ONION SOUP IN PAKISTANI STYLE: EASY AND TASTY RECIPE

ONION SOUP PAKISTANI STYLE

You can’t make French onion soup in Pakistan as the ingredients aren’t readily available. However, it is winter now, and here is our version of a good, warming soup, made primarily with onions, which purify the blood, are rich in antioxidants and the vitamins and minerals needed to stave off a cold.

 

Ingredients

6 large onions, sliced

10 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp sugar

1 beef bone (preferably a marrow bone)

1 tbsp chilli powder

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1½ litres of water

fresh coriander leaves

oil for frying

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the cumin seeds and mustards seeds, then the onions, garlic and chilli powder and fry for 7 mins, turn down the heat and add the sugar, and stir well. Keep stirring for 5-10 mins so that the onions and garlic don’t stick to the pan.  Add water a little at a time and the beef bone and chillies. Keep stirring, until the liquid boils.

Cover and simmer on a low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve with crusty French bread or roti or naan.

You can add beef too, along with the bone but it isn’t necessary for this hearty soup.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

STAR FRUIT: HOW TO USE A STAR FRUIT: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND HISTORY OF STAR FRUIT: STAR FRUIT SALAD RECIPE

STAR FRUIT, CARAMBOLA, AVERRHOA CARAMBOLA

It is easy to see how star fruit got its name, as when you slice the waxy green or yellow-orange fruit, the slices are like stars. When it first hit the supermarket shelves in Britain in the late 1970s it was hardly known, so the big chains produced leaflets with recipes for the fruit, however they were either for its inclusion in fruit salads or for its use as a garnish with sea food and avocados. There are two basic types of star fruit, one is green and tart, the other is a golden yellow and sweet. The tart variety may be pickled or salted, and used in conserves, such as those given in our recipe for apple conserve; prick the fruit and follow that recipe, leaving the star fruit whole.

   Star fruit originated in Sri Lanka and the Malaccan islands, but spread throughout the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, where they have been cultivated, or at least domesticated since prehistoric times. They are a relative newcomer to the US as they were only introduced there around 150 years ago, although they are now produced commercially in Hawaii. You can eat these fruit raw, straight from the tree, or use with other fruit in salads, or you can make jams and preserves with them.

   Star fruit come with a health warning as if you have been diagnosed with renal failure or end-stage renal disease, don’t eat even a little of this fruit. They contain toxins including a neuro-toxin which it is thought, accumulates in the blood, crosses the blood-brain barrier and eventually causes irreversible damage.

   For healthy individuals the fruit are fine, and are rich in vitamins A and C in particular, so are good for the eyesight (vitamin A) as are bilberries and chikoo or sapodilla. They also contain B-complex vitamins along with 3 of the essential amino acids, tryptophan, methionine and lysine, as well as the minerals, iron, calcium and phosphorous. They have a high carbohydrate and protein content and are a rich source of dietary fibre, so good for preventing some forms of cancer, especially that of the colon, piles and constipation. They have antioxidant properties, so are good at helping to lower the risk of heart disease and increasing the blood flow.

   Star fruit contain asparagines too and are related to asparagus, lavender and orchids as they are all from the Oxalidaceae family of plants. If they are under-ripe when you buy them they will ripen at room temperature in a day or two, especially if kept in their plastic wrapping. In Malaysia they sometimes stew the star fruit with sugar and cloves, and may add apples, and in Queensland, Australia they are cooked and eaten green, as vegetables. Two or three star fruit are generally about one pound in weight. The leaves from the tree can be substituted for sorrel leaves in recipes (they are a relative of wood sorrel or the shamrock).

   In the Indian subcontinent they have been used in medicine for centuries, and the ripe fruit are used to stop haemorrhaging and bleeding piles. The dried fruit (or fresh juice) is given to people with fevers and the conserve mentioned above is believed to stop vomiting, diarrhoea and the symptoms of hangovers. A salve is made from the fruit to help with eye problems.

