The other day I tried a new Italian restaurant out here, and near the end of my meal the server came and set this down in front of me:
Were they chestnuts? I had no idea. I attempted to eat one, and the white, fleshy part tasted a lot like an oversized, tough grape to me, except it was both tarter than I wanted and sweeter than I had expected.
The next day I was grading tests from a unit about food, and in a list of fruits one student wrote chestnuts.
Normally I would have marked it wrong and said, “No, chestnuts are nuts!”
But this time I thought, Huh. If those things I had last night were chestnuts, there's certainly an aspect of them that is undeniably fruity...
So, were they chestnuts? Are chestnuts fruit? Maybe so.
And if not, I apologize for setting loose a student who now confidently thinks they are.
Were they chestnuts? I had no idea. I attempted to eat one, and the white, fleshy part tasted a lot like an oversized, tough grape to me, except it was both tarter than I wanted and sweeter than I had expected.
The next day I was grading tests from a unit about food, and in a list of fruits one student wrote chestnuts.
Normally I would have marked it wrong and said, “No, chestnuts are nuts!”
But this time I thought, Huh. If those things I had last night were chestnuts, there's certainly an aspect of them that is undeniably fruity...
So, were they chestnuts? Are chestnuts fruit? Maybe so.
And if not, I apologize for setting loose a student who now confidently thinks they are.
