FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

CHAYOTE, SECHIUM EDULE, FAAT SAU GWA, HOP JEUNG GWA, LABU SIAM, WALU JEPAN, SAYOTE, CHOKO

Excerpts from Passmore, Jacki. 1991. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. Hearst Books, New York.

is a vigorous, herbaceous, perennial vine that is extremely easy to grow. The Cantonese names for this vegetable suggest that it resembles the hands of the praying Buddha, and so it was cultivated by Buddhist monks and encouraged to grow near temples. The fruit is pear-shaped, 4-6 in (10-15 cm) long, with a light to deep green, slightly spiny skin and firm white flesh that exudes a sticky sap. Unlike other melons, it has a single hard central seed, which can be eaten when the melon is very young. The leaves, young shoots and large, fleshy roots are edible. In China, sliced chayote is cooked in soup with pork and is stir-fried with meat. It is an excellent substitute for winter melon. Also known as faat sau gwa, hop jeung gwa (China); labu siam; walu jepan (Indonesia); sayote (Philippines).

This resource is much more than a dictionary or encyclopedia. If you wish to know more about cuisines and associated recipes from individual countries, this would be an excellent resource.

The gourdlike chayote (pronounced chy-O-tay) originated in tropical America and was principal food of the Aztecs and Mayas. It is about the size and shape of a large pear. Beneath its furrowed, pale green skin is a white flesh surrounding one soft weed. The chayote has a delicate taste that blends flavors of turnip, cucumber and zucchini.

Modified from Sanjur, Diva. 1995. Hispanic Foodways, Nutrition and Health. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

is a cactuslike fruit with a fleshy texture. [Mexican Foods]

Unknown Source, SUNSET, p. 138.

Central America is the original home of the chayote, a pear-shaped vegetable (technically a fruit) that belongs to the squash family. Chayote is just as easy to cook as summer squash and is readily available in most markets, though it's often overlooked because of its unusual appearance. A chayote may be pale green or white, smooth or prickly with soft spines. chayote tastes like patty pan squash, but it is a little firmer and less watery in texture. Stuffing this mild vegetable shows off its cured pear shape.

Select firm, unblemished chayotes. they will keep well in the refrigerator for about a week.

Leonard, Jonathan Norton. and the editors of Time-Life Books. 1969. Latin American Cooking Time-Life Books, New York.

(also known as christophine, chuchu, xuxu): A round or pear-shaped white to dark-green tropical squash. May be smooth or corrugated, 3 to 8 inches long, sometimes covered with soft spines. The firm, crisp flesh is more delicate in flavor than the familiar summer squash. Available in some Latin American markets the year round. Keeps two to four weeks in refrigerator.

Source: Leonard, Jonathan Norton. and the editors of Time-Life Books. 1969. Latin American Cooking Time-Life Books, New York.

(also known as christophine, chuchu, xuxu): A round or pear-shaped white to dark-green tropical squash. May be smooth or corrugated, 3 to 8 inches long, sometimes covered with soft spines. The firm, crisp flesh is more delicate in flavor than the familiar summer squash. Available in some Latin American markets the year round. Keeps two to four weeks in refrigerator.

Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.

is a green pear-shaped tropical fruit that resembles cucumber in flavor.
-the tropical American vine that yields this fruit, also producing an edible yamlike tuberous root. -
ORIGIN from Spanish, from Nahuatl chayotli

Excerpts from Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. A World of Vegetable Cookery. Simon and Schuster, New York.

The Chayote (Secium edule, of the Squash family) is a fabulous vegetable from Mexico and Guatemala; it was cultivated by the Mayas and Aztecs long prior to the discovery of America. It has during the past few years become increasingly available in choice markets thoughout this country.

Chayote (pronounced chy-oh-tee) is derived from the Mayan chayotli. Elsewhere in the American tropics, where the vines have long bee planted, it is known as Christophine, Chocho, or, in Portuguese speaking Brazil, xuxu. And European gourmets have appreciated it for decades, and know it, especially from plantings in North Africa, under such names as Vegetable pear, Custard Marrow, pepinella, and brionne.

The vine, a rampant perennial one, produces almost throughout the year a prodigious quantity of fruits, which we prize as a superb delicate vegetable. Pendant, normally ice-green, vaguely pear-shaped objects three to six or eight inches in length and several inches broad, they are set with several longitudinal furrows and in some forms are vaguely soft-prickly. Speciall, rather rare variants have alabaster white, yellow, and green-mottled fruits.

The Chayote has a unique texture and flavor-crystalline well describes the frst; a cross between a cucumber and a zucchini the second.

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