strawberries follow-up

Cameron, who happens to know a lot about Persian:

“With regard to your note about the strawberries of Afghanistan, I thought I’d point out that the word for strawberry in Persian (and I’d guess there’s a 50/50 chance the village elder you heard interviewed was speaking Persian) is ‘tut farangi,’ i.e. European mulberry (farangi is literally Frankish – as you probably know).

I’m sure the strawberries of Afghanistan are most succulent, but they were introduced to the region from the West.

Tomatos, by the way, have a very similar name in Persian. They are goje farangi, i.e. European greengage. They must have named them before they saw them properly ripened – because a goje is never red like a ripe tomato.

It should be noted that the variety of strawberries most commonly cultivated around the world is, like the tomato, a New World crop.”

I didn’t know any of this. But on a similar note, peanuts are called “Sudanese beans” in Arabic.