Hands up who has ever eaten anything from that list!

embedding-shape 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think this might say more about your geographic location than you think :)

People from other continents always surprise me with various fruits they taken for granted their entire life, but I've never heard about, and vice-versa.

	▲	SideburnsOfDoom 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> I think this might say more about your geographic location than you think Clearly, for instance Welwitschia (1) listed. I think this says a lot about location. It's a fascinating plant, but it is an endangered species, endemic to the Namib desert. And as far as I know, not that commonly eaten. 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welwitschia

▲

ch4s3 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Lotus root is pretty common in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. I've had it pickled and in a Sichuan dry pot. It's crunchy and takes on flavors pretty well.

	▲	arunc 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		We use it in cuisines from India, particularly from Tamil nadu, as well. Lotus root, seeds, the petals, pretty much all.

▲

heathrow83829 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

my wife and I regularly eat lotus root, it's quite delicious and common in chinese cooking. the others not so much.

On a side note there are 1000s even 10s of thousand of edible plant based species that grow on the earth. i don't know how old they are though.

▲

mgh2 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Water caltrop nuts are common in Taiwan, very nutty and good for meat soups.

▲

CGMthrowaway 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Whoever smelled a ginkgo fruit and said "let's eat this" !

	▲	rbanffy 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Our sense of smell also evolved in the past couple thousand years. And the further back you go, the hungrier our ancestor will be. I need to get food at the market, not wait for it to fall into a trap or fight it to death.

▲

4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

▲

magneticnorth 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Fiddleheads from ferns are available at farmer's markets in the spring in my area, though not from the cinnamon fern specifically.

I'm having trouble finding sources for other specific fern species, though many ferns have been around for hundreds of millions of years.

	▲	2OEH8eoCRo0 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I used to get them at Whole Foods in Nashua, NH. They're quite seasonal so I'd always grab some if I see em.

▲

zdragnar 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Fern fiddleheads aren't bad if you get them at the right time, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat them.

▲

droopyEyelids 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Lotus root is pretty common. A crunchy tuber that keeps its texture after cooking, bland taste, unique visual appeal. I threw some in the last pot of bean chili my family made, and the kids liked it.