The market · Vegetables · Southern Europe, The Americas
Courgette flowers
The blossoms of the courgette plant — fried in batter in Rome, stuffed in Provence, and folded into quesadillas as flor de calabaza in Mexico.
delicate · sweet · vegetal
Kinds
- Male flowers
- On a thin stalk; the best for stuffing.
- Female flowers
- With a baby courgette attached; cook the two together.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Markets and growers, picked that morning — they wilt within a day. Grow your own if you can; the flowers open in the morning.
- Worth knowing
- Check inside for insects and pinch out the stamen. Fill no more than two-thirds full — ricotta, or mozzarella and anchovy — twist the petals shut, and fry in a thin, ice-cold batter.
