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Chayote—A Small, Multipurpose Squash
Plants & Gardens News Volume 17, Number 2 | Summer 2002
by Scott Appell

In the ethnic groceries and markets of New York City, there is surprisingly little overlap of produce. Garlic, onions, shallots, and peppers wend their way through the neighborhoods, but few others do. One interesting interloper is chayote, Sechium edule, a bizarre little cucurbit, or squash relative, also known as the vegetable pear, which can be procured in Spanish Harlem, Little Mexico, and Chinatown.

Chayote (pronounced chi-YO-tay) originated in southern Mexico and Central America. It was long cultivated by the Aztecs, who called the plant chayotl. Spanish explorers introduced it to the Old World. Nowadays, it has many names: vegetable pear in most of the United States, mirliton in Louisiana, christophine in Haiti, xu xu in Brazil, and wobedo in the Lukumi language of Nigeria. The genus name Sechium is derived from chacha, the West Indian name for the plant, while the species epithet, edule, simply means “edible.”
Chayote, Avocado, and Watercress Salad With Lime Vinaigrette

(Serves four)
Salad

* 3 chayotes, about 7 ounces each
* 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
* 2 medium bell peppers (red and yellow), roasted, seeded, peeled, and sliced
* 12 olives
* 2 tablespoons caper berries
* 3 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
* 1 bunch watercress, washed and dried, with large stems removed

Vinaigrette

* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
* Fresh juice of 2 limes
* 1/2 teaspoon fresh-cracked black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed sea salt

Cut chayotes in half and simmer in salted water until firmly soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from water, let cool, and slice. Arrange watercress, peppers, onion, avocado, chayotes, olives, and caper berries on four plates. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Serve with crusty bread.

Chayote is a very robust, tendriled vine that can easily climb 30 feet in a single season. The species has tuberous roots instead of the more familiar fibrous roots of its comestible cousins. Its cucumberlike palmately lobed leaves are rough in texture and can grow as wide as eight inches. (Note: Contact with the foliage may cause a rash on sensitive skin.) As with most cucurbits, Sechium edule is monoecious, bearing separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The blossoms are small and greenish white, and they produce ½- to 3-pound, pearlike fruit.

The fruit, which has uniform flesh and skin color, varies from dull white to light green, depending on the cultivar or variety. Generally smooth-skinned, in rare instances it is covered with soft, shiny, dark-green spines. The fruit is a good source of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and calcium, and it is unbelievably versatile. It’s eaten raw, pickled, sautéed, baked, steamed, stuffed, and stir-fried. In the tropics, it is even prepared as a confection in pies and tarts.

Unlike other squash, the fruit of the chayote contains a single large seed. Often called vegetable scallop, the seed is edible and considered by many to be the best part. It has a delicious nutty flavor when sautŽed briefly in butter; when deep-fried, it makes a nice alternative to french-fried potatoes. But the fun doesn’t stop there. Chayote is a multipurpose edible. In some countries, the young leaves, shoots, and tendrils are steamed or boiled, and the roots are boiled, baked, fried, or candied in syrup.

Chayote is quite easy to propagate and cultivate, and it makes an impressive annual trellis or arbor cover. The plant is extremely cold sensitive, so full sun is recommended, though it can tolerate light shade. Chayote needs a long growing season to flower and set seed; southern gardeners will most likely get better results than their northern counterparts.

The seed loses viability when removed from the fruit, so you need to plant the entire squash. Partially bury it in well-drained, fertile soil with the narrow end up and exposed to the elements. After about two weeks, the fruit will split open and a shoot will emerge. Immediately give the shoot support, and allow it plenty of space, as the vine has a tendency to cover everything that isn’t moving.

The first time I grew chayote, I planted three fruits in a 15-inch terra-cotta bulb pan, erected a simple teepee-style support made from bamboo poles, and placed the whole affair on a wide sunny windowsill. After germination, the vine covered my inadequate trellis within a week. The shoots soon worked their way under the window screens and proceeded to cover the fire escape outside. Two months later, the vines were introducing themselves to my upstairs neighbor, and I began to feel like Sleeping Beauty in her vine-covered castle.

Scott Appell is director of education at the Horticultural Society of New York and the author of four books, Pansies, Lilies, Tulips, and Orchids.