Are you looking to amaze your friends with your food knowledge at your next trivia night? Are you stuck on a food-related crossword puzzle question? Then you’re in luck. Here’s a list of 14 foods with 12 letters, along with some tasty tidbits about each one.
Table of Contents
Acorn squash
The Acorn Squash is shaped like an acorn with distinctive ridges on its dark green exterior and sweet, yellow-orange flesh inside. Acorn squash is usually baked but also can be microwaved, sauteed, or steamed. You can also roast and eat the seeds like you would with pumpkin seeds.
Bamboo shoots
Bamboo shoots are edible after being boiled to remove toxins. They appear as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and broths. You can buy them fresh, dried, and in cans. The taste is corn-like, and once cooked, they can become sweet.
Bitter melon
Bitter melon is a tropical vine that is related to zucchini, squash, pumpkin, and cucumber. Unlike most fruits and vegetables that get sweeter as they ripen, bitter melon becomes more bitter. Despite its very bitter taste, many Asian culinary traditions embrace bitter melon.
Blackcurrant
The blackcurrant, also known as black currant or cassis, carries four times the amount of vitamin C as oranges and double the number of antioxidants as blueberries. Many health foods and drinks in the United Kingdom use these berries. Their tartness mixes well with other fruits in jams and juices.
Black salsify + White salsify (both 12-letters!)
Salsify is a root vegetable that you can use like you would potatoes. Black salsify is recognizable by its dark smooth skin, while white salsify has brown-tan skin and is hairier. Both varieties have white flesh with a mild taste similar to artichokes.
Custard apple aka Wild Sweetsop
These fruits vary in shape from heart-shaped to spherical to oblong to irregular. This fruit is green when ripe with white or slightly yellowish flesh and contains a single dark brown or black seed. Typically, the flavor is sweet and pleasant, like the taste of a dessert custard. Custard apples are eaten fresh, often added to ice cream or milk to make a cool drink. Be careful and do not eat the seeds; they are poisonous!
Dragonfruit
Also known as pitahaya or strawberry pear, dragonfruit is a tropical fruit known for its vibrant red skin and sweet, seed-speckled pulp. You can find it fresh or frozen in supermarkets worldwide.
Lady’s Fingers
Lady’s Fingers is the English name for okra derived from the shape, which resembles thin, delicate fingers. Interestingly, okra is technically a fruit but is used as a vegetable. Most commonly used in soups and stews, okra contains a substance that acts as a natural thickener when heated. It has a mild, grassy flavor, sometimes compared to eggplant or green beans.
Mammee apple
Native to the West Indies, this is technically a berry! The taste is like a cross between passionfruit and apricot with a hint of berry. Mammee apple pulp is eaten fresh or in sherbet, jam, jelly, pies, and tarts.
Passionfruit
This tropical fruit contains many antioxidants and vitamins. To eat one, you need to slice open the tough outer rind to uncover the colorful, juicy flesh and seeds. The seeds are edible too!
Persian lime
These are the limes you’re most likely to find in the grocery store. They have a thin, smooth rind, seedless pulp, acidic flavor, and are juicy. You can use them interchangeably for Key limes.
Prickly pear
High in fiber and antioxidants, this edible cactus fruit is popular in Mexican and Central American cuisine. People describe the taste as a cross between watermelon and classic bubble gum. The pads, called nopal, are used in recipes as a vegetable. The flower petals are also edible and used as a garnish or added to salads.
Savoy cabbage
This cabbage comes from the Savoy region of France and has a tight, round head, like conventional cabbages, but the leaves have a distinctively wrinkled appearance. It also has a milder taste than regular green cabbage.
Victoria plum
The Victoria plum is a type of English plum. It has yellow flesh with red or flecked skin. These plums are large, sweet, and very juicy, making them perfect to use in jams and pies. It is one of the most popular fruiting plum varieties in England.
White Sapote
This apple-sized fruit is native to Mexico and Central America. It has a custard-like texture, and the taste is a cross between peach, pear, lemon, banana, caramel, and vanilla. It’s eaten raw, scooped out from the rind.
Are you inspired to try one of these 12 letter foods? Do you know any other 12 letter foods? Let us know in the comment section!