is bayam really spinach?

**beebop** · 13-07-12, 20:50

every time someone says were eating spinach i find it hard to believe. all dictionaries translate bayam as spinach and i even saw a dubbed Popeye cartoon that was using the word bayam. this is the stuff im talking about here....

but i have always known spinach to look like this from back home....

so can anyone enlighten me to this mystery? i have not seen spinach anywhere in indonesia except in a can in the rare supermarket.

**El_Goretto** · 13-07-12, 22:00

Cant see the pics

**jstar** · 13-07-12, 22:46

Originally Posted by beebop

every time someone says were eating spinach i find it hard to believe. all dictionaries translate bayam as spinach

This is what you're used to? Only kidding....

What they have here, is what we call in Dutch, KLAROEN or Hanenkam (had to look it up: Celosia or Cockscombs in English?). a plant from the same family but it has a stronger taste and the plant needs higher temperatures to grow. There are even red varieties.

You can buy the seeds in Europe, they do grow in colder climates:

Also it's called Chinese or Lagos spinach. Why I don't know, when I bought seeds at the time it said it was a South American plant but just now I read it's originally from Africa.

**tihzho** · 13-07-12, 23:54

There are so many different kinds of spinach outside of America for example therefore it may be difficult to find the same type of spinach one had back home

**ponyexpress** · 14-07-12, 10:32

Originally Posted by beebop

every time someone says were eating spinach i find it hard to believe. all dictionaries translate bayam as spinach and i even saw a dubbed Popeye cartoon that was using the word bayam. this is the stuff im talking about here....

but i have always known spinach to look like this from back home....

so can anyone enlighten me to this mystery? i have not seen spinach anywhere in indonesia except in a can in the rare supermarket.

The second one is called Silverbeet, which is another type of spinach. The first one is similar to English spinach, which has a flatter leave and green stalks.

**beebop** · 14-07-12, 12:17

Silverbeet? Does anyone know the indonesian name for it?

**Shinta** · 14-07-12, 16:31

The second photo to me looks more like, in Spain we call it Acelga, I use the translator and say Swiss chard!!!!
I think the photo from Thzho are the spinach I know!!
I am in Spain now for a few months and I miss so much the variety of green vegetables from Indonesia!!! Here I only can find spinach and swiss chard. We got use to eat vegetables everyday with our rice in Indonesia and here is getting too boring eats all the time the same green vegetables!!!!
We love spinach!!

**Michelle O'Brien** · 14-07-12, 16:42

I have bought baby spinach at Ranch easily.

**beebop** · 14-07-12, 16:45

Swiis chard and the proper spinach that Tihzoh showed us. I want that stuff. Where can i find it in indonesia and what are the indonesian language names for them?