[Sca-cooks] Gourds was Re: Seljuk/Rumi/Sufi Cuisine

Terry Decker t.d.decker at att.net
Wed Apr 28 20:01:29 PDT 2010


> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 4:25 PM,  <lilinah at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> (sarcasm on) She also includes such 13th century
>>> Anatolian favorites as butternut squash and
>>> zucchini, both New World in origin. (sarcasm off)
>>> Is she suggesting them as substitutes for the period 'gourd'? I've seen
>>> this
>>> done before (and done it myself, upon occasion).
>>
>> I would have no problem with that, although getting various edible gourds 
>> is
>> not that difficult if one lives where there are Middle Eastern, South 
>> Asian,
>> Southeast Asian, or East Asian markets. And now that i have been using 
>> them,
>> i find them far preferable in flavor and texture to zucchini, which is 
>> very
>> watery by comparison.
>
> What are they called in the stores?  Any chance you have pictures of them?
>
> We have a variety of grocery stores around, but identifying what I
> might want is harder :-)
>
> Eyrny

Commonly calabash, dipper and bottle gourds.  You might also find them under 
the names upo, cucuzza, lau, lauka, tapara, qara, bak, etc., etc., etc. 
They come in shapes and colors similar to New World squash, but can be 
easily differentiated by the stem.  New World squash have deeply ribbed 
stems.  Old World gourds have round stems with very fine, almost 
unnoticeable ribs.  The term gourd can be used to describe all members of 
the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae) or true gourds (genus Lagenaria), so 
don't trust that what is called a gourd to be a true gourd.

Bear 




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