Zucchini is a Fruit?!!!!

March 29, 2006 | Posted by Allison as The Facts / History at 1:08 pm |

Well, well. It looks like someone is hiding in the briar patch. Zucchini has been hiding from me, living the faux life of a vegetable. But, I have found it out, zucchini after all is a fruit!! Who knew? Maybe just about everyone but me…. I did some R & D on zucchini today, as this is what I found out:

Zucchini as we US folks, Australians and Canadians call it, or courgette as New Zealanders and the Brits know it, is a small marrow or squash commonly called an Italian squash. It can be green or yellow and has a similar shape to a cucumber- which it is sometimes confused with.

A cute little story- a friend of ours was so sweet as to make us a loaf of zucchini bread, one of my favorite treats. After giving us this thoughtful gift, he happened to mention it to his wife. Her response was, “Where did you get the zucchinis?” He in turn said, “Why, out of the garden.” She stated, “Hmm. That’s odd. The zucchini died a few weeks ago.” So, we enjoyed our cucumber bread and laughed a good laugh.

Unlike the cucumber, zucchini is usually served cooked, I prefer to roast or grill ours. The flower of the zucchini is a beautiful thing to behold and can be eaten as well, provided that is cooked. There are a variety of recipes for the flower that can be stuffed, baked or used in soup.

Zucchini is commonly thought of as a veggie, however by strict definition the zucchini is a fruit since it is basically the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower. Yum, the fruit of a swollen ovary of a flower, does that sound appetizing?

Swollen ovaries and all, I love the zucchini and I hope you’ll join me for a great recipe to follow, 24th Birthday Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Eat well & Laugh often.

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3 Comments »

24th Birthday Zucchini Cake - bFeedMe Said,

March 29, 2006 @ 1:34 pm

[...] Get out your favorite cream cheese frosting mix and come along with me on this zucchini culinary journey. Make sure you have no allergies to cucurbita pepo, or vegetable marrow, and get those ovens preheated, it’s cake time! [...]
daniel Said,

March 30, 2006 @ 7:54 pm

what a funny story…haha…
Maggie Gary Said,

September 2, 2008 @ 1:34 pm

Hi, I love the illustration and would like to use it as part of a homework assignment, citing it as from the bfeedme.com web site. Is that okay with you guys? ~ MG.