Back to the garden II

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You just knew that the first thing to be ready to be picked would be the zucchini, didn’t you? What else? Not the tomatoes, certainly, and not the peppers, soybeans, eggplants or beans. (Actually, the beans needed to be replanted; I think I put them in too early and they never got off to a good start.) But you know what? Having zucchini come first is not a problem for me. I really love zucchini. That’s not to say that with four plants, there won’t come a time later in the summer when I’m leaving bags of them on my neighbors’ doorsteps, but that’s hard to imagine right now, having just picked my first.

What did I do with them? The obvious choice for me was braising them (you can call it glazing if you prefer): Cut them into 2-inch sections and then cut each of those into lengthwise quarters; cook them covered over medium heat with some olive oil, minced garlic and just enough water to slick the bottom of the pan; when they’re tender, take off the lid and raise the heat to high to reduce the pan juices to a glaze; toss in some basil at the end, if you like. It takes about 15 minutes to make this dish and as far as I’m concerned, I probably won’t taste anything better all summer.

Actually, these squash I grew aren’t really zucchini. They’re cocozelle, which is a predecessor to the zucchini. According to my main squash man, Dr. Harry Paris of the Newe Ya’ar Research Center in Israel, true zucchini didn’t show up in vegetable gardens until the start of the 20th century. Cocozelle are much older, you can see them in paintings from the 16th century. But I didn’t grow them just for their history: Cocozelle are reputed to have flavor superior to any zucchini. Based on my first sampling, let’s just say that I wasn’t disappointed. Next up? My wife has already called dibs on frittata. What would you do with an antique zucchini?

— Russ Parsons