Artichokes look like one of the most intimidating vegetables to grace the shelves of any supermarket. A widely consumed vegetable throughout the Mediterranean, it's actually a member of the thistle family, as you might probably guess from its thick, almost thorn-like “leaves” and tough outer skin. ...

When we talk about capers, we're referring to the flower buds of the Capparis spinosa (caper bush) perennial plant (ie. living longer than 2-years) that are usually salted, pickled and used to garnish and season dishes. Capers are native to the Mediterranean basin. They are produced mainly in ...

Interest in and the market for CBD (cannabidiol) products is continually growing and at an all-time high. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get lost in the world of CBD and be left hanging with a host of questions such as, what is CBD? Will CBD make me feel high? Is it addictive? What is THC? There are ...

White tea - what is it? It might sound like a milky cup of English Breakfast, but White Tea is actually a particular strain of green tea made from the Camellia sinensis plant, that gets its name from the ripeness of the leaves; picked just before they fully open, they are covered in tiny white ...

Black sesame is a small black seed also referred to as 'Hei Zhi Ma' in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It originated in Africa, and its oil was praised in Babylon and Assyria times some four thousand years ago. According to an Assyrian legend, the gods were even drinking sesame-based wine ...

The overconsumption of processed sugar and carbohydrate intake make us look today at alternatives to sugar. Alternatives still have sugar but they are easier for your body to process. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently dropped the recommended daily allowance of sugar from 10% to 5%. ...

Echinacea (pronounced 'ekin-nay-sia') is an herb that’s becoming very popular across the Western world. It’s not new on the herbal or medicinal scene by any means, in fact, the Native Americans used echinacea for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived on their shores and it’s just as effective ...

Dates are the flowered fruit from the Arecaceae family of palm trees. Dates come with a great variety of colours, textures and sweetness to them. The Medjool Date is very popular and known to have higher ratios of vitamins and minerals; they’re soft and chewy with a rich caramel-like taste. This in ...

Oolong (in Chinese: 烏龍) tea originally came from the Chinese name (烏龍茶) which means "black dragon tea" and is a traditional Chinese tea (from the Camellia sinensis species of evergreen shrub). It is obtained from this same plant used to make green tea and black tea but is processed differently. It ...

Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citriodora or Lippia citriodora) is a tropical perennial plant from the Verbenaceae family originating from South America (Chile and Argentina). Its shrub can grow to 2-3 meters tall and it has small white and purple flowers.  Lemon balm, vervain and lemon verbena are ...