# Choko - A rather uninspiring experience



## Mad Cook (Mar 16, 2015)

I was in the greengrocers near the stables on Saturday buying a sack of carrots for the Wonder Horse when I spotted something new. It was roughly pear-shaped and had pale green, smooth skin. The owner of the shop, who came originally from Australia, told me it was called a choko "down-under".

Never being one to turn down the chance of a new experience I bought one and brought it home. Looked it up in Jane Grigson's veg book and discovered that there are various "designs" of this vegetable (smooth, spiney, ridged, white green, etc.,  which is also called a chayote, a christophene and lots of other names. It seems it's popular in Caribbean, South American and Mexican cooking.

Sadly it was a grave disappointment - bland and boring. I steamed it as the shop lady suggested. Didn't taste of much so I delved into my store cupboard and made a slightly spicy tomato and olive sauce which redeemed it a bit but I don't thing I'll bother with one again. Jane Grigson hit it on the head when she described it as "pale-flavoured". The best I could say about it is that the pale green colouring of the one I bought was very pretty and just what I want for the walls in my dining room!

Is it much used in north American cooking? If so what do you do with it to make it a bit more interesting?


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## Kayelle (Mar 16, 2015)

Here they are called Chayote..they remind me of a toothless little man.  lol





Like most squash, they are bland in flavor but there are many good things to be done with them. Here's a few...
Best Chayote Squash Recipes | Yummly


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## Mad Cook (Mar 16, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> Here they are called Chayote..they remind me of a toothless little man.  lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

Some interesting recipes there. JG did say that recipes for courgettes are worth trying. Thanks, Kayelle.


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## taxlady (Mar 16, 2015)

I tried it and was disappointed as well. I won't be buying that again. Sucker was expensive.


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## Andy M. (Mar 16, 2015)

...and in Louisina they're called merlitons.


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## jennyema (Mar 16, 2015)

Chayote squash -- it's a snoozer


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## CraigC (Mar 16, 2015)

Love corn and merliton maque choux. Crawfish stuffed merliton. It takes on the flavor of other ingredients.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 16, 2015)

Chayote are the right texture for pickles.


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## taxlady (Mar 17, 2015)

I would have no objection if they weren't "exotic" and expensive here.


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## Cooking Goddess (Mar 17, 2015)

We tried it. Once. Meh. Price range for it is all over the map by us. We've seen it priced per pound, from 99 cents to $1.99. We've also seen them for almost a dollar each per piece. Passed all of those places up. But when we found it in a heavily Hispanic area of Worcester we took a chance - at 3/$1.00. 34 cents? OK. Barely worth it.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 17, 2015)

Then you are not likely to try Cactus (nopales), same texture and lack of flavor.  In cultures where the only veg that grow are beans, chayote and cactus, you find ways to spice them up, try recipes from the areas the chayote came from, i.e. SouthWest USA and Northern Mexico.  These are traditional foods from the way back, before the easy growing and transport of huge varieties of veg.


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## Mad Cook (Mar 17, 2015)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Chayote are the right texture for pickles.


Yes, that struck me when I was dealing with it.


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## Addie (Mar 17, 2015)

Cooking Goddess said:


> We tried it. Once. Meh. Price range for it is all over the map by us. We've seen it priced per pound, from 99 cents to $1.99. We've also seen them for almost a dollar each per piece. Passed all of those places up. But when we found it in a heavily Hispanic area of Worcester we took a chance - at 3/$1.00. 34 cents? OK. Barely worth it.



We have them in every corner store around here. The little store I go to for a quart of half and half has a produce section with chayote, plantains and just about any food that they grow in the Caribbean Islands. Including cactus. My neighbors in Texas used the cactus like we do with peppers. The scrape off the spines and slice them to sauté. I wasn't fond of that either. The mother used to come in my yard and take all the cactus that were growing there. I was glad to get rid of them. One of the stores also have coconuts. Not the kind we are used to seeing, but the FULL nut! Those things weigh at least ten pounds each if not even more. When I lived in Honolulu, the city used to go around to all the palm trees and a man would climb up and cut down the coconuts. The folks that lived there would just go up and the workers would give them away. Glad to get rid of them. If one of those coconuts fell out of the tree and hit someone on the head, they would have a serious injury.


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## Rom (Mar 29, 2015)

When I was a kid, there was a Choko vine growing between our house and next door's on the fence. That thing would never die lol, it would be back year after year sprouting chokos like no tomorrow. I always thought of it as a weed, there were attempts made on it's life, but to no avail. 

If I remember correctly, my mum just boiled them and sprinkled them with salt and evoo. Definitely never thought of them as exotic and every now and then I see them in the shop. I think I read somewhere that they have no nutritional value at all, but I might be remembering wrong lol.


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## Gravy Queen (Mar 29, 2015)

Ah so it's a sort of squash ? Which can be pretty tasteless depending on which ones you get? Was it grown in Britain MC ?


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## Silversage (Mar 29, 2015)

The problem wasn't with the squash,  it was with the advice to steam or boil it. Typically they are used as an ingredient in other dishes.  PF has it right.  They are originally native to Mexico, so using them in dishes from Latin or South America would give you a better appreciation of their versatility.

Next time, try this.  It will definitely change your perspective of chayote/merliton.


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## CraigC (Mar 29, 2015)

Silversage said:


> The problem wasn't with the squash,  it was with the advice to steam or boil it. Typically they are used as an ingredient in other dishes.  PF has it right.  They are originally native to Mexico, so using them in dishes from Latin or South America would give you a better appreciation of their versatility.
> 
> Next time, try this.  It will definitely change your perspective of chayote/merliton.



