Does anyone know this vegetable?

[sumi]

When I grew up our neighbour grew these. It grew like a vine all over the tree, the walls everywhere and he let us pick whatever fruit ended up on our side of the fence. We loved them! Since we moved from that town I haven't been able to find them again until yesterday when we found some in the supermarket. Unnamed and on special LOL. Does anyone know them and what are they called?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Here in the states they are variously known as vegetable pear, merlitons, or chayote. It's one of my absolute favorite vegetables. The leaves are delicious too. Over on this side of the world it's a tropical perennial vining plant that grows in the southernmost U.S., the Caribbean and warmer parts of Latin America.

 

[sumi]

Thank you!

I love them too. We used to add them to curry dishes and fight over who gets the seed LOL I'm so glad I found some here, but I wonder if they'll grow in this climate... Maybe in a greenhouse?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Oh yum, that sounds delicious! I think you could get them to grow until the first frost, but I suspect your growing season would be too short to get it to set fruit. In a greenhouse, who knows? The vine is the fastest growing I've ever seen. During the peak of the season mine would grow 12" in a day. They are easy to get to grow; you take that fruit, set it in a bowl at a 45 degree angle with the pointy end down and the cleft end up (with the line of the cleft oriented vertically) and leave it on the kitchen counter. After a period of time it will sprout right out of the cleft. I never had much luck growing them in containers but they always did well when put straight into well composted soil after sprouting.

 

[feeding frenzy]

Chayote...I find them in Hispanic supermarkets. Quite tasty when stir fried, at last minute, throw in some beaten eggs, stir it all in, add spring onions and you got yourself a delicious meal

 

[sumi]

Now that sounds yum! I'm going to try that. I got so many eggs here, that will be a nice way to use some.

 

[feeding frenzy]

Sumi, glad I could help you out with ideas to use your home grown eggs

. Let me know how it turns out

 

[yinepu]

I baked some of these for dinner .. had a shrimp, cajun type stuffing