   In Brazil they are used for their diuretic properties to relieve kidney and bladder problems and to treat eczema. It has been found that the fruit has antimicrobial properties and is effective in combating the E. coli bacteria and several others. A decoction of the leaves and fruit can stop vomiting, and the fresh leaves placed and kept on the temples are said to get rid of headaches.  Crushed leaves and young shoots are made into poultices to relieve the itchiness of chickenpox and to get rid of ringworm. The flowers are good to expel worms from the intestines, and the powdered seeds have a sedative effect when given to sufferers of asthma and colic. Powdered roots from the tree when mixed with sugar are given as an antidote for poison.

STAR FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients

2 star fruit, ribs trimmed and removed, then cut into slices

2 bananas, sliced

small bunch black or green seedless grapes

punnet of strawberries, hulled and cut in half

1 small honeydew melon, seeds removed and cubed

¼ wineglass of cointreau or other orange liqueur

¼ wine glass white wine

Method

Mix all the fruit together and macerate in the wine and liqueur in the fridge for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You can top the salad with crushed walnuts or decorate with extra slices of star fruit or with fresh lavender flowers or fresh basil or lemon balm leaves.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WHAT IS CHIKOO OR CHICKOO? SAPODILLA: HEALTH BENEFITS, USES AND HISTORY OF CHIKOO: SAPODILLA FRUIT SALAD RECIPE

CHICKOO/CHIKOO, SAPODILLA, SAPOTA, MANILKARA ZAPOTA

The chickoo or chikoo fruit as it is known in the Asian subcontinent is elsewhere called the sapodilla (plum) or sapota. It originated in Yucatan, Mexico, Eastern Guatemala and Belize. The Spanish explorers took it to the Philippines and from there it spread through Asia.

   It looks a little like a round potato or a kiwi fruit, but if you scratch the skin if one and it’s green underneath, don’t buy it, it’s not good to eat. I think that these are an acquired taste, as they are not, like ber (Indian jujube), my favourite fruit. They have a brown-yellow flesh and contain seeds; the texture is mushy.

  They are, however, extremely good for you and have a myriad health uses. The Aztecs used to chew on the gummy latex of the tree bark, and called it chicle. The main purpose of cultivating the trees is now to use this latex in chewing gum.

   Eating the fruit will give you an almost instantaneous energy boost as it contains the simple sugars, fructose and sucrose, and as it is a rich source of vitamin A (like bilberries) it is good for he eyesight. It also contains some of the B-complex vitamins and a lot of vitamin C, as well as minerals such as copper, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese and zinc. It has a high fibre content so is good for relieving constipation and helping to lower the risk of colon cancer and piles.

  It is very good to eat during pregnancy as it helps prevent morning sickness. Because of the electrolytes in it the nervous system functions are boosted, and it also helps give you a feeling of well-being. It’s one of nature’s “happy” foods, like the kiwi. It also helps promote collagen production and will help rejuvenate the skin; so chikoo is good at slowing the aging process of the skin and can help prevent the formation of deep wrinkles. Try some of the pulped fruit as a face mask. It has a high tannin content and so is useful in curing diarrhoea and dysentery. The antioxidant properties of sapodilla help lower the risk of breast and colon cancer. The fruit also has anti inflammatory properties so eases the pain caused by gastritis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

   Paste made from the seeds is applied to stings and bites, and the juice from the seeds has antihistamine qualities. Actually the juice extracted from the seeds is also an effective sedative and has been used to treat anxiety and depression. The liquid from the seeds is also a diuretic and will help remove stones from the internal organs.

   A decoction of the young fruit and flowers is said to be good for the lungs and will help with pulmonary problems. You need young fruit and leaves from this evergreen tree and boil them so that the liquid is reduced by half, then leave to steep overnight, strain and use a small cupful at a time, no more than four times a day. This is also an expectorant and will get rid of phlegm and mucus. To prevent colds, coughs and flu, a tisane made from the yellow leaves (the older ones) will assist. Take a handful of leaves and boil them in two pints of water, until it boils down to 1 pint. Leave to steep for a few hours, then strain and drink as for the decoction above. This is also a diuretic, so don’t take too much of it.   

   The wood from the Archas zapota tree or Manilkara zapota is hard and durable and is used to make furniture, farming implements and tools. The tannins from the tree are good for the preparation of dyes, so almost all parts of the tree, which can grow up to 40 metres high, are useful.

