meanings includes gratification, pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment It’s the nature of fruit to taste good, to appeal to our basic biological interests, while vegetables stimulate us to find and create more subtle and diverse pleasures than fruits have to offer Herb and Spice The terms herb and spice are more straightforward Both are categories of plant materials used primarily as flavorings, and in relatively small amounts Herbs come from green parts of plants, usually leaves — parsley, thyme, basil — while spices are generally seeds, bark, underground stems — black pepper, cinnamon, ginger — and other robust materials that were well suited to international trade in early times The word spice came from the medieval Latin species, which meant “kind of merchandise.” Despite the fact that we consider them vegetables, capsicum “peppers,” pea pods, cucumbers, and even corn kernels are actually fruits: plant parts that originate in the flower’s ovary and surround one or more seeds Plant Foods Through History How long has the Western world been eating the plant foods we eat today, and in the way that we eat them? Only a very few common vegetables have not been eaten since before recorded history (the relative newcomers include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, celery) But it was only with the age of exploration in the 16th century that the variety of foods we now know became ... one or more seeds Plant Foods Through History How long has the Western world been eating the plant foods we eat today, and in the way that we eat them? Only a very few common vegetables have not been eaten since before... recorded history (the relative newcomers include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, celery) But it was only with the age of exploration in the 16th century that the variety of foods we now know became...Despite the fact that we consider them vegetables, capsicum “peppers,” pea pods, cucumbers, and even corn kernels are actually fruits: plant parts that originate in the flower’s ovary and surround one