So it's official - I have finally
produced a good Choko crop and better still I have convinced others
that they taste great and deserve to be more than a survival food. I
don't know about the rest of the world but in Australia, especially
it seems for people who grew up along the NSW coast, Choko is a
by-word for hellish gluts and bland servings of the same vegetable
night after night. This seems to affect people in some broad age
range of 50-80...seriously, there is a whole group of
Choko-traumatised New South Welshpersons out there. I blame the
Anglo-Saxon culinary limitations of Australia during the 1950s and
60s for this because Chokos are popular with the Vietnamese community
and their food is far removed from barbaric stodginess. Anyway, after
some failure over recent years I have now found a nameless variety of
Choko via Karen Sutherland which thrives in Melbourne and which is
still flowering in the increasingly gloomy and mild to cold weather
of early May. Here are photos of this pear-shaped wonder. The secret
I think is to pick them at a medium size rather than wait for them to
get too big. |
| Choko hanging off the foliage of a Tree Dahlia |
Hi Chris!
ReplyDeleteDo all chokos stain your skin when you peel them? We used to eat them daily, simply grated up (raw) with carrot and pepper. Delicious. They also make a great coleslaw.
...I've never experienced the skin staining, I have to admit, or noticed it anyway! My Choko plants are powering back up the fence now that winter is over. I'm planning to eat more of the shoots this spring and summer as well
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