Funny little thing this Choko, I remember my mum always feeding us Choko with dinner, sliced up, boiled and smothered in butter with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, sometimes she outdid herself and served it with white sauce, a bit like you would with cauliflower. I LOVE IT, and I also serve it to my family regularly.
The choko, technically speaking is actually a fruit as it has a seed, and it belongs to the Gourd Family. However I believe it fits into the culinary term as a vegetable that can be cooked
either savoury or sweet.....
I picked up a couple of green chokos from a stall on the side of the road last week and then I found a white variety at my local market on the weekend. I have never seen the white ones before, apparently they are exactly the same in taste
just a different colour...
either savoury or sweet.....
just a different colour...
A choko has quite a bland flavour and when cooked with sugar or syrup it can be disguised as apple or pear, quite popular in the old days when everyone had a choko vine in their backyards and fresh apples and pears were hard to get their hands on. It is also commonly used in pickles and chutneys and can also substitute fruit to add extra pulp to Jam. It is also rich in Pectin.
I decided I would try a sweet recipe with a couple of them, just to see what it was really like. I've stewed up a couple of chokos with about 1/2 doz granny smith apples, a good handful of sugar and some cinnamon...
I decided I would try a sweet recipe with a couple of them, just to see what it was really like. I've stewed up a couple of chokos with about 1/2 doz granny smith apples, a good handful of sugar and some cinnamon...
I have some special visitors coming over for dinner tonight, I wont tell them its a mix and we'll see if they'll be asking for seconds....
A couple of the leftover choko's have started shooting so I'm popping them straight into pots, Imagine how much fun I will have when I get my own loaded vine full of Chokos...There will be a bit of Frugal cooking going on here, thats for sure.
Lets hope these little babies grow for me now! I'll leave them to shoot in the pots for a while and get their roots established then get them planted and see what happens....
Those pots do look promising. My mum cooked chokoes exactly the same as your mother when we had a vine in the backyard. I'm guessing your guests will not notice.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen or heard of these before...but am very intrigued now. Must keep an eye out for them.
ReplyDeletexx
Yum I love them too, especially picked small. The pie looks lovely - I'm sure they will be asking for 2nds. One year when we had a glut of them I can remember mixing them with just about everything!
ReplyDeleteMy Mum gave us choko's the same way for dinner. I have bought them sometimes to cook for my Dad and me. I have heard that choko's is what they put in the McDonald's Apple Pie....don't know if that is true but if as you said they are similar to apples maybe they do as they would be cheaper I guess!!! The pie looks yummy too!
ReplyDeleteWe have chokos the same way and I have also had them as a desert. My choko vine is very stunted and not doing good at all....maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteI use the olderones in choko pickles.
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of chokos before but the pie certainly looks scrummy!
So it seems a few of you have never heard of chokos before, and those of you that have were all served them up the same ol way!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for my guests asking for seconds, well we all had too much wine and so the Pie never actually made it to the table...
However we all enjoyed a slice with a nice cup of tea this morning and it was a huge hit, you would never have known the difference, My mum even thought it was Apple & Pear!!!
i have never eaten choko! I'd never know what to do with it! After reading your post I'm deinitely going to try it.
ReplyDeleteI have just walked out to our vegie garden and have discovered 2 chokos hanging from a vine I thought had died. Their are heaps of flowers too. If I find up my 'chokos in garlic cream sauce' recipe I will share it with you:)
ReplyDeletexo
I can't share your excitement. As much as I try, chokos just don't do it for me. On the other hand I could eat zucchinis every day of the week. Interesting about the pectin in Chokos - I'll have to check that out - would come in handy in savoury preserves.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a happy easter in your neck of the woods. Mariana
Oh Mrs Moo, Sounds good, good luck finding your recipe, and thanks for sharing my Pie with me!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mariana, Wonder if you could mix a Choko with Chocolate, now theres an Idea!!!
Dear Mrs Bok, Look out for choko, they should be everywhere around the markets at the moment! They are in Qld anyway!
Today I just planted two. Don't know if they come out. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI've got my first choko planted too - aren't they amazing the way they sprout?
ReplyDeleteHi to all white choko growers
ReplyDeleteI have grown the green ones. I am eager to grow and taste the white chokos. Can any one help? I have not seen them in Sydney markets or shops.
I bought a couple of Chokos from the shop quite a few months and they were so expensive that I didn't let anyone eat them! I waited until they sprouted and my wife planted them. Now we have vines all over the fences and are giving the fruit to anyone who likes them. I think that more people dislike them than like them, but several who didn't Chokos loved them after cooking. I like Choko Pickles although the last batch I made had too much curry and I need to make another batch
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