The large yellow flowers of the zucchini shine from a distance. Each plant bears both male and female flowers. The male ones appear first and can be recognized by their long stems. The fruits form on the female flowers.
How to use zucchini flowers in the kitchen?
Zucchini flowers are a delicious ingredient for various dishes. Use the male flowers to stuff with turkey breast, cream cheese or fish, bake in wine batter or as a zucchini flower sauce for pasta. Harvest flowers just before opening for optimal freshness.
You can recognize them by their short stem and the large ovary under the petals.
Pollination of flowers
The zucchini flowers are fertilized by bees. If too few female flowers are pollinated - for example in cold or damp weather - fewer fruits are formed. You can help with pollination with the following steps:
- pick male flower
- Detach petals
- brush the stigma of the female flower with the stamens
Removing female petals
If fertilization was successful, the ovary swells and the flower withers. Now it's time to carefully loosen the petals, otherwise they provide a breeding ground for fungal diseases.
Zucchini flowers as a delicacy
Zucchini flowers are not only beautiful to look at, they also taste great. They are the perfect complement to meat and vegetarian dishes. The light taste also goes well with fish. There are numerous delicious dishes that you can conjure up from zucchini flowers. Here are a few recipe ideas:
- Zucchini flowers stuffed with turkey breast, cooked in the oven
- Zucchini flowers in wine batter
- Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with cream cheese
- Fish fillet wrapped in zucchini flowers
- Pasta with zucchini blossom sauce
- and much more.
Just experiment a bit!
Tips & Tricks
The male flowers are used for cooking and are also a real eye-catcher as table decorations. They are harvested shortly before the flowers open.
