Vegetables

The word vegetable is purely a culinary term, and includes any plant (other than a fruit, nut or grain) that may be eaten either raw or cooked. This includes Brassicas, such as broccoli and cauliflower; bud and stem vegetables (asparagus and globe artichokes); root vegetables (carrots and potatoes); bulbs (garlic and onion); leaf vegetables (spinach and lettuce) and podded vegetables such as peas and beans.

Culinary vegetables also include some varieties that are in fact fruits, such as the cucumber, pepper or tomato. Mushrooms are also considered a vegetable, despite being fungi, rather than plants.

In this section, you'll find an in-depth guide to the wide variety of vegetables available today, along with some handy on how to buy, store, prepare and cook them.

Brassicas: Find out about members of the cabbage family, including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, kohl rabi, swede and turnip ...
Bud & Stem Vegetables: A look at the range of vegetables enjoyed for their stems and buds, such as asparagus, bamboo shoots, cardoon, celery, fennel, globe artichokes, palm hearts and rhubarb ...
Bulb Vegetables: Learn about the wonderful flavours of garlic , green onions (scallions), leeks, onions and shallots ...
Fruiting Vegetables: Vegetables that are in actual fact fruit, including the aubergine, avocado, cucumber, gherkin, olive, pepper, sweetcorn, courgette, marrow, pumpkin, tomato and tomatillo ...
Fungi: An in-depth guide to wild and cultivated mushrooms, such as the blewit, cauliflower fungus, cep, chanterelle, champignon, giant puffball, horn of plenty, morel, oyster mushroom, shaggy ink cap, shiitake, straw mushroom and truffle ...
Podded Vegetables: Peas, beans and other podded vegetables, including broad beans, haricots verts, garden peas, butter beans, mange touts, marrowfat peas, okra, petit pois, runner beans, sugar snaps and yellow wax beans ...
Root Vegetables: Hearty rustic vegetables, such as the carrot, jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, potato, salsify, swede , sweet potato, turnip and yam ...
Salad & Leafy Vegetables: A look at the wide range of leafy or salad vegetables, including bean sprouts, chicory, escarole, fiddlehead fern, frisée, cos and iceburg lettuce, radishes, spinach, chard, watercress and even wild nettles ...