   Chikoo are good in milk shakes with bananas, make sure all the skin and seeds are removed from the chikoo before blending with milk and one or two bananas. You won’t need to add extra sugar!

SAPODILLA FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients

4-6 sapodillas (chikoo)

2 ripe mangoes

2 red-skinned apples

100 gr walnuts, chopped

2 oranges

cherries (optional)

juice of 1 orange

Method

Remove the pith and seeds from the sapodillas and the skin and stone from the mangoes and cut into cubes or slices. Wash then core the apples and slice.

Remove the pith from the orange segments and put them in a bowl with the rest of the fruit and walnuts. Cover with the juice of an orange and chill for an hour before serving with ice cream or whipped cream, or natural yoghurt.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

BILBERRIES OR WHINBERRIES: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF BILBERRIES: WIMBERRY PLATE PIE RECIPE

BILBERRIES, WHINBERRIES, WIMBERRIES, VACCINIUM MYRTILLIS

There are at least 450 species of Vaccinium plants and where I come from in South Wales we call them wimberries, which is a corruption of the English name for these berries, whinberries. The word whin means furze or gorse and broom plants which grow on moors and mountains; the natural habitat of bilberries. The English word bilberry comes from the Danish “bollebar” which means ‘dark berry’. As I child I used to love going on a wimberry picking expedition, hoping that we got to the succulent berries before the sheep. It takes a lot of these berries to make a pie, so we used to fill a biscuit tin with them, if we could. It is back-breaking works as these berries grow low on the ground in sheep-grazing territory, and used to take four of us hours to fill a tin with them. Now, unfortunately the wimberry places have been victim of construction and forestation or deforestation, so we haven’t been picking them for many years. There are still places in Britain where they flourish though, so children still get their mouths stained with their purple-black juice.

   Dioscorides, in his Materia Medica written in the first century AD recommends them for diarrhoea and for mouth ulcers and sore throats, and they have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. They grow prolifically in Europe and Scandinavia, although not in Southern Italy or the Iberian Peninsula. They range from Europe to Western Mongolia, but are not found in other parts of Asia. They occur in the Pacific regions across to North America.

   They are known as Whortleberries, Huckleberries, Trackleberries, Black Whortles and Blaeberry in Scotland, and doubtless there are many other names for them. The leaves resemble myrtle leaves, hence the Latin name for this species.

   They have been found to be good for the eyesight, and this upholds one traditional remedy. It is said that the R.A.F. pilots were given whinberry preserves to eat before they flew on night missions, as it was thought that they cured “night blindness.” Modern clinical trials have shown that they are very good for the eyes the berries contain anthrocyanosides which have been found to boost the production of rhodopsin; a pigment which improves night vision, so perhaps the R.A.F. pilots and their medics were on to a good thing. Anthrocyanosides are plant pigments that have excellent antioxidant properties and can combat free radicals in the body which damage cells, so they help to prevent heart disease and cancer and reverse or prevent damage to cells. They also help to decrease the risk of blood clots forming, as they cause dilation of the blood vessels and the properties of whinberries make them potentially valuable in the treatment of varicose veins, haemorrhoids and damage to the capillary system. As far as eyesight goes research has shown that they help reduce the symptoms of an eye disorder called macular degeneration.

    They also contain vitamins A and C (which also has antioxidant properties) as well as iron and potassium and tannins which give them their astringent qualities. Their chromium content helps normalize collagen which helps to join the tissues of the skin which means that there is a potential for the bilberry to smooth wrinkles and slow the aging process of the skin. In fact the tisane can be used as a skin lotion and if you mix half wimberry juice and half witch hazel you have a very effective lotion for sunburn.

  The dried fruit and tisanes have been used to treat diarrhoea, nausea and indigestion and a gargle of the fresh juice soothes sore throats and mouths. A tisane of the leaves, stalks and berries has been effective for diabetes sufferers when taken over a prolonged period.

   A decoction of the berries was used in cases of typhoid fever; and the tisane made from the leaf and stem stops vomiting and stomach cramps. The fresh berries regulate bowel activity, and a tisane of the roots was once used to get rid of stones in the bladder. People suffering from anaemia were given the fresh berries to eat because of their iron content. The fresh fruit also aids digestion and helps to expel gas from the intestine.

