Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 11:5

"We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:" — Numbers 11:5 (ASV)

We remember the fish ... — Classical writers and modern travelers agree in testifying to the abundance of fish in the Nile and in the neighboring canals and reservoirs. The cucumbers in Egypt are of great size and finely flavored. The watermelons serve to moderate the internal heat that the climate produces. (See The Land and the Book, p. 508.)

The word rendered leeks (in Psalms 104:14, grass for cattle) is thought by some to denote a species of clover that is unique to Egypt. The young and fresh shoots of this clover are said to be used as food and to be an excellent digestive aid.

The onions of Egypt are said to be the sweetest in the world, and they constitute the common food of the poorest people. Garlic is still much used by modern Arabs. It is only the fish, which was probably equally available to all, that the Israelites are said to have eaten freely, i.e., not abundantly, but gratuitously. It is probable, however, that many of them cultivated the land to a greater or lesser degree, and so obtained vegetables for themselves.