruits to which they are related. When ripe, they are very fragrant, with a smooth, golden yellow skin, but their hard, bitter flesh means that they are used almost exclusively for cooking, rather than eating raw. Once cooked, the flesh develops a deeper flavour and turns a golden pink. They contain a high level of pectin, which makes them great for making jellies, jams and other preserves, such as the Spanish quince paste, membrillo, which is often served with cheese. They are also good in chutneys, pies and tarts.     > Raspberry A member of the rose family, raspberries have a wonderfully intense, sweet taste, and many consider them to be the finest flavoured of all the berries. Raspberries grow well in cool, damp climates, and the red varieties, such as Heritage and Malling Jewel, are the most commonly sold, though you can also find black, yellow and golden types. They are an essential ingredient in the classic English dessert, Summer pudding, and their flavour combines well with that of other berries.     > Redcurrant These shiny little berries grow low on bushes, hanging from the branches like rows of miniature gems. Their flavour is a little tart but they're still sweet enough to be eaten raw, so long as they're sprinkled with plenty of sugar. They have a high vitamin C content, and go well with both other berries and fruits, such as raspberries, strawberries and melon, as well as goose, venison and lamb (hence the familiar lamb accompaniment, redcurrant jelly). They can also be frosted with egg white and caster sugar and used as a decoration for puddings or cocktails.     > Rhubarb Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable (it's related to sorrel and dock) but its thick, fleshy stalks are treated as a fruit, despite their tart flavour. Rhubarb grows in two crops. The first, which arrives early in the year, is forced, grown under pots, particularly in what's known as the 'rhubarb triangle' around Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford. Its stalks are watermelon pink, with pale lime green leaves, and it is the more tender and delicately flavoured of the two. The second, called maincrop rhubarb, is grown outdoors, and arrives in spring. Its stalks are a deeper red, tinged with green, and its leaves a brighter green. It has a more intense flavour and a more robust texture than forced. All rhubarb is too tart to be eaten raw, so should be cooked with plenty of sugar. It goes well with both ginger and strawberries.     > Strawberry Once available in Britain for just a brief period during the summer, strawberries are now a year-round fruit, thanks to imports from warmer climates. However, the varieties grown for export tend to be chosen for their ability to withstand transportation, rather than for their texture or flavour, which often results in a less tender berry with an unremarkable taste. The fact that strawberries intended for export are picked before they're properly ripe, means that their flavour is further impaired; strawberries don't ripen after being picked. To enjoy strawberries at their fragrant, juicy and flavourful best it's worth holding out for the British season - if you want to eat them super-ripe, pick-your-own is best.     > Watermelon Thought to have originated in Africa, watermelons are distinct from musk melons such as cantaloupes, ogens, charantais, galia and honeydew in that they are very watery and have a far less intense flavour. But there are compensations - they can grow to up to six kilogrammes in weight, and their crisp, sweet flesh is phenomenally juicy and refreshing. Watermelons have a hard green, sometimes striped, rind (which is sometimes used to make pickle) and, inside, the pink or red flesh is dotted with black seeds, which can be toasted and eaten as a snack. The flesh itself is always served raw.     > Zest Zest is a verb, 'to zest', and also word used to describe the outermost skin layer of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, and limes. The coloured part of the skin contains natural oils that provide aroma and flavour. Shavings of the skin are added to various dishes to intensify the required citrus flavors. The white portion of the skin, or pith, which lies just below the zest, should not be used because of its bitterness.     Start2Cook.co.uk is a Start2Cook Limited online store based in Warwickshire, UK. Start2Cook are experienced suppliers of quality Cookware and Cookware Sets including Kitchenware Ingredients Fruit and more. | SITEMAP | webdesign © bryshell.com 2010 copyright reserved Registered in England No. 6424957. | VAT Reg. No. 925 0738 25