Notes from Stella's Kitchen
Well, the holiday season is once again upon us and it’s time to start thinking of all the wonderful food you’re going to prepare. Of course, tradition is the big factor here and certain dishes just have to be fixed because they are a “tradition.” And, of course, that tradition is usually governed by the kind of food most readily available in a particular area. The harvest season is just about over, but one vegetable, which is very abundant at roadside stands, gardens and the grocery store where we lived in south Mississippi before moving to southwest Pennsylvania, is the mirliton.
A mirliton (pronounced MEL-lee-tawn) or vegetable pear, also call chayote in Latin America, is a cousin of the cucumber and squash. It is pale green in color and is shaped like a large pear. Its taste is very mild, but comes to life with whatever is added to it, for instance ham or shrimp. Mirlitons are widely grown in home gardens in southern Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana (especially New Orleans) and to say that it is prolific is an understatement. If you plant them, they will grow and you will give them away by the bushel. So look around and try to get yourself some. There are many great recipes for their use and I am including one this month that is delicious!
There are several ways of fixing a mirliton. It can be prepared as a salad by cooking it until it is just tender, thinly slice it and dress it with fresh sweet onions, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil. Or, you can candy it and treat them as you would an acorn squash by baking it with butter, sugar, cinnamon, salt, pepper and some brandy. Better yet, you can prepare any number of versions of stuffed mirlitions. Combine the pulp of the mirliton with any number of savory ingredients and stuff the shells for a real tasty treat.
Here is one of the traditions that seems to in coastal Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Holiday dinners, while quite delicious, can sometimes be a little old hat and something that needs a little more zing, some spice so to say. So, one solution is to make a side dish of either stuffed mirlitons or a mirliton casserole. Combine them with shrimp, ham or smoked bacon, herbs, spices and the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) and you have more zing to the dinner. Incidentally, the “trinity” elsewhere would be called a mirepoix and consist of onion, celery and carrots. Seems we have more green peppers than carrots in this area. Nevertheless, there will be stuffed mirlitons on a lot of tables during the holidays.
My recipe for Stuffed Mirlitons With Shrimp will be on our table this holiday season. So,
Bon Appetit and Happy Holidays!
