The benefits of courgette
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What courgettes do
What this vegetable does
It is said to clear excess heat and bring moisture, so when a dry throat is on your mind, try a dish made with courgette.
How to eat it
Grilled, sauteed or added to ratatouille, it plays to its soft texture and gentle sweetness.
A yakuzen note
Courgette is said to clear heat from the body and to keep things moving smoothly. Its soft texture is what marks it out.
Courgette is sweet and cool, a summer vegetable held to settle excess heat trapped in the body and to settle the way the gut works, gently. Its soft texture and mild flavour are what it is loved for, and it suits daily care when heat builds up in the body, or when you want something of the summer. From grilling, stir-frying and stewing to raw salads, it is an easy gourd-family vegetable to use.
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When courgette is in season, its types, and how to choose it
If you want to enjoy what courgette does, it helps to know its season, its types and how to choose it. It looks like a cucumber but is in fact a relative of the pumpkin, a gourd-family vegetable in season in summer.
In season in summer, a gourd-family vegetable related to the pumpkin
Courgette looks like a cucumber, but it is a relative of the pumpkin that does not run on vines, and what you eat is the young fruit. Its season is summer, around June to August, and Nagano and Miyazaki are among the main growing areas. Grown too large, the skin hardens and the flesh turns watery, so the ones picked young at around twenty centimetres are held to be soft and good. Familiar from Mediterranean cooking, it turns soft and melting with heat and can also be sliced thin and eaten raw: an easy summer vegetable to handle.
Green, yellow and round courgettes
Courgette can be chosen by colour and by shape.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Green courgette | The most common. Long and deep green. Mild and easy to use |
| Yellow courgette | A vivid yellow. Soft-skinned, and loved for its colour |
| Round courgette | Round like a ball. Suits being hollowed out and stuffed |
For everyday use, mild green courgette is handy. When you want colour in a dish, vivid yellow courgette; to hollow out and stuff, round courgette, which makes its own dish. Green and yellow together make a grill or a stir-fry look the part. Choose by use and by how you want it to look and courgette shows its best.
How to choose and handle them
When picking out good courgettes, these are the things to look for.
- An even thickness, with firm, glossy skin
- A real weight in the hand, not shrivelled
- Not too large, with a juicy cut end
Courgette can be used skin and all, so washing it well and cutting off the stem end is all the preparation it needs. It is not harsh, so there is no need to soak it. To use it raw, slice it thin or into ribbons on a mandoline and the dressing clings better. Cooked, it goes through quickly, so grill or fry it briefly and play to that melting texture. It gives up water if left after cutting, so cook it as soon as you have cut it.
How to eat courgette
The soft texture and mild flavour of a courgette carry it from grilling and stewing to raw salads. Here are the usual ways.
Grilled, sauteed and in ratatouille
Courgette is at its best cooked. Cut into rounds or lengthways and browned well in olive oil, grilled or sauteed, it gives you a melting texture and a faint sweetness. Ratatouille, stewed with aubergine, sweet pepper and tomato, is the standard dish in which the savour of summer vegetables melts together. Fried with garlic, or combined with meat, its mildness lets it sit well with anything. A round courgette hollowed out, stuffed with meat and cheese and baked, makes a plate that is a pleasure to look at.
In raw salads and as fritto
Courgette is good raw as well. Sliced thin or into ribbons on a mandoline and dressed with salt, olive oil and lemon, it makes a clean salad. Cheese shaved over it brings the flavour forward. Battered thinly and fried as fritto, it is crisp outside and melting within. If you can find courgettes with the flowers still on, stuffing the flowers with cheese and frying them makes a dish that tastes of the season. The texture changes between raw and cooked, so using each for its own dish brings out what it has.
How to keep courgette
Courgette does badly in dry air, so wrap each one in film or put them in a plastic bag and stand them upright in the vegetable drawer of the fridge to hold their freshness. Use them within three or four days. Wrap a part-used one tightly in film so the cut face does not dry. If you have a lot, cut them into rounds or dice, grill or fry them on the firm side and freeze them in small portions, ready for stews and stir-fries. Frozen raw they turn watery, so freeze them on the understanding that they will be cooked.
Alongside this, it is worth knowing about The benefits of cucumber a gourd-family vegetable likewise held to settle summer heat, and a summer vegetable likewise held to cool excess heat in the body, The benefits of eggplant as a guide when building a summer table.
In season in summer, courgette is a summer vegetable whose soft texture carries it from grilling, sauteing and ratatouille to raw salads and fritto. Mild green courgette, colourful yellow courgette and round courgette for stuffing: use each for the job and it shows its best. For daily care in the season when heat builds up, bring courgette to the table.
