Cooking

When used for food, zucchini are usually picked when under 20 cm (8 in.) in length and the seeds are soft and immature. Mature zucchini can be as much as three feet long, but are often fibrous and not appetizing to eat. Zucchini with the flowers attached are a sign of a truly fresh and immature fruit, and are especially sought by many people.

Zucchini Recipes

Unlike cucumber, zucchini are usually served cooked. It can be prepared using a variety of cooking techniques, including steamed, boiled, grilled, stuffed and baked, barbecued, fried, or incorporated in other recipes such as soufflés. It also can be baked into a bread. Its flowers can be eaten stuffed and are a delicacy when deep fried, as tempura.

The zucchini has a delicate flavor and requires little more than quick cooking with butter or olive oil, with or without fresh herbs. The skin is left in place. Quick cooking of barely wet zucchini in oil or butter allows the vegetable to partially boil and steam, with the juices concentrated in the final moments of frying when the water has gone, prior to serving. Zucchini can also be eaten raw, sliced or shredded in a cold salad, baked into a bread, as well as hot and barely cooked in hot salads, as in Thai or Vietnamese recipes.

Zucchini should be stored not longer than three days. They are prone to chilling damage which shows as sunken pits in the surface of the fruit, especially when brought up to room temperature after cool storage.

In 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the courgette to be the Britain's 10th favorite culinary vegetable. In Mexico, the flower (known as flor de calabaza) is preferred over the vegetable, and is often cooked in soups or used as a filling for quesadillas.

In Italy, zucchini are served in a variety of ways, especially breaded and pan-fried. Some restaurants in Rome specialize in deep-frying the flowers, known as fiori di zucca.

In France zucchini is a key ingredient in ratatouille, a stew of summer vegetables prepared in olive oil and cooked for an extended time over low heat. The dish, originating near present-day Nice, is served as a side dish or on its own at lunch with bread. Zucchunis are stuffed with meat with other vegetables like tomatoes or bell peppers in a dish named farcis (stuffed).