Love the tender mildness of zucchini? How about the crisp crunch of cucumber? Then it’s time to get cooking with chayote, their pear-shaped cousin that tastes a little like both. Here’s a rundown of all the ways to cook with chayote, plus prep, shopping, and storage tips for the ultra-versatile vegetable.
What Is Chayote?
Chayote (rhymes with “coyote”) is a type of squash with the taste and texture of summer squash and the harvest season (late summer to early fall) and extended storage of winter squash. Native to Central America, chayote was a staple food for the Aztecs when European explorers encountered it. Its cultivation spread throughout the Caribbean and into the American South, then onto India and Asia.
As chayote made its way around the globe, it took on many different names. French speakers call it “christophine,” after Christopher Columbus, one of the explorers who…