Thursday, August 25, 2011

What's a Chayote?


Photo from GourmetSleuth

Nope, it is not something to be smoked, chewed or worshiped at dusk in the desert. (Though I agree with you, Anne. It does sound a little sketchy!)

Chuchu, as they call it in Brazil, is a great, cheap vegetable. Like a cross between a cucumber and a water chestnut, it seems to keep a little textural resistance even when cooked and absorbs the flavor of whatever it's cooked in.

If you can't find these and a recipe calls for them, I'd sub in cucumber for raw dishes and zucchini or the above mentioned water chestnuts in cooked ones. But if you come across one at the grocery store, now you know what it is!

My personal experience has been that the smooth-skinned ones are a lot less sticky than their prickly counterparts if you are going to peel them. The stickiness is a beast to wash off; worse than glue!

3 comments:

anne said...

is a funny-looking critter, this Chayote. Thanks for the bit of education! :)

Jô~ said...

looks pretty cool

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