Gourds

Gourds

Gourds are members of the family Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbits) along with melons, squash and cucumbers. They're all "cucumbers" to the botanist and "Vine Crops" to the agriculturist, and the're all fruit but in culinary practice gourds are "vegetables".

Gourds are native to Asia and Africa and were unknown in the Americas until brought by European traders and invaders after 1500 (some controversy here). In any case there were already squash in the Americas that dried to hard shells that would be called "gourds" in popular usage, but which aren't actually gourds.

Magnolias

Vine Crops

General & History
Varieties
Health Considerations - and nutrition
Links - to information on Squash

General & History

Gourds are not so neatly catagorizable as squash and cucmbers each of which belongs to a single genus (with just a couple exceptions). Not only are there several distinct genera of gourds but the line between gourds and cucumbers is a bit fuzzy, and some gourds are called "melons" even though they aren't.

For our discussion here "Gourd" will be any vine fruit belonging to family Cucurbitaceae and native to Asia or Africa that is not a melon or cucumber - regardless of what they're called in common usage.

Varieties

Ash Gourd - [Winter Melon, White Pumpkin, Wax Gourd, Safed Petha (Hindi), Dong Gua (China), Benincasa hispida]
This large gourd is popular in China as Winter Melon, both for its delicacy when cooked and because with its waxy coating it can be kept well into the winter. In India it's used mostly for sweets. The photo specimen is a spherical variety about 10 inches in diameter, relatively small so it can be sold whole. The sausage shaped varieties can easily top a yard long and 50 pounds. Details and Cooking.

Bitter Melon - [Balsam Pear, Bitter Gourd, Karela (India), Ampalaya (Philippine), Ku gua (China), Momordica charantia]
Among the most bitter of edible vegetables this gourd is nontheless very popular throughout India, Nepal, China and Southeast Asia. It is not much seen on mainland Japan but is popular in Okinawa. It is a favorite of Southeast Asian farmers here in California so the Chinese varitey is always in good supply and the Indian version is increasingly available.

The melon at the top in the photo is the common Chinese variety, while the other three are the Indian variety. Mineature Indian varieties are popular in India and Southeast Asia for stuffing as individual portions. Details and Cooking

Bottle Gourd - [Opo, Calabash (U.S.); Dudhi, Lauki, Sorakaya (India); Yugao, Kampyo (Japan); Po gua (Canton); Kwa kawa, Hu gua (China); Upo (Filipino); Cucuzzi, Cucuzza (Italy); Bau (Viet); Lagenaria siceraria]
This gourd comes in many shapes and sizes from long and snake like to spherical but the form pictured is the one common in Southern California markets. They will grow much larger but they get very bitter when more mature. Eventually the shell hardens and the gourd becomes hollow and may be used as a container or carved decoratively.

Young shoots and leaves are also edible. Dried strips of the gourd called Kampyo are important in Japan and often used as edible bindings to hold other ingredients together. Details and Cooking.

Calabash - See Bottle Gourd. There is also a Calabash that isn't a gourd at all but the large spherical fruit of a tree in the Bignonia family (B. Crescentia (6 species)) native to Central and South America. Both types of calabash are dried and used as containers.

Fuzzy Melon - [Mao gwa, Mu qua tseet gwa (China); heari meron (Japan (got that)); timum balu (Malay); faeng (Thai); bi (Viet)Benincasa hispida]
A variety of the gigantic Ash Gourd that's picked and eaten at a much earlier stage of growth. In this stage it's covered with short bistles, thus the name. By time I get these melons home most have rubbed off but it's still normal to peel these. The photo specimen was 13-3/4 inches long, 3-1/8 inches diameter and weighed 2-1/4 pounds, a little above average size for those marketed in Los Angeles.

Gherkin
Three fruits are called "gherkin", generally when pickled, and one of then is a gourd.

The Tindora (Ivy Gourd) is sometimes called Gherkin whether pickled or not.
The True Gherkin - a small spiny cucumber
Small Cucumber Gherkin

Ivy Gourd - see Tindora.

