I know it’s not the time of year for zucchini, but this dreary winter rain is leaving me longing for warmer, brighter times. I started thinking about one of my favorite summer dishes, which involves a lot of zucchini (more on that later), and I realized I didn’t know much about zucchini. I knew that “zucchini” was Italian for “little squash,” but that was about the extent of it. Rather than turning my curiosity into a full-fledged science report, I decided to make a listicle. I love those! So here goes:
1. It’s a fruit! I should have known this, because I know fruit comes from flowers, and squash comes from squash blossoms. It has simply taken me this long to ponder the origins of the zucchini.
2. Speaking of squash blossoms, they are delicious. Yes, zucchini blossoms are edible and they are super yummy – especially fried. Food and Wine has some good recipes to check out when those long summer days finally return.
3. So what is with all of the different spellings? As anyone who has ever studied a Latin language is well aware, in Latin based languages like Italian, all nouns have genders. Usually just one, but there is some confusion about the zucchini – rather than non-binary they’re multi-nary. Is that a thing? Anyway, zucchino (masculine) is the singular for zucchini and zucchina (feminine) the singular for zucchine. Which is correct? I leave this one to Heather Broster from Daily Italian Words:
“According to the dictionary of the Italian language Devoto-Oli, the term zucchino officially entered the Italian language in 1875, while zucchina followed a few years later in 1879. The only minor difference in meaning is that zucchina can refer to both the fruit and the plant that produces it, whereas zucchino only denotes the fruit.
“The Accademia della Crusca, a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology, would appear to prefer the masculine version whereas the equally respectable Treccani, an Italian language encyclopedia, lists zucchina as the primary translation and zucchino as a Tuscan variant.”
Now that we have that cleared up…
4. It’s a cancer fighter. Zucchini packs a mean punch of antioxidants that are good for everything from glowing skin to a healthy prostate. But put away the peeler; the bulk of that antioxidant goodness is in the skin and the seeds.
5. Zucchini have more potassium than a banana. If you’re like me and think that people who like bananas are a little bananas, get yourself some zucchini.
While we’re talking vitamins…
6. They’re also high in vitamin C, magnesium, manganese (I know I can never get enough manganese) and very high in vitamin A. Vitamin A is a good one to keep in mind if you’re a fan of your vision.
7. Good for the gut. Zucchini is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. The soluble feeds your gut microbes; the insoluble helps keep everything swept clean.
8. Zucchini originated in South America. This is a good one. They were first transported from South America to the Mediterranean by everyone’s favorite historical villain, Chris Columbus. They then returned to the New World via the wave of Italian immigration to the United States in the 1920s. Talk about circuitous.
9. Obetz, Ohio has an annual Zucchini Fest. I’m sure they aren’t the only ones (wasn’t there a zucchini festival in Doc Hollywood?), but this sucker is three days long. There are several events spread over the three days, including a car show (cause, you know, who doesn’t immediately think of cars when they think of zucchini?), and live entertainment. Last September’s line-up was The Spin Doctors, Brantley Gilbert and… wait for it… Vanilla Ice. With All 4 One and Ton Loc. I am so bummed I didn’t decide to investigate zucchini before last September.
10. No fun facts sheet would be complete without a world record. As it happens, there is currently something of a hullabaloo in the squash world. Harry D’Angelo, from Thorold, Ontario, recently submitted his 8 foot, 4.79 inch zucchini for review by the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record, held by Giovanni Batista Scozzafava in Niagara Falls, measured 8 feet, 3.3 inches. Any way you slice it, that’s a lot of squash.
11. Which leads to a bonus fact: in the world of zucchini, smaller is better. Their high water content means that a bigger fruit has less concentrated flavor. So that seven-foot-plus sucker in Ontario is going to need a lot of salt.
Happy fruiting!
Photo Credits
Top: Me!
Left Inset: May Lawrence on Unsplash
Right Inset: Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
