Today's topic of discussion - Zucchini!
Let's go back to Milan in April 2019, when I was out exploring the open air markets, and even though the farmers markets there are not as wide spread, as big and as lively as in Paris (I end up comparing everything to my beloved Paris!), I did enjoy strolling by and buying fresh produce that caught my eye. That's how I stumbled upon this Italian spring-summer delicacy - Zucchini flowers or Fiori di zucca!
These attractive little flowers are displayed like jewels and the vendors insist you rather not touch them due to their delicate nature.
I had no clue what these were until a quick google search revealed the numerous dishes I could prepare using them. I decided to pick 5 flowers and make a stuffed tempura. However, I mustn't have googled too well as little did I know about the existence of genders!
Some more google search later I found that a zucchini plant first starts producing male flowers, one with the thin stem and a stamen inside containing pollens. Bees and other insects then pollinate these with the female flowers thus producing our beloved zucchini. Female flowers must remain on the plant until the zucchini starts to grow, and this can only happen when pollination is successful. Without pollination, female flowers fall off and plants won't produce any fruit i.e zucchini. INteresting info right?
So getting back to my market pick, I picked up the female version unknowingly, the one with mini zucchinis hanging at the bottom. However, I had no regrets once I stuffed the flowers with a generous filling of fresh ricotta cheese seasoned with some garlic, mixed herbs, salt, and pepper and fried them till crispy. (You can even bake them, but I decided to fry. Though next time I'll make a thicker tempura batter, as the one I made was too thin and I had to re-coat the fritters and fry again) The simple recipe I followed was: For the stuffing: 5 zucchini flowers (female version) 100 g fresh ricotta cheese
Salt
Pepper
Mixed herbs
1 clove of garlic, grated
- Mix all the dry ingredients with ricotta cheese to make a delicious stuffing
- Delicately wash and pat dry the flowers
- Stuff each flower with the ricotta filling, sealing the petals well
For the tempura batter and frying:
100 g flour Salt and mixed herbs, to taste
Water/soda, as required
Oil, to fry
- Heat the oil in a frying pan till hot enough (between 170-180 degrees celsius)
- Mix the flour, herbs, salt and add water to make a dipping consistency batter
- Dip the stuffed zucchini flowers in the batter, coating them well on all sides
- Immediately dip in the hot oil and fry till golden brown (do not overcrowd the frying pan)
- Drain on a paper towel and serve immediately!
The flowers tasted sooo yummy and I'm thinking about how to put it to words. The baby zucchinis tasted really delicious and added a fresh extra crunch, so I guess the next time I'll pick up female flowers again, albeit knowingly. Note: These babies being extremely delicate, be sure to buy them early in the morning when the stock is still fresh and cook them within a couple of hours of buying. They tend to wilt easily and lose their fresh crispiness otherwise. I've also seen containers stuffed with zucchini flowers and cling-wrapped on supermarket refrigerator shelves, but the taste, texture and freshness is never the same as the ones you get at a farmers market!
If you grow your zucchinis or if you ever find yourself in Italy in spring/summer, do try to make/have this delicious delicacy (they also serve fried/baked flowers without any stuffing) and thank me later!
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