That recipe is very similar to a "Diablo Stuffing" I use. I interchangeably use shrimp, crab meat, crawfish and lobster in this stuffing. All work well with mirliton and mushroom caps.

I will often use the crab meat version to "stuff" jumbo, butterflied shrimp which are done under the broiler or as a stuffing for flounder.


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## Kayelle (Mar 31, 2015)

Silversage said:


> Next time, try this.  It will definitely change your perspective of chayote/merliton.




In that recipe I was puzzled to read this...

*Preparation*



Cut mirlitons in half and scoop out the* large seed  in the middle*. Boil in salted water to cover for 25 minutes, or until  tender when punctured with the tines of a fork. Be careful not to  overcook.
Hmm, there is no large seed in the middle. 

source...
Chayote Squash Information, Recipes and Facts

Chayote  squash is defined by its ubiquitous pear-like shape, its pale lime  green coloring and the deep linear indentations along the fruit's thin  skin that meet at its flower end. Its creamy white hued flesh has a  semi-crisp texture that becomes succulent to cottony as it matures. Its  central core contains small seeds, which though edible are most often  discarded. - See more at:  Chayote Squash Information, Recipes and Facts


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## jennyema (Mar 31, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> In that recipe I was puzzled to read this...
> 
> *Preparation*
> 
> ...




The "central core" is the "large seed."  It's a walnut or larger size area of tough matter where the seeds are.


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## taxlady (Mar 31, 2015)

I thought the seeds were arranged a lot like apple or pear see, in a core.


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## jennyema (Mar 31, 2015)

taxlady said:


> I thought the seeds were arranged a lot like apple or pear see, in a core.



This is what it looked like for me...

https://sybaritica.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/chayote-2.jpg


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## Addie (Mar 31, 2015)

jennyema said:


> This is what it looked like for me...
> 
> https://sybaritica.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/[B][I]chayote[/I][/B]-2.jpg



Maybe I have it mixed up with something else or other plant. 

Didn't the Aztec or some other Central American tribe used to chew Chayote leaves and get high?


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## Kayelle (Mar 31, 2015)

jennyema said:


> The "central core" is the "large seed."  It's a walnut or larger size area of tough matter where the seeds are.



It's been a while since I cut one open but I was sure there wasn't a large seed (think avocado) like the recipe described. 

No Addie, that's not the leaf you're thinking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca


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## Addie (Mar 31, 2015)

Thank you.


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## Kayelle (Mar 31, 2015)

You're welcome Addie.  Chewing of the Coco leaf also helps to prevent high altitude sickness, and both of us have used it for that purpose. Personally, I'll stick to my wine for a high. lol


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## medtran49 (Apr 2, 2015)

There is 1 large seed in the middle. Paul Prudhomme, in one of his cookbooks, suggests chopping it and using it in a salad as a crunchy. It is definitely edible, although we usually just toss it. My favorite recipe with it is stuffed mirliton with crab and shrimp butter cream sauce. Decadent and rich but oh so good once in a while. Our son-in-law's aunt makes a casserole version of it for X-mas every year.  Last time we made it:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f104/dinner-monday-22nd-april-2013-a-85329-2.html


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## Mad Cook (Apr 2, 2015)

Gravy Queen said:


> Ah so it's a sort of squash ? Which can be pretty tasteless depending on which ones you get? Was it grown in Britain MC ?


I don't know. Wouldn't think so.


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## Mad Cook (Apr 2, 2015)

jennyema said:


> This is what it looked like for me...
> 
> https://sybaritica.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/chayote-2.jpg


The flesh of mine looked like that but the core looked a bit like an apple - sort of star shaped. It didn't have any seeds in it though. I suppose it could have been some sort of hybrid which had had it's seeds bred out?


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## Mad Cook (Apr 2, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> You're welcome Addie. Chewing of the Coco leaf also helps to prevent high altitude sickness, and both of us have used it for that purpose. Personally, I'll stick to my wine for a high. lol


I'm told that you can eat the leaves cooked. My source told me that uncooked the leaves are toxic. Don't know if this is true or not.


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## Kayelle (Apr 2, 2015)

Mad Cook said:


> I'm told that you can eat the leaves cooked. My source told me that uncooked the leaves are toxic. Don't know if this is true or not.



I guess it depends on the definition of "toxic". In the Andes of South America they've been chewing them since time began and thousands have died. Tongue firmly in cheek.


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## Andy M. (Apr 2, 2015)

Addie said:


> Maybe I have it mixed up with something else or other plant.
> 
> Didn't the Aztec or some other Central American tribe used to chew Chayote leaves and get high?





Kayelle said:


> It's been a while since I cut one open but I was sure there wasn't a large seed (think avocado) like the recipe described.
> 
> No Addie, that's not the leaf you're thinking.
> 
> Coca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Addie, could you be thinking of peyote rather than chayote?


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## Addie (Apr 2, 2015)

Andy M. said:


> Addie, could you be thinking of peyote rather than chayote?



Yup. Thank you. I knew it sounded familiar.  Now where can I get some? Things are not going to well in this household. The urge to kill is very strong today.  Anyone want to volunteer as my victim?


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## Andy M. (Apr 2, 2015)

Addie said:


> Yup. Thank you. I knew it sounded familiar.  Now where can I get some? Things are not going to well in this household. The urge to kill is very strong today.  Anyone want to volunteer as my victim?



No thanks, but I'd like to suggest a couple of candidates.


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