In the Netherlands we have various fruit vegetables. The four fruiting vegetables that are best known and most used are the eggplant, cucumber, bell pepper and tomato. Fruit vegetables are so named because these fruits grow on woody plants.
Fruiting vegetables
- Eggplant
- Cucumber
- Paprika
- Tomato
Eggplant
The eggplant vegetable is originally from India and appeared in the Netherlands around the Middle Ages. We are especially familiar with the large, purple eggplant. But there are also all kinds of other colors. In many countries the eggplant is called ‘egg plant’, because of the original shape of the white eggplant, which is a favorite in southern Europe.
The white flesh of the eggplant has a neutral taste. In every country the fruit is therefore served in regional form; in Greece, for example, filled with a lot of feta and melted cheese, in other countries filled with onions, tomatoes or minced meat.
While aubergines may look the most attractive with a beautiful gloss, they are best when they have a matte sheen. The aubergines are available all year round.
Content per 100 grams:
- Kcal: 16
- Vitamin C: 4 mg
- Iron: 0.5 mg
- Fiber: 2.5 grams
Cucumber
This long, narrow fruiting vegetable is the most popular salad vegetable in our country. It has been cultivated for over 4,000 years and was already known to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Today the cucumber is grown all over the world, but the cucumber likes the sun. The taste of Italian and Greek cucumbers is therefore different from that of a Dutch greenhouse. But even the firmest cucumber will become limp and lifeless if you keep it in the fridge, which unfortunately happens quite often.
They are available all year round, but we still see them mainly as a refreshing summer vegetable. They are really healthy thirst quenchers, packed with water, vitamin C and folic acid. Today, white and large yellow cucumbers and green mini cucumbers are also available.
Content per 100 grams:
- Kcal: 8
- Vitamin C: 0 mg
- Iron: 0.2 mg
- Potassium: 124 mg
Paprika
The bell pepper is a fruit vegetable that is closely related to the chili pepper. The Maya and Aztecs of South and Central America had long used the pepper, and the Spanish conquerors brought it to Europe in the 16th century.
All types of peppers change color during the ripening process. In the Netherlands we mainly know the green, unripe peppers with its spicy taste and the ripe red and yellow peppers that taste sweeter. The elongated white and lilac peppers, the red mini peppers and the brown peppers are less known here.
The fruit of the pepper has a kidney-shaped, white core on which the seeds are. The berry has a firm fruit wall and a leathery skin. This pericarp is fragile; small damages quickly become rotting spots.
Content per 100 grams:
- Kcal: Green raw and cooked 16, Red raw 28
- Vitamin C: Green raw 70mg, Green cooked 30mg; Red raw 155 mg, Red cooked 80 mg
- Iron: Red raw 0.4 mg, Green raw and cooked, Red boiled 0.5 mg
Tomato
It was not until the 18th century that the tomato was first used as a food. Before that it was mainly an ornamental plant. And that while it is such a versatile product that is eaten raw, pressed into juice, canned as a puree, cooked, forcibly or used as a garnish. There are many varieties available, such as the normal red tomato, the beef tomato and the cherry tomato. Nowadays there are also yellow and orange tomatoes. The flesh of the tomato always consists of a gelatinous mass with seeds.
The tomato is also viewed with interest by science nowadays because it contains an extraordinary number of different good ingredients in the right amounts. The tomato is also known as an aphrodisiac and is therefore also called ‘love apple’.
Content per 100 grams:
- Kcal: 11, boiled 20, braised 57
- Vitamin C: 15 mg, boiled 12 mg, stewed 11 mg
- Iron: 0.3 mg, boiled and stewed 0.2 mg
- Fiber: 1.3 grams, boiled and stewed 1.4 grams