Have you ever stopped to think about what your food looked like before it landed on the grocery shelves? Some of the foods we eat look nothing like you’d expect. You’d probably just walk right past some of them on a farm. Here are some examples of how food looks before it’s harvested. Some of them might totally blow your mind!
Almonds
So, almonds grow from trees? The almond nut is hidden in a super tough shell. But here’s the thing – the hard shell has a soft and fuzzy outer layer, like a peach peel. As the almond matures, that fuzzy layer splits open, and you can see the hard shell peeking out. When it’s harvest time, farmers just shake the trees, and all the hard shells will come falling out. Then, they are collected and processed to get the almond nut out!
Vanilla
Vanilla comes from an orchid, and they come in the form of pods. The pods get picked before they become ripe. Then, they have to go through a long process to transform into the fragrant vanilla beans that everyone loves. It is a long curing process necessary to develop the vanilla flavor. It involves drying, sweating, and aging the pods, and the whole thing takes months. No wonder vanilla spices don’t come cheap – the whole process takes a lot of work and time! Isn’t it wild how vanilla gets a boring reputation when it takes so much fuss to make?
Brussels Sprouts
If you have only seen Brussels sprouts as they are in grocery stores, it will shock you what they really look like when growing in a field. They don’t grow individually or in clusters on the ground. As the name indicates, they sprout along the stalk of a tall plant. The plant is thick, and each stalk can have dozens of Brussels sprouts growing in rows. When farmers harvest them, they cut the stalks and trim the Brussels sprouts off.
Chocolate
Seeing chocolate can make your mouth water, but when you see where it really comes from, you’ll probably have a different reaction. Chocolate comes from big pods that grow on cacao trees. These pods look like giant rugby balls in shades of yellow, red, and orange. When you crack one open, you will find seeds covered in a white pulp. These seeds are gathered to turn into chocolate. The seeds are fermented, dried, and roasted. After roasting, they can be ground up into cocoa powder or cocoa liquor.
Quinoa
Quinoa is a seed from a tall plant that can grow up to six feet. The seed pods of the plant look like flowers from afar, and they come in shades of purple, yellow, and red. The seeds are collected, and the outer shell is removed. This is necessary since the outer coating of the seed is bitter. Then, the seeds are packed and ready to eat! Who would have thought the fluffy grain you eat started out as tiny seeds on a vibrant flower field?
Cranberries
Not everyone knows that cranberries are not grown from bushes or trees – they grow in bogs. The small berries are grown on low and vine-like plants. To harvest them, farmers would flood the bogs with water, and the cranberries would float to the surface. They automatically float because the berries have tiny air pockets in them. A flooded cranberry bog is a beautiful sight with all those bright red berries floating around. Harvesting them is a different process from what you’d expect and takes a lot of work.
Cashews
Did you know that cashews are not actually nuts? They are seeds from the cashew apple. But what makes this fruit special is that the seed is not located inside. Instead, it hangs from the bottom of the fruit! Farmers have to carefully roast and process the shells of the seed to make the cashews safe to eat. The fruit itself is edible and is often used in dishes like curry.
Coffee
Coffee starts out as tiny cherries growing on trees and bushes. You know they are ready to be picked when they are red. Inside each red cherry, there are seeds. The seeds are dried and then roasted to turn into coffee beans. Harvesting coffee is a lot of work. Since the cherries don’t go ripe at the same time, farmers have to pick every one of them by hand. This way, the unripe ones are left alone to keep growing.
Wasabi
Wasabi is actually the stem part of a plant. It is made by grating the stem to create a spicy green paste that goes perfectly well with sushi. Authentic wasabi is rare, and because of that, it’s very expensive. Aside from being hard to grow, the plant only thrives in cool, running water. So, if you have cheap and affordable wasabi, know that it’s not the real thing. What you have is actually just a mixture of mustard and horseradish! To experience the real thing, you have to be prepared to pay the price.
Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds come from little pods on tall, leafy plants. The pods are small, and when you crack them open, you will find tiny rows of sesame seeds. Harvesting them is not easy. Since the seeds are so tiny, it takes a lot of care and focus. Once the seeds are gathered, they are cleaned and then roasted to bring out the flavor. Isn’t it amazing how much work is put into those little seeds you sprinkle onto your meals?
Black Pepper
Black peppers are little berries growing on climbing vines. These berries are called peppercorns. They’re actually harvested before they go ripe, so they start out green. After harvesting, the peppercorn is dried out, and in the process, the green peppercorn becomes black and wrinkled. And this is how they become black pepper. Who would have thought that condiment that gives a bit of kick to our meals started out as berries?
Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo shoots often used for stir-fry and soup dishes are unrecognizable when growing from the ground. They are actually the tender, young sprouts of bamboo plants. They grow very quickly, so the shoots are harvested while they are still small and tender. Otherwise, they will get too tough to eat. Workers usually cut the shoots close to the ground. Then, they will peel away the tough outer layers to get to the edible core. It is the edible core that we now see being sold in markets.
Cinnamon
Ever wonder why cinnamon sticks look like twigs? That’s because they’re actually from a tree! The inner bark of a tree, to be specific. Those cinnamon sticks are just curled-up pieces of tree bark. To get it, farmers peel off the tough outer bark of the tree. Then, they take the soft inner layer and let it dry out. As it dries, the bark naturally curls up. Once dried, the curled bark is chopped into pieces or ground to powder.
Pistachio
Did you know that pistachios too are not actually nuts? They’re actually a fruit! What we know as pistachio nuts are the seeds inside the fruit. Pistachios come from the same family as peaches and cherries, and their fruit looks pretty too! Some pistachio trees take at least 20 years to peak and start growing a good amount of pistachios. No wonder they are sold at a higher price!
Peanuts
And just like the other nuts on this list, peanuts are not an actual nut! This time, the peanut is a legume. This makes them a type of vegetable, and they are grown the same way as potatoes where the crops are underground! You’ll know the peanuts are ready to be harvested when the leaves sticking out of the soil have yellow flowers. Peanuts are best grown in a tropical climate if you want to grow them to their fullest. They usually take more than a hundred days before they can be harvested.
Isn’t it amazing how nature works? Who knew some food items had to go through so much preparation and processing before they could be safe to eat? Knowing how these foods look before they’re harvested helps you appreciate the farmers who grow them. It’s a little reminder that there is a story behind every bite!
