Squash blossoms (called courgette flowers in Great Britain) are the edible flowers of ''Cucurbita'' species, particularly ''

Cucurbita pepo ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a cultivated plant of the genus ''Cucurbita''. It yields varieties of winter squash and pumpkin, but the most widespread varieties belong to the subspecies ''Cucurbita pepo'' subsp. ''pepo'', called summer squash. It has b ...

'', the species that produces

zucchini Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a Vine, vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and Fruit anatomy#Epicarp, epicarp (rind) are still soft a ...

(

courgette Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are still soft and edible. It is closely r ...

), marrow, spaghetti squash, and many other types of squash.

Availability

Squash blossoms are highly perishable, and as such are rarely stocked in

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

. Male and female squash blossoms can be used interchangeably, but picking only male flowers (leaving some for

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

) allows the plant to also produce some fruit (squash).

Culinary uses

Squash blossoms may be stuffed, battered and fried, or made into soup. The flowers have a subtle flavor, reminiscent of young zucchinis, and can be eaten raw.

Stuffed blossoms

The squash blossoms are frequently stuffed and cooked in some Southeast European and Middle Eastern cuisines. The dish is called ''Kolokythoanthoi'' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and ' in

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

and such dishes belong to a family of stuffed vegetable dishes,

dolma Dolma ( Turkish for "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside either a leaf wrapping or a hollow or h ...

.. The stuffing frequently includes a soft cheese, such as

ricotta Ricotta () is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein h ...

. In Turkey, squash blossoms are usually stuffed with rice. There are two variants of the dish; the variant that contains minced meat in its stuffing is usually served hot, meanwhile the meatless ''zeytinyağlı'' ''kabak çiçeği dolması'' (English: stuffed squash blossoms with olive oil) ) is served cold and consumed frequently as a

meze ''Meze'' (also spelled ''mezze'' or ''mezé'') (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. It is similar to Spanish cuisine, Spanish tapas and Italian cuisine, Italian Antipasto, antipasti. A ''me ...

with

rakı Rakı, Türk Rakısı or Turkish Raki (, Turkish pronunciation: ) is an alcoholic beverage made of twice-distilled grape pomace and flavored with aniseed. It is a national drink of Turkey, although fewer than 17% of Turks drink alcohol. Among ...

. The dish is especially popular in the

Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

of Turkey and associated with the

Cretan Turks The Cretan Muslims or Cretan Turks ( or , or ; , , or ; ) were the Muslim inhabitants of the island of Crete. Their descendants settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese Islands under Italian administration (part of Greece since 1947), S ...

that migrated to Turkey due to the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

. Both Turkish and

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

cook stuffed blossoms in a similar fashion.

Cypriot Greek Cypriot Greek (, or ) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Modern Greek in various aspects of its ...

name for the dish is ''kupepia me anthus.''

Other

In the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

regions of Italy and in some parts of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

(Spain) they are frequently made into fritters. In

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...

, especially in Central Mexico, squash blossom (known as ' in Spanish) is widely used, particularly in soups and as a filling for quesadillas. Traditionally, they are often paired with epazote (''

Dysphania ambrosioides ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas. Description ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' is an annual ...

''), an herb that enhances their flavor. The use of squash blossoms in Mexican dishes dates back to pre-Hispanic indigenous culture.

Gallery

File:Kolokythoanthoi gemistoi me giaourti.jpg, ''Kolokythoanthoi'' are often served with a dollop of yogurt on the side File:Kolokythoanthoi - kolokythokorfades.jpg, ''Kolokythoanthoi'' prepared for cooking File:Frittelle di fiori di zucca.JPG, ''Frittelle di fiori di zucca'' (pumpkin flower fritters) also in Catalan ''flors de carbassera or badocs'' File:Etli kabak çiçeği dolması.jpg, ''Kabak çiçeği dolması'' with meat Hobak-kkot-jeon 2.jpg, ''Hobak-kkot- jeon'' (pan-fried stuffed ''

Cucurbita moschata ''Cucurbita moschata'' is a species originating in the tropical Americas which is cultivated for edible flesh, flowers, greens, and seeds. It includes cultivars known in English as squash or pumpkin. Cultivars of ''C. moschata'' are generally m ...

'' flowers)

References