Zucchini - the long & the short of it

On a recent trip to Sicily, I found a unique vegetable I never knew existed. A zucchini of such mammoth proportions, digital photos are the only way to validate my story.

Of course, I’m familiar with zucchini. I’ve eaten it, cooked with it...even used the slang, “googootz,” to address my diminutive cousin, Louie. Actually, I was in error. “Googootz” (cucuzza) is actually a summer squash prepared and eaten like zucchini, but really a gourd. See? I know a zucchini when I see one. Or, at least, I thought I did.

My friend, Francesco, has an acre of zucchini growing in a hot house across from his home in Balestrate, in the province of Palermo. The whole structure was covered by sheets of opaque plastic obscuring the mystery much like the hidden lab of a mad scientist. After my curiosity got the better of me, he guided me inside and proudly displayed his unbelievable crop.

I stood under this football-field-length tarp, amazed at what I saw! There were hundreds of zucchini stalks, not lying on the ground, as you might expect, but growing upward along tall stakes. ​Rigid watering tubes were horizontally affixed to the top of these stakes 10’ off the ground. This created a network of giant vegetation that would make Jack’s beanstalk envious.

On most stalks hung light green zucchini of varying lengths, anywhere from 2’ to some well over 5’ long. Francesco explained the puzzling setup. He broke off the center of a flower from the lower part of the stalk and pollinated each flower by hand at the top of a stalks (apparently, Sicilian bees have no Union). In this way, you force the zucchini plants to produce babies growing with the aid of gravity. This growing process, I was told, takes 3 weeks to maturity if cloudy and cool, 2 weeks if it’s warm and dry. With a combination of Mother Nature and Sicilian farmers’ ingenuity, the result is a gargantuan veggie well over 5’ in length.

Rosalia, Francesco’s wife, explained how she prepares them. Lightly scraping the “fuzz” off the exterior, she slices them on the bias and boils them for about 15 minutes. After that, it’s really about personal preference. I sauteed garlic in olive oil, added the boiled and drained zucchini; then, finished the dish with some grated parmigiano ­reggiano cheese. Delizioso!

The harvest season usually lasts about 2 months and the amount his farm produces can’t be consumed by a single family. Most hard­working Sicilians I met on my visit not only had a day job but also worked the land, selling their extra bounty to fresh fruit and vegetable markets so prevalent across Sicily. So, the next time you search for zucchini in your local market, be advised. Its monstrous Sicilian cousin just be might “stalking” you.