A new study reveals a worrying lack of knowledge about fresh food among Britain’s younger population.
Around one in 10 seven to 15-year-olds think Brussels sprouts are a ‘fictional’ food with eight per cent believing parsnips don’t really exist.
Children also struggle with chickpeas, radishes, aubergines and shallots with many thinking they are simply made up vegetable names.
More than one in 20 said cucumbers weren’t real with a similar number thinking the same about mushrooms.
However the survey of 500 youngsters revealed many think weird and wonderful fruit and vegetables from games and films are real.
Lambas bread, eaten by elves in the The Lord of the Rings films is a real food in the eyes of six per cent of British children.
Harry Potter’s popular ‘butter beer’ is apparently something you can pick up at the local supermarket, the survey showed.
Around four per cent of children also believe energy-giving ‘fire flowers’ from the Super Mario games are a real food.
When asked about utensils around 64 per cent didn’t know what a baster was with a quarter never having heard of a sieve and ore than a third unfamiliar with a ladle.
However more than three quarters of children said they want to do more cooking at school, with more the a half eager to experiment more in their home kitchen.
Parveen Johal, spokesman for PizzaExpress which commissioned the research, said: “While it’s amusing to see the far-fetched ingredients some children think are real, our findings shed light on a worrying lack of knowledge of genuine ingredients among young people.”
“Together with the Children’s Food Trust we’re aiming to get hundred of thousands more kids to discover the joy of cooking, and learn their cucumbers from their snozzcumbers.”
While it’s amusing to see the far-fetched ingredients some children think are real, our findings shed light on a worrying lack of knowledge of genuine ingredients among young peopleTop 10 fake ingredients children think are real
Parveen Johal, spokesman for PizzaExpress
1. Butter Beer – Harry Potter (8 per cent)
2. Lambas bread – Lord of the Rings (6 per cent)
3. Strawberry Onion - made up specifically for the survey (6 per cent)
4. Sarlacc – a vegetable from Star Wars, Return of the Jedi (4 per cent)
5. Fire Flower – Super Mario (4 per cent)
6. Snozberry – an imaginary fruit from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (3 per cent)
7. Chuckleberries – a fictional fruit from children’s television (3 per cent)
8. Peahat – from the computer game The Legend of Zelda (2 per cent)
9. Biollante – giant plant with teeth from Godzilla (2 per cent)
10. Mangaboos – vegetable people from The Wizard of Oz (2 per cent)
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