An American Original

     As any agricultural historian could tell you, most of our fruits and vegetables originated in Europe and Asia and at some point in time made their way to the New World.  However, there is one notable exception.  And that would be the zucchini.  Like all other summer squash varieties the champion of the summer garden originated in the Americas and was exported back to the Old World.

     The word comes from an Italian term, zucchina, and refers to the long green squash that is also called courgette, a French designation,  in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.  They are prolific at this time of year, being one of the easiest plants to grow and a favorite of home gardeners.  One author writes:

      "The first sight of zucchini in your garden is a beautiful thing.  But then: it just keeps growing.  Soon half your fridge is taken up by zucchini."  

Martha Stewart is more tempered in her remarks:

     Famously and prolific summer squash plants bring plenty of zucchini...into our lives at this time of year.  The mild tasting, versatile vegetable (okay, technically it's a fruit) is equally delicious in savory and sweet dishes.



     Versatile is an understatement!  Zucchini can be roasted, baked, stuffed, fried, sauteed, steamed, pickled and barbecued to make things like bread, lasagna, noodles, chips, fries, fritters, soup, pancakes, and salad.  At the Allrecipes website there are more than 770 recipes that feature zucchini as the main ingredient.  Food Network lists 885!



     It's not uncommon to see a full grown zucchini the size of a baseball bat.  However, when fully mature they have a tendency to become woody and fibrous.  That's why the smaller, immature once are favored by kitchen chefs.  So the record setting zucchini grown by Gurdial Singh Kanwal in Brampton, Ontario, Canada in 2005 probably wasn't grown for consumption.  It was 7 feet 10.3 inches long.

     So let your imagination run wild when your neighbor offers you some of his garden's glorious green squash that he no longer has any room for in his refrigerator.  After all, there must be at least one recipe that you will find to your liking out of the nearly one thousand in print.