Zucchini

Zucchini, once considered a summer vegetable, are now available all year round.

From flower to pumpkin
In the gourmet world, the fact that pumpkin flowers are also edible (and even more than that) is no longer new. Carefully picked and fried after being dipped in Thai tempura or egg mixture, they make a great early summer appetizer. Zucchini flowers can also be stuffed, just blanched, baked in the oven or prepared in soup. Zucchini has its own story in every country. They are usually harvested everywhere when they are up to 20 centimeters long and the seed is still soft and immature. There are different ways of preparing them: they can be boiled, steamed, baked, stuffed, fried, baked in bread... Zucchini are rarely served raw, but they are almost always prepared unpeeled. You can make zucchini carpaccio from raw zucchini (cut the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices, sprinkle with lemon juice, rub with garlic and sprinkle with parmesan cheese). In principle, we use them as fresh as possible, it is best not to keep them longer than three days. When preparing zucchini, you can't go wrong if you combine them with basil, breadcrumbs, butter, cayenne pepper, cheese, cream, fennel, eggplant, garlic, lemon, marjoram, mushrooms, olive oil, onion, oregano, parsley, pesto, rosemary, sage , thyme, tomatoes, vinegar or hazelnuts. They are indispensable accompaniments to peppers and eggplants when preparing a vegetarian barbecue, they are excellent for preparing creamy soups (for example, cold zucchini soup with basil and lemon), grated zucchini can be used to spice up an egg omelette, and cold summer pasta with zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes is excellent. Otherwise, zucchini can also be prepared as a dessert. Sprinkle pieces of grated chocolate on the grated zucchini, put it in the freezer for a while and you get a great refreshing dessert.

From Mexico to the Balkans
In Mexico, they like to prepare zucchini in a salad, just steamed quickly with the addition of garlic and pepper, olive oil and maybe some herbs. They are also indispensable in quesadillas. In Italy, zucchini is served in countless ways. Zucchini roasted in olive oil or fried zucchini flowers are the most popular. In France, zucchini is an indispensable ingredient of ratatouille (a mixture of summer vegetables prepared in olive oil). In Turkey, zucchini is the main ingredient of a popular dish, a kind of zucchini pancake, made from grated zucchini, flour and eggs, lightly fried in olive oil and served with yogurt. It is typical for Libya that they fill the zucchini with minced meat and rice and cook them together with spices and herbs in a tomato sauce. In Greece, zucchini is often fried or boiled with other vegetables. In some parts of Greece, zucchini flowers are stuffed with feta cheese or a mixture of rice and herbs. In Bulgaria, zucchini is fried and served with a sauce made from yogurt, garlic, and fennel, and zucchini cut into slices and baked in the oven, au gratin with a mixture of eggs, yogurt, flour, and fennel are also popular. In Egypt, zucchini is traditionally cooked with tomato sauce, garlic and onions.