We all know the basics about where certain foods are grown – strawberry and spinach grow in the ground, apples and peaches grow on trees – but there are plenty of foods that we eat every day and yet have absolutely no idea how they grow or what they look like in their natural state. Listed below are 11 foods that look a little absurd in the wild, several of which we were downright shocked by, leaving us with the overarching feeling that, sometimes, we have no idea how some foods look before we purchase them at the grocery store. Take a look and see how many of these are surprising to you!
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11. Chocolate
Refresher: chocolate comes from cacao seeds that have been fermented, dried, cleaned and roasted. The seeds vary in color (depending on ripeness), and are incredibly bitter before they’ve been processed. Once processed, the fat from the seeds (cocoa butter) is extracted and what’s left is referred to as cocoa solids, one of the main ingredients in chocolate products. Who would’ve guessed your typical chocolate treat started out as a giant seed??
10. Pistachios
Looking more like a beautiful flower or a cluster of grapes than a tree nut, pistachios have been around since before 6000 BCE and originated in the Middle East and Central Asia. The outer shells of pistachios turn a pretty pink color when ripe and, when cracked open, you get the delicious, salty nut. We’re not totally sure how we pictured pistachios growing, but it definitely wasn’t like this!
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9. Brussels Sprouts
So we don’t know about you, but those delicious bits of green, roasted goodness certainly don’t look like they come from crazy-looking, knobby stalks, right?? This plant grows in the ground and then sprouts upwards, sometimes growing to be as tall as 45 inches, with the tiny little sprouts shooting out the sides of the stalk at all angles. It looks a little more like an alien branch than a food, but we’re so glad to have those brussels in our life and our belly!
If you thought you knew how kiwi grew, think again. Click the Next Page button for more weird foods!