The ancient spice known as "red gold"
While this fuzzy shell looks more akin to a kiwi, these are actually chickpea shells! Each pod is a home to just one legume.
Most people wouldn't liken this spice to fruit, but it originates from peppercorns, sprouting from vines prior.
This is not what you imagine when you think of a caper, but this flower is actually the result of a caper gone un-picked. The crop itself is known as a “caper bush,” and can be found in the Mediterranean.
These flowers don't grow very high, but they do grow in various countries around the world.
The caper is the bud of the plant, and once it's been plucked from the plant, they’re usually pickled or salted to maximize their flavor.
They look slightly less appetizing in their original form.
Black pepper plant vines are sprawling organisms, and the produce is mainly farmed in countries around the equator.
Many people don't know pomegranates sprout from trees! The pomegranate tree grows in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and around the Mediterranean.
The famous Japanese condiment is pictured here as it is pulled from the soil. It eventually gets ground up into the paste for customers to enjoy.
The wasabi flowers are part of the Brassicaceae family, which produce other spicy pastes such as mustard and horseradish. The flowers are harvested near beds of water in Japan.
Cocoa beans are produced by Theobroma cacao trees, which thrive in warmer climates.
Pistachio fruit sprouts from the branches of a tree! It's reported that a single pistachio tree can produce roughly 50,000 nuts over two years.
This spice is a type of tree bark! Cinnamon trees are usually allowed to mature for a couple of years before getting chopped down, where offshoots will crop up in their place.
The nut itself comes from the seeds. Iran produces a large portion of the delicious nut.
This is what an artichoke looks like when it's not harvested young. If you're thinking it looks like a thistle, that's because it is! These flowers are harvested in various countries, with Italy and Spain leading the way.
The flower itself is called the “saffron crocus,” and it first emerged in Iran, the country which provides majority of the spice on the market today.
You might think pineapples grow on trees like pinecones or apples do, but the fruit sprouts up from plants in the ground. The pineapple grows in the middle.
The old trees are then picked apart to create the spice. China and Indonesia are responsible for producing a lot of the world's cinnamon.
The actual spice comes from the orange “stamen,” found in the middle of the flower. That's why real saffron tends to be quite expensive.
The plant can grow up to five feet (1.5 m) high as the red-colored bud turns into the berry. Oh yes, that's right, pineapples are categorized as berries!
The sprouts grow in festive-looking bunches on stalks, weighing up to three pounds (1.4 kg) by harvest time!
The fruit is first plucked from the branches, then the seeds are roasted to deliciousness.
Coffee beans originate from a type of berry that comes from the Coffea plant. The seeds of the berries become the coffee that gets us through the day.
Vanilla pods could be mistaken for green beans! Vanilla plants thrive in warmer conditions, and Madagascar is responsible for the majority of the vanilla on the market today.
They look more like peppers than nuts, but the cashew is indeed located inside that pod.
The red items above them are known as “cashew apples," which are edible. Vietnam and India import it from Ivory Coast to transform it.
Peanuts are pulled out of the ground. Who would have guessed? Many of these crops can be found in China.
Peanuts technically aren't a nut–they're legumes! They grow at the root of a plant that produces yellow flowers.
The amaranth flower is a bright addition to any garden, but these reddish flowers are what surprisingly produce quinoa seeds.
Most of us tend to think of raw ingredients as the things we find in grocery stores or farmers' markets. We certainly don't think about what the food used to look like when we're preoccupied with what we're going to do with it. That's why most people tend to be surprised at how some of their favorite fruits, vegetables, spices, and even grains look like before they make the long journey to the store and eventually into your stomach.
Click through to see photos of shocking and strange-looking foods before they are plucked from nature.
The plant can grow quite tall, and its seeds have been harvested in many countries including India, the United States, and Kenya.
Fascinating photos of foods before they are harvested
Do you know what your food looked like before you bought it?
FOOD Curiosities
Most of us tend to think of raw ingredients as the things we find in grocery stores or farmers' markets. We certainly don't think about what the food used to look like when we're preoccupied with what we're going to do with it. That's why most people tend to be surprised at how some of their favorite fruits, vegetables, spices, and even grains look like before they make the long journey to the store and eventually into your stomach.
Click through to see photos of shocking and strange-looking foods before they are plucked from nature.