   The glucoquinines in the fruit help to lower blood sugar levels, so this tiny fruit which looks a little like a blackcurrant is extremely good for you.

    The tisane of leaves and stems is made form 2 or 3 teaspoons of chopped leaves and stems and you pour a cup full of boiling water over them and allow them to steep for 15 mins, then strain before drinking. You can use this as a skin lotion for burns, wounds and other skin problems. The decoction is made with 2 tsp fresh berries or one tsp dried, Boil them in 2 cups of water until the water is reduced by half. Leave the fruit to steep for 8 hours and either drink it or use it as skin wash.

CACEN BLAT LLUS

(WIMBERRY PLATE PIE)

Ingredients

For pastry: -

225 gr plain flour

1 tsp salt

110 gr butter or margarine, cubed

200 gr sugar

For filling: -

400 gr wimberries

200 gr sugar

Method

First make the pastry by rubbing together the sieved flour and cubes of butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and salt and mix well. Make a well in the centre and add two tbsps water and mix with your hands. Continue adding water until you have pliable dough. Form a ball with the dough and cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour.

Roll out half the dough and put on an oven-proof plate. Put the wimberries on top and sprinkle with the sugar.

Rollout the other half of the dough and place on top. Crimp the edges with your thumb and forefinger so that the pie is well-sealed. Rick the top with a fork and sprinkle with a little more sugar if you wish. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees C for 25 mins or until the pie crust is golden.

Serve hot with custard or cold with vanilla ice cream or thick cream.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

  

LOTUS- LOTUS ROOT- LOTUS FLOWER: HOW TO USE THE LOTUS FOR HEALTH: LOTUS ROOT PICKLE RECIPE

THE LOTUS, NELUMBO NUCIFERA, KANWAL IN URDU

The lotus is a sacred plant to Buddhists, Hindus and Jains and has been cultivated for thousands of years. It is a symbol of everlasting life, resurrection, fertility, prosperity (material and spiritual), enlightenment amidst ignorance and one can understand why. This amazing plant has been used in traditional medicine for a number of diseases and infections and Western research has validated most of the traditional medicinal uses. The root or rhizome is edible, and rather like a crunchy water chestnut in taste, and these can be substituted for lotus root in cookery. It also tastes a little like coconut but you have to sample it to judge for yourself what it is like.

  The root will discolour quickly when exposed to air, so if you have a fresh root to cook, keep some water mixed with lemon juice near so that you can dip it into this so that it retains its creamy-white colour. You can batter and deep fry the cut tubers, boil, steam roast, pickle them or even eat them raw. They are crunchy so don’t overcook them thinking that they will go soft; they won’t. You can dry the root and then make meal from it which can be mixed to a paste to get rid of ringworm and other skin problems, or use it like flour.

  Lotus roots can grow up to 4 feet in length and be 2 to 4 inches wide. They can come in segments, each of which can be 8 to 12 inches long. They are cultivated in ponds which can be easily drained to harvest the root or in tanks. The root is the main part eaten, but the whole plant is edible and all of it is used in medicine for different purposes.

   The roots contain asparagines, tannin, nelumbine, carotene, thiamine, nicotinic acid, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).The seeds contain protein and carbohydrates, and the minerals potassium, calcium and phosphorous among others. The flowers also contain iron and calcium among other constituents.

   Lotus plants are native to Asia, Australia, Egypt, the Middle East and New Guinea, and Nelumba lutea was used as food and medicine by the Native Americans.

Egyptian blue lotus

   The lotus is associated with Creation myths, and one myth tells of the god Vishnu, asleep in the primordial waters which had covered the first created world, and as he dreamed, a golden lotus flower grew from his navel. As it unfurled, it revealed the cosmic egg in which Brahma the creator lay sleeping. As Brahma stirred in the egg, so creation began once more and new worlds and life unfolded. In India today the lotus is viewed as the Cradle of the Universe, and there are similar myths about the lotus in Egypt where a “cousin” of the lotus grows. This is the blue lotus, Nymphaea caerula; the myth says that a new child god was born from this flower who was the Light that banished Darkness. The ancient Egyptians used it to invoke Isis, Osiris and Thoth. In India it is sacred to Lakshmi the goddess of prosperity and abundance.

