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Calabash Wikipedia

taxobox begin | color = lightgreen | name = Calabash
taxobox image | image = Image:Courge encore verte.jpg|300px | caption = Green calabash on the vine
taxobox begin placement | color = lightgreen
taxobox regnum entry | taxon = Plantae
taxobox divisio entry | taxon = Magnoliophyta
taxobox classis entry | taxon = Magnoliopsida
taxobox ordo entry | taxon = Cucurbitales
taxobox familia entry | taxon = Cucurbitaceae
taxobox genus entry | taxon = Lagenaria
taxobox species entry | taxon = siceraria
taxobox end placement | color = lightgreen
taxobox section binomial botany | color = lightgreen | binomial_name = Lagenaria siceraria | author = (Molina) Standl.
taxobox end

This article is about one of the plant species by this name. For other uses, see Calabash (disambiguation).

Image:Calebasse.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Calabash as container

The calabash (not to be confused with the calabaza) is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, one of the calabash subspecies is known as the bottle gourd. The fresh fruit has a light green smooth skin and a white flesh.

The calabash was one of the first cultivated plants in the Americas, grown not for food but as a container.

The calabash is frequently used in southern Chinese cuisine as either a stir-fry or in a soup. The Chinese name for calabash is hulu (zh-stp|s=葫芦|t=葫蘆|p=húlu) or huzi (zh-cp|c=葫子|p=húzi). In Japan, where it is known as kampy??, it is sold in the form of dried, marinated strips. It is used in place of seafood in a form of vegetarian sushi|makizushi (rolled sushi).

In Italian cuisine, it is known as cucuzza (plural cucuzzi).

The shoots, tendrils, and leaf|leaves of the plant may also be eaten as leaf vegetable|greens.

Last Modified:   2005-11-07