The prodigious chayote

This voracious plant is the chayote or cidra vine (Sechium edule), a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes cucumbers and squash. This one’s appetite is so ravenous that it has swallowed small palms that were in its path. It is now too close to our citrus and avocado trees, so we will have to take more assertive action. It pleased me to find out that basically everything you see in this photo is edible, nutritious, and medicinal, not only the fruit. You can eat the young shoots, stems, leaves, and even the mature tubers. The leaves can be made into infusions that are used to treat kidney stones and hypertension.

Cidra (one of several local names for this plant in Colombia) is native to what is now southern Mexico and Guatemala, where it has been cultivated since pre-Columbian times. Because it is such a resilient plant that thrives easily in different climates, it is now grown even outside of tropical and subtropical areas. The Colombian fruit has much darker, thicker, and more prickly skin than the ones I have seen in temperate zones. If you are planning on growing chayote, which I highly recommend, just be sure to direct it properly and give it plenty of space as it will happily mount whatever is around.

The fruit is a staple of Mexican food. It is a great addition to soups and stews since it has a refreshing, watery texture (halfway between cucumbers and potatoes) that absorbs flavors beautifully.

My favorite way to prepare the cidra fruit is fermented with garlic, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice, black and green peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf, a chilli pepper, and lots of dill. The pickles that emerge are exquisite, crisp, and refreshing. The brine from this preparation fizzles more than any other vegetable fermentation project I’ve ever seen. Next time, I want to try fermenting the fruit with young shoots from the plant.

Recipe for pickled chayote

Ingredients:

1 litre water

4½ tbsp coarse sea salt

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

10 allspice berries

1 tsp fennel seeds

10 black peppercorns

5 whole cloves

1 tsp celery seeds

1 small dried chilli

1 large bunch of dill (50g in total)

7 garlic cloves, unpeeled, lightly crushed

6 bay leaves

About 900 grams of chayote evenly cut in bite sized pieces (or however you want them)

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the salt in the water to make your brine.
2. Place the seeds, herbs, and the garlic in the bottom of the jar.
3. Layer the pieces of chayote tightly up to the top of the jar.
4. Cover the chayote with the brine.
5. Place a weight (I use a stone) to keep everything submerged.
6. Store in a cool, dark place. Let the wonder of fermentation happen. Try the pickled until you feel they are tangy and crunchy. (In Bogota, at average 15 degrees celsius they are best between 5 to 7 days.)
7. Refrigerate and enjoy for months.