I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable
marketed under the name "chayote squash", though
I'm deeply skeptical that it's any kind of a squash.
For one thing, it has one great big seed in the middle,
unlike any other member of the squash family that
I've ever seen, which always have many seeds.

At first, I used it unpeeled, but I've since decided it
should be peeled for best effect. I've tried cooking
it, using it in soup, but it seems best raw. I've found
that it is great sliced into thin sticks, with a generous
splash of balsamic vinegar. So now I've got two
things to use balsamic vinegar for.

Chayote is slightly sweet, without any vegetable flavor
like you have with zucchini. It has a firm, crunchy, flesh
very much like a cucumber, but firmer and crispier.

My mom said when she was a kid (living in Hawaii),
she had seen this vegetable then, but never tried it.
It was something the Philipinos would eat.

Mark Thorazine:

I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable
marketed under the name "chayote squash",

I've not ever seen chayote labeled "chayote squash", only "chayote", or
"mirlitin"... you hallucinated that in your psychotic little lentil of a brain.
Chayote is not a squash, it's a "gourd", like that hollow thingie setting on
your shoulders

I'm deeply skeptical that it's any kind of a squash.
For one thing, it has one great big seed in the middle,
unlike any other member of the squash family that
I've ever seen, which always have many seeds.

chayote [chi-OH-tay]
Once the principal food of the Aztecs and Mayas, this gourdlike fruit is about
the size and shape of a very large pear. Beneath its furrowed, pale green skin
is a white, rather bland-tasting flesh surrounding one soft seed. In the United
States, chayote is grown in several states including California, Florida and
Louisiana (where it's known as mirliton ). Chayote are widely available during
winter months, but can be found in some supermarkets throughout the year. Look
for those that are small, firm and unblemished. Refrigerate in a plastic bag up
to a month. Chayotes can be prepared in any way suitable for summer squash. It
can also be split, stuffed and baked like acorn squash, or used raw in salad.
Because of its mild flavor it requires assertive seasoning. Chayote, known in
France as christophene , is a good source of potassium. THE FOOD LOVER'S
COMPANION

Encyclopædia Britannica

chayote

also called Huisquil, or Chocho (Sechium edule), tendril-bearing perennial
vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to the New World tropics,
where it is widely cultivated for its edible fruits. Chayote also is grown as
an annual plant in temperate climates. The fast-growing vine bears small, white
flowers and green or white pear-shaped fruits with furrows. Each fruit is about
7.5 to 10 cm (about 3 to 4 inches) long and contains one seed. The fruits are
boiled, baked, or eaten raw, and the young root tubers are prepared like
potatoes.

Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=23090 [Accessed May 16, 2004].


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"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable marketed under the name
"chayote squash"...

It's actually a fruit, as described here from Epicurious.com

chayote
[chi-OH-tay]
Once the principal food of the Aztecs and Mayas, this gourdlike fruit is about
the size and shape of a very large pear. Beneath its furrowed, pale green skin
is a white, rather bland-tasting flesh surrounding one soft seed. In the United
States, chayote is grown in several states including California, Florida and
Louisiana (where it's known as mirliton ). Chayote are widely available during
winter months, but can be found in some supermarkets throughout the year. Look
for those that are small, firm and unblemished. Refrigerate in a plastic bag up
to a month. Chayotes can be prepared in any way suitable for summer squash. It
can also be split, stuffed and baked like acorn squash, or used raw in salad.
Because of its mild flavor it requires assertive seasoning. Chayote, known in
France as christophene , is a good source of potassium.

Mark Thorson wrote:

(...) but it seems best raw. I've found
that it is great sliced into thin sticks, with a generous
splash of balsamic vinegar. So now I've got two
things to use balsamic vinegar for.

It pairs well with jicama in this usage. rms

(Tranch749) puftered:

It's actually a fruit

So what... all fruits are vegetable... even you... friggin' eggplant. G


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"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

Here are some way my family eats chayote.

