Zucchini is a summertime staple, a vegetable that grows in abundance in local gardens and finds its way to the doorsteps of neighbors everywhere. Every zucchini gardener wonders what to do with all of those squash.
Oddly, one century ago hardly anyone grew zucchini.
Inhabitants of Central and South America have been eating an ancestor of the zucchini (cucurbits) for over 7,000 years. The zucchini, a fast-growing summer squash we enjoy today, originates in Italy. In the late 1800s and early 1900s the Italians taught the world just how good and useful in the culinary world a zucchini could be.
The squash didn’t make their way to the American tables until Italian immigrants brought them here in the 1920s. Until then zucchini was virtually unknown in American kitchens. It is thought that California was the first place zucchini was cultivated.
Zucchini, also known as courgette, is harvested immature while its rind is still tender and edible. Its skin can be dark green, light green, or...