riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (06/21/84)
Anyone out there have any experience with tatume squash? My gardening
buddy and I put some in this year, and we are pleased, to say the
least. You may have seen tatume under the name "Mexican squash" in
your supermarket from time to time; it is a small squash that looks
much like an oval zucchini. We generally use tatume as a substitute
for either zucchini or yellow squash, but it has a delicate flavor that
is hard to describe but which we prefer to both of its rivals. Its
skin avoids the hard rind-like character of too-mature yellow squash,
while its center remains firm even when cooked.
The plants bear abundantly, producing long vines which (unfortunately)
must be prevented from taking over the whole garden. When a
combination of squash bugs and drought made our yellow squash begin to
give up the ghost a couple of weeks back, the tatume kept on thriving
(although it may succumb yet). The only problem we have had is a minor
one: since the fruits match the dark green of the plants' leaves, we
have had a tendency to miss them and leave them on the vine until they
are huge, overripe and a bit seedy. We're thinking that the solution
may be to fix a big batch of tatume bread!
All in all, tatume seems like such a winner that we are both rather
surprised that it is relatively unknown both to gardeners and to
cooks.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle