The zucchini
Zucchini, otherwise known as courgette in UK, is the fruit of a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae, a species known scientifically with the term Cucurbita pepo. It is a climbing plant, or creeping, annual herbaceous, that is, blooming and fruit once a year.
The zucchini is one of the most used and loved vegetables by Italian, also for the flowers, very famous in the Peninsula were they are in the breadcrumbs with Mozzarella cheese and anchovies.
As with all fruits and vegetables, there are many different varieties have adapted to different environments over the centuries, especially in Italy which makes it a great consumption. These varieties, these cultivars are distinguished by color, shape and flavor. Among the most cultivated and consumed is the long zucchini, classic and present throughout Europe. It has a dark green color and the cylindrical shape, but in some variations, such as Roman, the color lightens, and in some cases comes to white or yellow.
To this cultivar also belong the Zucchini Nero di Milano (Black Milan), which has a very dark skin, or the Courgette Fiorentino, and the Siciliano, which instead has very light colors. Another very popular cultivar is the round zucchini, evergreen, of which we can highlight the Tondo di Piacenza who has very dark color, the lighter Tondo di Nizza (Nice) and Tondo di Firenze (Florence). Tondo, in Italian, means in fact “round”.
They are used in particular to all those preparations with a stuffing, as stuffed courgettes baked. The cultivar Patisson zucchini, which in English are named Patty Pan, are vegetables with lobed shape and flavor that recalls the taste of the artichoke, much sharper than the other cultivars. As you might guess the origin of this cultivar is French and the various species are distinguished by color ranging from yellow to orange, to green in its various nuances.
Other cultivars different from the others, even rarely used, is the eccentric of which the best known species are the Crookneck and Rugoso Friulano (Wrinkled of Friuli).
The use in the kitchen
The courgette in Italy is very usual in the kitchen, for all the preparations. The zucchini, both as a flower that as the fruit, can be used in appetizers, in the first and second plates as well as in the sides. The flowers, yellow, have a tradition of Roman cuisine, with their classic fried recipe with mozzarella and anchovies, but are also used for risotto and pasta. Sometimes even they accompany the fried meat in a pan. Their most common use is still to “battered” even if in Naples is exploited for the famous Neapolitan Sciriulli. The zucchini flowers are excellent both raw and cooked. You can cook as well as deep-fried in batter, also fried in a pan, baked or steamed.
The fruit instead, the classic zucchini, has many applications, both with the starters, making gratin, marinated or in the many recipes, both with pasta, with famous preparations in many different ways. Also perfect as a side dish or as an ingredient for both the fish, in particular, that with the meat. The recipes are numerous and we refer you to the appropriate section in this site, the category “vegetable”.
The nutritional value
The courgettes are excellent vegetables for the health, in particular for the low-calorie diet seen that the fruit is composed for 95% by water, and therefore contains very few calories, while having a nutritional value. There is indeed a strong presence of vitamins, both A and C, and then of carotenoids, which have an anticancer function.
But the beneficial properties of zucchini are many and known for a long time. They are in fact indicated for urinary infections, dysentery, renal insufficiencies, but also for diabetes and cardiac infections, as well as for prostate disorders. In the past, the zucchini was also indicated for sleep problems, and as a tonic and relaxing. As for carrots, thanks to its contents, zucchini are useful to tan the skin and fight free radicals.
The cultivation
The cultivation of the plant requires environments that encourage solar and breezy exposure, with annual productions. Crops with other plants in its rotation is three years, and can be grown with the lettuce, with beans of climbing cultivars, and the onions, all vegetables that do not grow in height so as not to prevent the sunshine.
The sowing is practiced in the spring, until June, directly into the ground, and must be carried out at temperatures above 20° C. The number of seeds per hole in the ground must be of three and these should be positioned vertically with the widest part upwards. They can also be planted in pots. As for its cultivation, it will recommend a fertile and organic soil, deep and worked with an excellent drainage since the resent creeping plant across the stagnation present, ruining in this way the fruits. Fertilization is practiced with the mature manure, in the order of 500 kilograms per 100 square meters. The gathering takes place three months after sowing, with immature fruits.
