Plural of esculent; edible plants, vegetables, or foods suitable for eating.
From the adjective esculent used as a noun (in the pattern of 'the edible' becoming 'edibles'), the plural form standard with -s.
When you see 'esculents' on a Victorian menu, you're looking at a time when English speakers had fancy words for every category of food—esculents were right up there with the meat course as a formal food category.
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