food-identificationvegetables
The other day I ventured into a grocery store that sold a lot of root vegetables that I have never seen before.
One of the vegetables was a large round thing, and when I poked it, grey 'smoke' came out of it, like one of those mushrooms you stepped on as a kid. None of the vegetables were labeled, so I don't know its name.
Does anyone know if such a thing exists, and what does one do with it?
That's a cue ball zucchini.
It's similar to a one ball zucchini (yellow), and an eight ball zucchini (dark green, almost black). All of them are round and great squashes to stuff and roast. Hope you enjoyed it!
Those appear to be bean curd sheets (ie. tofu sheets). They're a common find in Asian shops.
Here's what they look like when nice and fresh
But they can also be dried.
The OP picture looks like it's somewhere in between; maybe hasn't been cared for too well. It looks like it should look like the first photo but has been left uncovered and has dried around the edges.
I think the cabbage label is just a simple mistake/misplacement. Dried or cured cabbage would still have a visible cellulose structure while the OP picture has a consistent look (if not tofu, then it's certainly something reformed from something like flour or meal - seitan as mentioned in a comment is a likely runner-up).
Best Answer
Are you sure it was not in fact a puffball fungus? There are some varieties that are edible and can be found in grocery stores. Depending on how fresh, and when they were picked, they could easily be mistaken for a root vegetable. Look for pear shaped puffball here for an example. http://www.wildernesscollege.com/edible-wild-mushrooms.html