Food that starts with P

A pasty is a kind of food that is made out of a round piece of pastry folded in half around some kind of filling. Pasties are most commonly filled with vegetables but you can also make a pasty with a meat filling. Pasty is also a word for describing someone who is pale and unhealthy looking.

The pea is the seed of the pea plant. It is eaten for food. With most kinds of pea, you remove the case the peas come in (the pod) before you eat them. Peas are in the same family as beans.

The peanut is not a true not and, in fact, related to the pea - they are both legumes. Peanuts develop in a pod, like peas, with 1-4 peanuts in each pod. The pods force themselves underground to mature. Peanuts are usually sold in shops removed from their shell, roasted and salted. Peanuts are also frequently ground into a fine paste called peanut butter which is good to eat on sandwiches with jam or jelly. Some people get a violent allergic reaction to eating peanuts, called anaphylactic shock, which can kill them. As this allergy is more common in children and more children each year are being found to have it, peanuts are often banned in schools. The peanuts in the picture are unopened, still in their shells.

The pear is the fruit of the pear tree. Pear trees are small deciduous trees growing to around 5-12 metres high. Pears may be green or yellow. Pears are closely related to apples but are softer, juicier and a different shape. You can eat all of the pear except the core in the middle, which is full of seeds.

The outermost layer of fruit or vegetables is called the peel. Some fruits and vegetables have a soft peel that you can eat, but many have a hard or bitter peel. For most fruits and vegetables you use a peeler to remove the peel, but some fruits like bananas and mandarins have peels that are easy to remove with just your fingers. You can peel anything that has a removable outer layer, not just food, but the term is most often used in relation to fruit and vegetables.