Dice the whole smooth skinned chayote (seed and all) and cook like
hashbrowns in butter with salt pepper and a little sugar accentuate it's
sweetness.

Slice a smooth skinned chayote and spray with olive oil. Grill on a ribbed
cast iron grill till tender and have nice grill lines, this take a long time
because they are full of moisture. Season with salt and pepper.


(SPINY CHAYOTE)
Find the spiny chayotes that have a tougher skin. Boil them whole split,
remove the seed and the loofa like fiberous part that sometimes forms around
the seed. Scoop out the insides mix with chopped onions, butter, garlic and
salt to taste. Saute this filling mixture while mashing it to remove
moisture and finish cooking it. Fill the spiny chayote halves with this
mixture and top with bread crumbs. bake in hot oven to brown the top.
Careful as the spines are sharp, don't play catch with these.

My SO just grilled me as to why I was giving her Grandmothers recipe away to
strangers, and finally conceded.

If a gourd can cross with a squash it seems to me that chayote could be
referred to as a squash, unless you are hung up with precise taxonomy.
Tomatoes are fruits, cooked like vegetables and figs are inside out flowers
eaten like fruit.

DaveR

On 2004-05-16, Mark Thorson wrote:

should be peeled for best effect. I've tried cooking
it, using it in soup, but it seems best raw.

It's perfect for nuking. Cut into 1" chunks and nuke in loose-lid microwave
safe bowl with just enough water to keep chayote from drying out. Very
sweet, enough to eat by itself.

nb

PENMART01 wrote in message ...
Mark Thorazine:

I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable
marketed under the name "chayote squash",

I've not ever seen chayote labeled "chayote squash", only "chayote", or
"mirlitin"... you hallucinated that in your psychotic little lentil of a
brain.
Chayote is not a squash, it's a "gourd", like that hollow thingie setting
on
your shoulders

it's labeled that at my local stupidmarket.

--
Saerah

TANSTAAFL

"Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
meltin' in a pot of thieves
wild card up my sleeve
thick heart of stone
my sins my own
they belong to me, me

people say "beware!"
but I don't care
the words are just
rules and regulations to me, me"
- patti smith

"Mark Thorson" wrote in message
...
I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable
marketed under the name "chayote squash",

this is funny. Chayotes are "chokos" in Australia, and are regarded as pest
food. They grow in all warmer climates (where there aren't frosts) on vines
that grow over fences etc. When they ripen, there's a glut of chokos
everywhere, and people compost them or use them as missiles.
I saw some in a US supermarket as Chayotes and laughted quite a bit as they
were quite expensive!

ant

Corncob Bubbabob claims:

AKA mirliton or alligator pear.

Alligator pears are avaocados.... you hillybilly asswipe.

Originally only found in China
and western Mexico (figure that one out).

That easy to figure out, you're an idiot and a lying piece of shit... chayote
(Sechium edule), tendril-bearing perennial vine of the *gourd* family
(Cucurbitaceae), native to the New World tropics[period]

Not a real squash,

No, they're a fake squash... what an idiot.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

"Saerah" wrote in message ...
PENMART01 wrote in message ...
Mark Thorazine:

I've recently been experimenting with the vegetable
marketed under the name "chayote squash",

I've not ever seen chayote labeled "chayote squash", only "chayote", or
"mirlitin"... you hallucinated that in your psychotic little lentil of a
brain.
Chayote is not a squash, it's a "gourd", like that hollow thingie setting
on
your shoulders

it's labeled that at my local stupidmarket.

That's indeed the usage I see most often, though supermarkets are not
botanical authorities.

Chayote, cucumbers and melons, pumpkins and squashes, and watermelons
and gourds are in different tribes (Sicyeae, Melothrieae, Cucurbiteae,
and Benincaseae respectively) of the cucurbits.

Chayote is thus botanically neither a squash nor a gourd, though it is
related to them. Culinarily it is closer to a summer squash than it is
to anything else.

--
Chris Green