ugly CSA week 6

[cellio]

• 3 ears corn
• 2 largish tomatoes
• 1 large red onion
• 1 large zucchini (zucchinus?)
• 2 peaches
• 9 Bartlett pears

Total weight about 7.5 pounds.

Two peaches aren't enough to make cobbler; we'll just have to eat them straight, or grilled -- so not a hardship! That's a lot of pears; I should look for a pie recipe or make pearsauce, maybe. (Are Bartletts good in pies? I think I've usually baked with Bosc, though I don't have a ton of experience either way.)

Comments

[hlinspjalda]

I think it's "zucchino" in the singular.

Do you know about Specialty Produce? I find it a very handy place to go for information about variant forms of fruits especially. I've been known (in the BeforeTimes) to whip out my phone at the greengrocer to look up that unfamiliar apple type there. Anyway, it looks like they recommend Anjous for pies and tarts, but Bartletts have a lot of enticing possibilities too:

Bartlett pears are best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as baking, boiling, and grilling. They can be eaten fresh, out-of-hand, added to salads for a sweet flavor, sliced into wedges and served on cheese boards, or blended into a granitto top ice cream. Bartlett pears can also be layered in sandwiches such as grilled cheese, used as a topping over pizza, or chopped with other fruits and stuffed in poblano chiles in Mexico’s independence day dish known as chiles en noganda. Also, the pears can be smoked over a charcoal grill for added flavor or sliced to add a sweet flavor to cocktails with tequila and mezcal. Bartlett pears also make excellent preserves, syrups, and chutneys, can be dried, and make great additions to cakes, muffins, crisps, and quick bread. Bartlett pears compliment gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, garlic, onions, shallots, poblano chiles, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pomegranate seeds, strawberry, apple, spinach, pork, chicken, lamb, oysters, oregano, rosemary, parsley, mint, cilantro, Thai basil, lemongrass, matcha green tea powder, cinnamon, allspice, and honey. They will keep up to three weeks when stored in the refrigerator and a little over one year when stored in the freezer.

And they're the best for canning.

On an SCA note, maybe Pears in Wine Sauce?

[cellio]

Thank you! I did not know about Specialty Produce. I've been known to consult search engines from the grocery store, but of course results can be unpredictable. Bookmarking that one...

Mmm, haven't made pears in wine sauce for years. Thanks for the reminder.

[hlinspjalda]

I like to make up a big batch and keep it in the fridge, siphoning off servings over the course of a few days.

[thnidu]

«I think it's "zucchino' in the singular.»

In Italian, but not used in English. Cf. biscotti, spaghetti, ravioli (all grammatically masculine in Italian), and linguine (feminine)*

Etymonline
(https://www.etymonline.com/):
zucchini (n.)
1915 in English cookery books, 1910 in travel books about Italy as an ltalian word (defined as "an odd kind of little squash, very tender and palatable"), from Italian, plural of zucchino, diminutive of zucca "gourd, squash", perhaps from Late Latin cucutia, which is of unknown origin.

American Heritage Dictionary (https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=zucchini)
zuc-chi-ni (zoo-kē'nē) n. pl. zucchini or zuc-chi-nis
variety of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) having an elongated shape and a smooth, thin, dark green rind. [Italian, pl. of zucchino, diminutive of zucca, gourd, from Late Latin cucutia; possibly akin to Latin _cucurbita-, gourd]

*(https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=linguine)
lin-gui-ne also lin-gui-ni (ling-gwē'nē) n
Pasta in long, flat, thin strands. [Italian, pl. of linguina, diminutive of lingua, tongue, from Latin; see LINGUA.]

Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Whom: Consulting Linguist, Grammarian, Orthoëpist, and Philological Busybody

[hlinspjalda]

Thank you, Doctor. :-D

Although I know some of my Campanian-American relatives' characteristic cooking argot (e.g., "monigott" for "manicotti," "rigot" for "ricotta," etc.), I don't think I've ever heard one of them refer to a zucchini in the singular. I know we don't say "zucchino" in English, but I thought it might be amusing for me to speak Italian-American to Italian-American on this one.

(OT: I have downloaded your dissertation; my spouse used to be an ASL interpreter.)

[cellio]

Thank you for all this information!