Momordica charantia often called bitter melon, bitter gourd or bitter squash in English, has many other local names. Goya from the indigenous language of Okinawa where there is a large US military presence and karavella from Sanskrit are also used by English-language speakers.
It is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all fruits . Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit. This is a plant of the tropics.
Bitter melon originated in India, and it was carried to China in the 14th century.
Read more about Bitter Melon: Description, Culinary Uses, Local Names, Medicinal Uses
Famous quotes containing the words bitter and/or melon:
“It is the human season on this sterile air
Do words outcarry breath the sound goes on and on.
I hear a dead man’s cry from autumn long since gone.
I cry to you beyond upon his bitter air.”
—Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)
“No melon is perfectly round; no person is completely perfect.”
—Chinese proverb.