Fruit or vegetable?

Chris Smith puts our panelists to the test with a little fruits and vegetables quiz...

Chris - Now, a little quiz for you teams, so we’re going to divide you up because we thought you’re answering other people’s questions but now I’ve got some questions for you. We want to find out how well you know your onions, or more accurately, how well you know your fruits from your vegetables.

The rules are really simple, we’re going to have two teams, we’re going to have David and Anna on one team and then Michael and Aimee on the other team. I am going to put to you a thing, and you have to tell me if it’s a fruit, a vegetable or something else. And, you know, the people with the most points get the benefit of knowing they are the brain of britain today.

David and Anna, you’re going to go first. The first object is an avocado. Is this a fruit or is this a vegetable, or is it something else?

David - There’s a big stone in the middle so what does that.

Anna - It’s got a big stone in the middle so that will make it a fruit.

David - Or something else. It’s not a vegetable.

Anna - It’s definitely not a vegetable. It might be a nut.

Chris - I’m going to have to push you. What do you think?

Anna - Let’s say something else.

David - Let’s say something else, yeah.

Anna - We don’t have to say what do we?

Chris - David - you talked yourself out of the answer. It was a fruit.

Q: Ok, right let’s see if you can improve on this! Won’t be hard will it, to improve on a score of zero? Aimee and Michael, your food is the tomato. What do you think about that?

We’ve got sour grapes over here! That not a part of the question, grapes are a fruit...

Aimee - I’ve heard that a tomato is a berry but would that make it a fruit? I’m going to leave it to you Mike…

Michael - I think it’s a fruit because I heard some kind of saying or something about this which is: knowing that a  tomato is a fruit is knowledge but knowing not to put one in a fruit salad is wisdom. So I think it’s a fruit.

Chris - Did you like what Aimee did there where she said “I’ll leave it with you.”

Aimee - Yeah. Passing the buck there. Fruit.

Chris - You’ve got yourself a bing… good. So that’s plus one for you two.

Q: See if you can redeem yourself please David and Anna, your second food is a pea.

David - That’s a pulse, which is a variety of vegetable.

Anna - Yeah, I think you’re right.

David - Can we say it’s a pulse - it’s a legume.

Anna - Whis is a vegetable.

David - Yeah.

Anna - I think we’re going to say vegetable.

David - It’s a binary choice!
Chris - No actually, a pea is a fruit. So that’s a brilliant score. You’re doing zero at the moment.

Q: Aimee and Michael we’re back to you, your next food is sweetcorn. What do you think of sweetcorn?

Michael - Oh. Because most fruits tend to be sweet and sweetcorn can be sort of sweet?

Aimee - I’ll give you an example of a sweet vegetable right now - rhubarb. So that throws a spanner in the works.

Chris - I’m going to have to push you.

Michael - Shall we go vegetable?

Aimee - Let’s go for it. Give the others a chance.

Chris - No, I’m sorry. Sweetcorn is actually classed as grain.

Aimee - Ah, that makes sense.

Chris - I’m afraid you got that one wrong. So one to you and zero to David and Anna. You’ve got everything to play for.

Q: David and Anna, on your menu finally - Mushrooms. What do you think of mushrooms.

David - There a fungus.

Anna - They’re a fungus, yeah

David - A fungi - there’s certainly not a fruit. It depends how you define vegetable - we’ve never had a definition.

Chris - So they're not fruit, they’re not vegetable, you’re going for other.

David - Fungus.

Anna - Yeah - other.

Chris - Very good you got a point. So that’s one all. So this is the big one. If the guys throw this then it's going to be a draw. I don’t know what happens if we have a draw.

Q:Aimee and Michael, your final food is rhubarb. Is this fruit or vegetable or other?

Aimee - Well. I put my fist in my mouth earlier.

Michael - You did a bit.

Aimee - I will bear responsibility if my research is wrong.

Michael - You go for it.

Aimee - I’m going to say vegetable.

Chris - Why is that? Just explain what your reasoning was. Why do do you think rhubarb is not a fruit?

Aimee - It grows underground.

Chris - Underground! Have you ever grown rhubarb!

Aimee - No. I don’t know anything about rhubarb.

Chris - They’ve got giant leaves and they’re red stemmed things. It’s lovely.

Aimee - I know you don’t eat the leaves.

Chris - No you don’t eat the leaves. They’ve got lots of  salicylic acid in the leaves - they cause kidney stones. Not good for you. But the stems…

David - You eat the stem cells.

Chris - You eat the stem cells, yes. No it’s the big long red stems. But yes, it is  - you’re eating part of the plant flesh so that’s actually a vegetable.

Well done. I guess that makes it 2 - 1 to you guys. So this week’s brains are Aimee and Michael. Very well done.