Eat Your Words. Paul Convery

* a small muskmelon, informally classified as a “fruit-vegetable”

      capers * pickled flower buds or young shrub berries used as a flavouring or garnish

      capsicum * a genus of chillies including especially the milder sweet bell peppers

      carambola * a juicy tropical fruit enjoyed fresh or cooked; also known as the starfruit

      caraway * Persian cumin, an everyday culinary seed-spice

      cardamony * an older variant spelling of cardamom, an expensive yet popular spice

      cardoon * a thistly plant whose roots, stalk, stems and buds alike are entirely edible

      carob * the “locust bean,” trumpeted as a healthy substitute for cocoa in chocolate

      cascabel * a moderately pungent chilli pepper cultivated across its native Mexico

      cassabanana * a sweet, fragrant melon fruit containing nary a hint of banana

      cassareep * a West Indies condiment made from the bitter root of the manioc tuber

      cassonade * unrefined, or brown, sugar

      cedrate * a variety of citron fruit much used in jams

      celender * Old English coriander, the oldest of all the culinary herbs

      celeriac * celery knob; an aromatic root eaten either raw or cooked

      celtuce * stem lettuce; a celery-like cultivar of lettuce with edible stalks and leaves

      chanterelle * a class of wild, woodland mushrooms, widely consumed

      charlock * a wild mustard green and common cornfield weed, it was a widespread food source of last resort during the years of Ireland’s “great hunger”

      checkerberry * an edible American fruit sometimes called the teaberry or boxberry

      cherimoya * a conical, white-fleshed food fruit known to some as a “custard apple”

      chervil * French parsley seasoning; etymologically, it means “the happy herb”

      chibol * a dialectal term for the sybee, or spring onion

      chilgoza * an edible Himalayan pine nut, and rich local source of carbohydrates and proteins

      chiltepin * a Texan chilli pepper packing significantly more intense heat than its state neighbour the jalapeño

      chinkapin * the “dwarf chestnut,” an edible nut gleaned or foraged gourmet-style

      chipotle * smoked jalapeño, a popular Mexican culinary spice and sauce base

      chives * the smallest members of the onion family used in the kitchen

      chokecherry * an edible fruit requiring to be cooked well due to its cyanide content

      choricero * a fleshy red pepper with an important role in northern Spanish cuisine

      cicely * any of several culinary herbs of the celery family, most notably sweet cicely

      cilantro * coriander, as it is better known stateside

      cipollini * the “wild onion” bulbs of grape hyacinth, a staple of Italian gastronomy

      citrangequat * a trigeneric citrus fruit hybrid, crossing the citrange with the kumquat

      clavers * white clover when used as a salad ingredient

      clementine * a citrus fruit cross between the Seville orange and the tangerine

      cloudberry * a northern bramble fruit popular across Scandinavia as a base for jam

      coco de mer * the sea coconut, often encountered as a flavouring in Cantonese soups

      cocoa * the fermented seed of the cacao tree, and basis of all chocolate preparations

      cocoyam * a common name for the taro and malanga tropical root vegetable crops

      colewort * an older name for the cabbage, notably young cabbage reserved for salads

      collards * kale leaves, eaten as a vegetable; a staple of Southern US “soul food”

      colombo * West Indies curry powder

      coloquinty * an edible gourd variously known as “bitter apple” and “vine of Sodom”

      colythron * a ripe fig

      copra * coconut oil, a versatile if high-fat, high-calorie cooking product

      cornflour * corn meal or starch ground to a powder for use as a thickener in cooking

      cornichons * immature cucumbers or miniature gherkins, pickled French-style

      costard * an ancient British ribbed cooking apple

      costmary * a popular medieval pot herb prized for its spearmint astringency

      cottonfruit * a.k.a. santol, a fruit used in numerous Thai salad and curry dishes

      couverture * cooking chocolate, made with added cocoa butter for extra gloss

      cowcake * an old Scots dialectal term for the wild parsnip

      cowcumber * the cucumber of yore, the fruit being regarded as mere animal fodder

      crabapple * any small sour apple, better cooked than eaten in the hand

      cremini * a meaty immature button variant of the portobello mushroom

      crestmarine * a rare culinary herb also referred to as sea fennel or rock samphire

      crookneck * a sweet-fleshed yellow summer squash

      cubanelle * a long, thin sweet pepper much used in Caribbean and Italian cuisine

      cumin * a popular kitchen spice ground or whole; known in its native India as jeera

      cush-cush * tropical American yam tuber, consumed as a vegetable

      cydon * the quince, or “apple of Cydonia”

      cymling * the pattypan squash, in American English

      dactyl * a date, in older coinage

      daikon * cooked radish, a popular item in East Asian cuisine

      damascene * an earlier name for the damson, the “plum of Damascus”

      dasheen * the edible starchy corm of the taro plant

      demerara * natural, unrefined crunchy cane sugar; known in the US as turbinado

      dewberry * the edible blueish-black fruit of the eponymous bramble

      dilex * seaweed as a food resource, specifically dulse

      dillseed * a pungent seed used to spice and season numerous dishes

      dittander * a historical mystery herb; variously pepperwort, dittany of Crete, or cress

      duqqa * Egyptian spice mix

      duracine * a firm-fleshed peach

      durian * a tasty tropical fruit notorious for its foul and off-putting aroma

      durum * a hard wheat whose flour is used to make premium breads and pastas

      earthapple * a term variously denominating the potato, cucumber, or artichoke

      edamame * a foodstuff prepared from fresh green soybeans boiled in their pods

      eddoes * edible taro tubers or cormlets

      eggplant * the aubergine, in American English; so named for the vegetable’s shape

      einkorn * man’s first wheat, indeed one of the earliest food plants ever cultivated

      elderflower * a British berry fruit primarily used today to produce juices and jams

      elecampane * a root used in classical times as a condiment,