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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Day 55- Try a Cucuzza (gaguzza)




 Cucuzza (gaguzza)

Garden with Cucuzzi
As the weather begins to chill and autumn arrives, I start to think about cooking squash and  making pumpkin pie but what about a CUCUZZA! This crazy looking thing was brought to me by my cousin who even has a Youtube video on growing this alien gourd.  Ask a Sicilian and they will smile when they talk about the “serpent quash” that can grow up to 3 or 4  feet with the vine growing 7 inches a day. There is even a song about it (Click here to listen). This challenge was to eat a cucuzza and have a flash back “old country” Sicilian experience.   

 

Cucuzzi stew

Reflection
We had it in a stew with hot sausage and it was delicious(click here for recipe). It tasted like a mild zucchini but like tofu, it seemed to absorb the flavors around it. Therefore,  I vote for cooking a cucuzza  in some kind of red sauce.  As I enjoyed this stew, I remembered the good times eating in my grandmothers kitchen and how proud my  grandfather was of his garden.   You can buy seeds on line or order cucuzza from the site below. 
  
I say give it a try and go Sicilian!






Spiritual Refection
"A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit and a bad tree a can't produce good fruit. So ever tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced. " (Mathew 7:17-20)

Other Sources
 Seeds http://www.growitalian.com/cucuzzi-zuchetta-serpent-of-sicily/