Food

An abalone is a very large sea snail. Abalones are a different shape to most snails - they have a wide, flat shell. You can still see the spiral shape in their shell.

Abalones are caught and eaten as food, and their shells are used to make jewellery.

The almond is the seed inside the fruit of the almond tree. Almond trees grow up to 10 metres tall. They are related to plums, cherries and apricots. Most people think of almonds as a nut, not the seed of a fruit.

Almonds can be eaten raw or roasted and salted, or used in cooking cakes and puddings.

Amaranths are a large group of plants that include some fast-growing weeds. Some varieties of amaranth, particularly the grain amaranth, grow a large crop of highly-nutritious seeds, and are sometimes referred to as the 'crop of the future'.

Some species of amaranth have edible leaves and can be cooked or eaten raw as a salad vegetable.

Anchovies are small, oily fish that are usually preserved in brine and matured. This process gives them a very strong flavour. Anchovies are used on pizza, on Caesar salad and as an ingredient in numerous other dishes. They are one of the main ingredients of Worcestershire Sauce.

Anise or aniseed is a small plant related to fennel and celery. It is grown for its seeds, which have a similar taste to liquorice. It is a different plant to star anise.

The apple is the fruit of the apple tree. Apple trees are small deciduous trees growing to around 5-12 metres high. Apples may be red, yellow or green. You can eat all of the apple except the core in the middle, which is full of seeds.

The apricot is a small, soft, sweet orange fruit closely related to the plum. You can eat the fruit fresh or dried, and apricots can also be made into jam.

Globe artichokes are a type of thistle. The edible part of the artichoke is the young flowerbud. Artichokes are usually boiled in salted water until they are tender. In some countries they are deep fried.

The asparagus spears that you buy in the shops are the new shoots of a type of plant. They are eaten as a vegetable, and can be cooked in a variety of ways. They are usually eaten alone as a side dish rather than mixed into something else like a stew.

The avocado is the fruit of a tree native to south and central America. It prefers to grow in tropical areas.

Avocados are much higher in fat than other fruits. The avocado has a big seed inside it, and a hard skin, so you can only eat the soft flesh in between. Their flesh is yellow to green, and has a texture that is a little like butter, hence one of their common names of "butter fruit". The flesh of the avocado can be spread on bread or crackers, or the flesh can be diced and used as an ingredient in salads.