   The lotus also symbolizes peace and serenity and the lotus position, adopted in meditation, signifies the person transcending the material world. The legs are crossed and the upper parts of the body are erect in an attempt to achieve a oneness with the gods.

   The lotus seeds can be very long lived as in north eastern China some were discovered in the sediment of a dried up lake in the 1920s and planted. No one realized at the time how old they were, but tests in the 1990s revealed that the seeds had germinated after lying dormant for 1300 years. Scientists have said that lotus seeds are “the oldest demonstrably viable and directly dated seed ever reported” and are using evidence from lotus seeds in an attempt to understand the ageing process of other species.

   Seeds are used to make prayer beads, and lotus leaves stalks are harvested in Myanmar for their fibre. This is made into threads and woven into cloth to make religious robes and altar cloths. The lotus leaf stalks are used in India to make wicks for temple lamps.

    Because the seeds can germinate from mud after the monsoon rains and give rise to new plants, they are symbolic of immortality and resurrection.

    In India honey made from the lotus flowers is valued because it is good to treat eye problems, and the large leaves are laid on the body during high fevers to bring the temperature down. The boiled roots, mixed with sesame oil are used to alleviate heat and applied to the head and eyes. A cough syrup is made with dried lotus flowers, and the leaves and stems may be pounded and made into a paste to help cure piles, leprosy, and other skin diseases as well as eaten to stop vomiting. The milky latex in the stems, leaves and flowers has antibacterial properties.

   The flower stamens are used in preparations to help with erectile dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation, and the seeds taken orally for 7 days with water from rice, is believed to improve female fertility. The stamens are also used to stop excessive urine and uterine bleeding. The seeds have sedative properties and can cure insomnia, as well as soothing the uterus muscles. The leaf juice when boiled with liquorice root is effective against sunstroke. The stalk is used to stem excessive blood flow during menstruation, and to halt the bleeding of gastric ulcers. Parts of the plant have been used to cure STDs and cancer, and research is continuing into the anti cancer effects of extracts from the plant.

   A decoction of the flowers is used to combat premature ejaculation and as parts of the plant contain a substance, L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase; it is thought that this might play a role in halting the ageing process in the skin, as it can repair protein damage. The flowers have also been used as a diuretic in traditional medicine.

   One of my favourite recipes is deep-fried lotus root; cut and blanch thin slices of lotus root and coat in a spicy matter, then deep fry for a few minutes. Delicious.

LOTUS ROOT PICKLE

Ingredients

3 tbsps rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

3 tbsps sugar

300 gr sliced lotus root

3 red chillies split from top to bottom

Method

Peel the root and cut into slices. Dipping each slice into water with lemon juice added to stop it discolouring. Boil a pan of water and blanch the root for 3 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Meanwhile boil the vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Put the lotus root and chillies into a glass jar and cover with the liquid. Seal the jar and put it in the fridge where it will keep for about a week.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

ORCHIDS AND SALEP - HOW TO USE: SALEP RECIPE

ORCHIDS AND SALEP

Orchids once grew wild and prolifically in Britain and other parts of Europe. Unfortunately wild orchids are now rare and protected, so you can’t dig up the tubers as you once could. The tubers contain a starch–like substance called salep which is mucilaginous and was known to Dioscorides in the 1^st century AD. The tubers were dried and powdered or stored and used to heal wounds, as well as to heal “The King’s Evil” which was the name given to scrofula, the primary stage of tuberculosis, which causes swelling of the lymphatic glands. It was believed that the touch of the king could cure the disease. Culpeper believed that orchids came under the “dominion of Venus” and they were considered an aphrodisiac in Europe, possibly because of the shape of the tubers. The word sahlep in Arabic is said to mean “fox testicles.” It is Culpeper who states that “they heal the King’s Evil.”  Earlier Gerard calls them the “Female Satyrion” and it was believed that satyrs were incited to their sexual excesses by the orchid roots, which began to grow when a satyr, Orchis, who was the son of a satyr and a nymph, insulted (possibly raped) a priestess of Bacchus or Dionysus. His father prayed that he would not be killed for his crime and so Orchis was metamorphosed into an orchid.

