Shortly before, we had made a trip to the local nursery to start building our "crop." In addition to many other things, we... or he, rather (it was all a graduation present), purchased some zucchini plants. I've always wanted to try cooking with zucchini blossoms, and I've been forced to cultivate my own since I can never seem to find zucchini blossoms anywhere... despite the internet telling me they are so easily attainable.
So far, good fortune has graced us with flourishing zucchini plants, with blossoms just begging to be eaten. The problem is, most fruits/vegetables actually come from the center of the flower. The plant blossoms, the pedals of the flower die, and the center is left to grow into a fruit or vegetable or whatever. Therefore, if you pick the flower, you won't get the thing you wanted that it was supposed to be... which begs the question: if I pick a zucchini blossom, does that prevent it from turning into a zucchini? I at once consulted the internet, who told me that a zucchini plant produces two kinds of blossoms: male and female."What the hell?" I thought. "Male and female?"
With further reading it seemed that the MALE blossoms are for eating because the FEMALE blossoms turn into zucchinis. This led me to my second question: what the hell is the difference?
This! The female "flowers" actually look like a baby zucchini, which you can see at the very base of the plant. Whereas the male flowers actually look like... well, flowers. This means that the past week, I have watched bright orange delicious flowers wilt right before my very eyes, afraid to touch them because of the possibility that they may be baby zucchinis. I shake my head at the thought of how many blossoms were wasted.
You see this? This is a little boy I could have eaten.
I suppose the good news is, since I have made the distinction between male and female, edible and non-edible... it is now time to develop a recipe for zucchini blossoms.
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