Flor de Calabaza

Squash blossoms are so in season now. We picked our first blossoms yesterday and had them for dinner. It is uncommon to see squash blossoms in grocery stores or farmer's markets around here, but apparently it is abundant and very common in Mexico. They call it flor de calabaza. Mexicans use it in variety of dishes, like in casseroles, soup, and quesadillas filling. Not only is it used for culinary purposes, squash blossom is also used for church decoration in Mexico. Italian dishes are not foreign to it either. They incorporate the blossom into risotto, pizza, salad, etc. Gourmet chefs like to stuff it with good cheeses. Bobby Flay, the renowned chef, tweeted last week: "cooking at Mesa Las Vegas for Bon Appetit UNCORKED event. 5 courses tonight...green tomatoes, squash blossoms, grits w/ morels and duck, etc".

I found an interesting article about squash blossom in Strauss Communication's site (and this is also my source of info): Snap up squash blossoms while you can (By Laurel Miller).

A female summer squash blossom, blooms at the end a of baby squash fruit. Male blossoms bloom on just a stem.

A female scallop squash blossom.


Squash blossoms platter (battered and fried zucchini, summer, and scallop squash blossoms). We served them with tempura dipping sauce. It was refreshing!

A male blossom, fried.

A scallop squash blossom, fried.