FOOD COLORS

I made my favorite homemade salsa last weekend.  It reminded me of what colors can tell us about food.

You know that there is green tea, black tea and white tea.  They all come from the same plants. The plants start out white; turn green and then black (so to speak). At each age, the tea gets a little stronger.  White tea is very mild - maybe too mild.  Green still has many valuable nutrients.  Black tea can be harvested easily and gives the most robust taste.  All other names for tea have to do with flavoring.

But Pat, there is no tea in your salsa.  What's that about?  Well, this salsa is made with green, yellow and red peppers.  If you can find them, you could also use orange peppers.  So, what's the difference?  Like the tea, they all come from the same plant.  In this case, the green are the youngest; then they turn yellow and then orange and then red.  It doesn't change the taste too much - I think they get a little sweeter as they ripen. The green are usually the least expensive because the farmers don't have to wait to pick them -  that's also why you see them more often.

Are you learning something?  Now, let's talk about M&M's.  Ooops!  Time's up.  Maybe next time.
*o*