Chef Archive
Thread: This my be stupid .. but what are Tubers?
drwoobie wrote:
"What's Taters precious?"
From dictionary.com
Tubers: A swollen, fleshy, usually underground stem of a plant, such as the potato, bearing buds from which new plant shoots arise.
Truffles: Any of various fleshy, ascomycetous, edible fungi, chiefly of the genus Tuber, that grow underground on or near the roots of trees and are valued as a delicacy.
Well actually, truffles are mostly dug up (Mostly under, around trees) by dogs, because dogs don't like it. However, pigs will eat it all up, given the chance.
But everything they have said is true about tubers, a type of vegetable.
hehe what a thread!!
Pigs, as I understand it, are stillused in Europe due to tradition and the fact that the pigs are the best at finding them due to their hunger for truffles (yes, they do like to eat them, thats why they are fed before hunting, ironically it doesn't affect their hunt). Dogs are also used, but apparently it's considered bad form and uncouth. 
Truffles are grown both under domestic circumstances and in the wild...the wild versions are worth far more due though. Farmed truffles are gaining popularity and farmers are finally developing family lines that mimic the taste and texture of wild truffles.
Tuber is a genus (family) of vegetables. A fairly large collection of plantlife falls under the category...its the same idea as Legumes (beans, peas, etc). For all intents and purposes, a truffle is a fungus based potato...
...unless you're Nikii and then its chocolate...
Gladiolus are tubers but tulips are bulbs...
It all makes sense if you look closely, even though from a distance it's all a bit weird.
SWG generally follows pretty good nomenclature, but putting "greens" under "seeds" is way out of line. Grains are seeds. Tubers, fungus and greens are not seeds -- except in SWG. Fruits have seeds in them. The only true seed in the SWG "seed" category is the bean.
Bog (who can out-nerd the best of them)
I bet someone argues against you that beans are a vegetable and not a fruit.
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Yup. Happens all the time...
Bog