Posted on July 31, 2018
What's your favorite berry?
A lot of people might answer "strawberries!" or "raspberries!" But they should be answering with a question:
Do you mean "berry" as a food or a botanical classification?
Because, botanically speaking, neither strawberries or raspberries are actually berries!
(Strawberries are "aggregate accessory fruits," and raspberries are "aggregate fruits made of many drupelets.")
One of the few food berries that is also a berry in botanical terms is the blueberry.
Plus, a lot of foods that are NOT called berries - even including some that are not considered fruits - are in fact kinds of berries. That would include such varied items as bananas, grapes, pumpkins, and today's special food, avocados.
So...what IS a berry?
In botany berries are fleshy fruits that have no stone; in order to be considered a berry, a fruit must have been produced from a single flower that contained one ovary.
Not in botany, but in just ordinary food names, a berry is any small edible fruit without a pit or stone. So...still not a cherry, even though it's small and edible.
Are you wondering...? I know I'm wondering...!!!
Wait, the definition is that a berry has no stone - but avocados are famous for having those big seeds in the center!
Well, it turns out that drupes, like peaches and plums and cherries, have "stones" that are multi-layered hard centers with a woody outer covering and, inside, a seed. The avocado's seed is...just a seed.
Do you like avocado? Do you like guacamole? Then today's your day!!
Check out these recipes.Chipotle is apparently giving out free guacamole today!
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