   Witches used the tubers in spells with the fresh tubers bringing true love and the withered ones used to stop adulterous passions.

    In the Renaissance the tubers were kept in ships’ stores to provide sustenance when other rations dwindled. One ounce of the powdered tubers in 4 pints of boiling water was considered enough for one man per day in times of shortage.

  Mucilage of salep (powdered tuber) is one of the official preparations in the German Pharmacopoeia. It is used as a cure for diarrhoea and bilious fevers.

   In Turkey salep is a warming winter drink flavoured with saffron, which tastes delicious, and powdered tuber is used to make the kind of ice cream that stretches and has to be cut with a knife. This also contains mastic gum. I once observed ice cream vendors stretching their ice cream across a wide road in Kusadasi, Turkey. The ice cream tastes very good, as does the salep drink you can buy there.

   You can also eat orchid flowers, as you can those from the kachnar tree and the hibiscus. They can be used as a garnish, or to flavour desserts such as ice cream. Vanilla, of course comes from an orchid. If you can get an orchid root, you should try this drink. However you can’t import orchid roots from Turkey, but you can get powdered salep in some gourmet shops, although you may not be getting the real thing.

SALEP

Ingredients

1 tsp salep powder

1 cup milk

1½ tsps sugar

a pinch of saffron

sprinkle of cinnamon powder

(optional dash of rose water, orange blossom water, chopped walnuts or pistachios)

Method

 The salep powder, sugar and saffron in a cup of milk, pour into a glass or cup and sprinkle with cinnamon powder.

If you wish you can top add a dash of each or either of the flower water and stir then top with the walnuts or fresh pistachios (not the salted ones).

This has Taste and is a Treat.

YUCCA AND CASSAVA OR MANIOC: EDIBLE ROOTS USES AND BENEFITS

yucca

YUCCA, CASSAVA, MANIOC

Yuccas are ornamental plants in Europe and North America, but they have edible tubers and flowers. Two yuccas that can’t be eaten are the Actaea rubra or banana yucca and the Actaea arguta. You can eat the flowers and the tubers of the other plants, although they have to be peeled and leached of toxins. Some can be eaten raw, but you have to know which type these are before you start chomping on a tuber.

   They originated in Central America, and the manioc or cassava is the source of what we know as tapioca, the stuff that looks a little like frog spawn when cooked as a dessert with milk. This comes from Manihot esculenta, which is also used to make flour which has the advantage of being gluten free. It is made by grating the raw tuber and then drying the grated root and grinding to a powder or meal. In Brazil, they make Farafa which is seasoned manioc meal which is used as a condiment on almost every cooked dish in Brazil.

cassava or manioc crop

   Manioc or cassava has been a staple crop for centuries, and archaeologists have found evidence that it was cultivated by the Mayans 1400 years ago in El Salvador. They discovered a field the size of a football pitch which had been preserved under a blanket of volcanic ash. Today the crop is also used to make alcoholic drinks including beer, as well as being a staple food. It has twice the protein value of a potato and is higher in vitamin content and potassium than the potato, so it has been a valuable food crop over the centuries.

   It was discovered by the Portuguese and Spanish explorers and they took it to the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, where it is also commonly used today.

edible manioc root

    The Witoto tribe of the Colombian Amazon use the water used to leach the toxins out of the bitter roots to poison fish and other tribes use the water to treat skin infections and as poultices to draw out foreign bodies from the skin. The Makura use it to get rid of scabies. It has antimicrobial properties and is used to heal wounds.

    The flowers of the yucca plants can be stuffed with breadcrumbs or a vegetable mixture and baked. In this they are similar to the edible buds of the kachnar tree and other edible flowers such as the rose, nasturtium and lavender. The tubers can be used like potatoes and baked, boiled or steamed after being peeled as there is prussic acid in the skins which gives them a bitter taste. You can make crisps or chips with them and they are good fried with garlic and chilli.