PHJ What is a cucuzza? A type of squash? Gourd? An ignorant mind wants to know.

An edible gourd that goes by many names.

Among those names are cucuzzi, zuchetta,serpent of Italy and serpent gourd.

Cucuzzi is a long, Italian gourd used as a summer squash. You harvest it while it is relatively young and relatively small (it is big when you harvest it young, but not nearly as big or tough as it will be if you leave it on the vine a long time) and cook it the way you'd cook any summer squash.

It is available from several seed suppliers. I've linked the packet from Seeds From Italy below so you can see the photo.

I get my seed from Seeds From Italy (which recently changed ownership) although I haven't grown it the last couple of years. It takes over the entire garden, if allowed. The cucuzzi seed I have right now is from an assortment of Winter Squash Seed from Seeds from Italy which, at the time I purchased it, contained the seeds of at least 8 different squash varieties. I don't leave it on the vine like a winter squash though, but harvest it young as a summer squash.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Cucuzzi

I made it into a soup kind of like minestroni and even used the younger leaves and vine tips and tendrils.

Here is a link that might be useful: singing squash

Are they susceptible to squash borers?

What about squash bugs?

for the info. I have eaten luffa at the immature stage. Do they taste similar?

Well we have bores and bugs on the zucs. patty pan and yellow straight neck but none on the cucuzza. They are plagued with the spider mites though.

I've never eaten a luffa so I cannot say. I was surprised by the slight sweetness ( coming mostly from the seeds). When young the seeds can be eaten, when older they are scraped out but i don't think the flesh as much taste.

immature luffa is a chinese delicacy. Never ate it myself. I only know that because a neighbor at a community gardens was from Hunan province and he had them and told me they were a "silk melon". I was given one and it looked like a luffa to me and I did not ask how I was supposed to cook and eat it. Maybe he gave me one that was past eating. His english was awful and my chinese is not musch beyond. Ni how, Ze ma yanga and even then I could be getting the accents wrong and telling him to stuff the newspaper .

I did eat a regular sponge once, I thought it was a peice of tofu. I was really drunk which is the only reason I would consider eating tofu in the first place.