[Sca-cooks] Gourd Recipe in the Transylvanian Cookbook

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Madhavi wrote:
> I grew edible gourds a couple years ago and cooked with them extensively, 
> including several medieval recipes from Syria, India and Persia. They taste 
> almost exactly like zucchini...

I don't agree. I find the nice fresh young ones i buy are far more pleasant than zucchini. Some even have a vague hint of cucumber in their flavor. And not stringy like zucchini sometimes gets.

> except they don't dissolve with longer simmering - 
> they are firmer. If you harvest them young then the peel is quite soft and not 
> bitter, though peeled is still better. The texture is lovely and unlike pumpkin 
> or zucchini...

As you say, they don't "dissolve" in cooking. I can't stand the way zucchini gets all sodden and limp and heavy when cooked. The ones i find (not growing vegetables in an upstairs urban apartment without a balcony or deck) the seeds are still white. A fellow historical cook has bought them in Washington, but his were not as young and the seeds were already turning brown and the skin was less pleasant.

> You can buy edible Lagenaria gourds at any Indian grocer with a 
> produce section here in Florida, I don't know about other areas of the country. 
> I would urge you all to try cooking with them.

The renowned Berkeley Bowl sels them by their Filipino name opo. I believe that South Asian and East Asian markets also sell them.

In my opinion the various summer squash, such as pattypan and crookneck, are better substitutes than zucchini, if you can't find actual young gourds.

Urtatim