Luffa Gourd [Loofa, Sponge Gourd, genus Loofa]
Most well known in the U.S. as a bath sponge, these gourds are grown in a number of varieties both for sponges and for eating. They are imensely popular in India and also much used in Southeast Asia and China.

Angled Luffa - [Chinese Okra, Vine Okra, California Okra, Turai (Hindi), Patola (Philippine), Luffa acutangula]
These are very common in Southern California and are used by Asians of all stripes from India to the Phillipines. Often sold as "Chinese Okra", it is entirely unrelated to Okra and does not resemble it in flavor, texture, cooking properties or size.

The photo specimen was 16 inches long, 2-1/2 inches diameter and weighed 1 pound 2 ounces. They vary in shape. When I took this photo I also had a straight one 18-1/2 inches long, uniform diameter almost from end to end and weighing 1 pound. The skin is stiff but thin and sharp ridges run the full length. The flesh is very delicate in both flavor and texture, yet holds its shape much better than squash when cooked. Details and Cooking.

Smooth Luffa - [Egyptian Luffa, Galka (India), Patola (Philippine), Luffa cylindrica alt L. aegyptiaca]
These are an eating variety which may be cylindrical or snake shaped with little or no ridging. Cylindrical ones are generally eaten when they are about 8 to 10 inches long, snake shaped ones depending on variety. The photo specimen in the center was 11 inches long and 2-1/2 inches diameter.

These gourds have not yet become common in Southern California but I have found them in an Indian markets in Artesia. They have a more distinctly vegetable flavor than the Angled Luffa and store considerably longer. They are grown commercially mostly for the sponge (see next entry - same Luffa) and are also grown in Florida where some may be used for cooking.

Smooth Luffa - [Egyptian Luffa, Luffa cylindrica alt L. aegyptiaca]
Sponge This is the same Loofa as the previous entry but allowed to mature completely and dry. They are harvested for the sponge like interior fiber (the papery shell is easily removed). The "sponges" are popular as bath sponges and for various household chores.

Luffas should be dried well between uses for longer life. A large one also serves marvelously as a non-injurious club for swatting snoring bed companions in the night. The sponge pictured is about 26 inches long. My local market always has a pile of them for about $1.39 each but you can pay a lot more for a short piece at an upscale bath boutique.

Sponge Cucumber - [Sponge Gourd, Round Luffa, Luffa operculata]
This Loofa is only about 5 inches long pointed at both ends with spiky skin. It is used as a small sponge and made into massage brushes and sponge gloves but is more noted for medicinal uses. It has many uses in South Amerian folk medicine and is widely sold in the U.S. in pill and potion form as an ingredient in sinus treatments. It also appears in homeopathic remedies.

Parval Gourd - [Pointed Gourd, C.Trichosanthes dioica]

This gourd is an important vegetable in Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (north eastern India), but I've only found canned ones so far in Southern California. Those pictured are slit in half lengthwise and put up in brine. Fragments in the can indicate they get up to about 3" long in their edible stage. The flavor seems interesting but final judgement will have to wait until I can get fresh ones. The seeds are larger and more mature than in other edible gourds and are a bit crunchy but edible.

Snake Gourd - [Serpent Gourd, Chichinga, Padwal, Trichosanthes cucumerina var anguina]
This gourd is popular in Southern India and Southeast Asia. It can grow to as long as 6 feet and is often seen with a rock tied to the tip to keep it growing straight. Shoots and leaves are also eaten as a vegetable.

The flesh of this gourd is similar to the Luffa and Bottle Gourd and like them will hold its shape when cooked. Snake gourd is also used in traditional Chinese medicine. This gourd has a very strange lacy flower which opens at night (see Details page). Details and Cooking. Photo by Abhilash placed in public domain.

Tinda - [Indian round gourd, apple gourd, Indian baby pumpkin, Praecitrullus fistulosus alt Citrullus vulgaris]
Native to India, this gourd is popular in the cuisines of Northern India and Pakistan. It's becoming more common in Southern California and is seasonally available in markets that have a significant Indian / Pakistani element in their clientel. The gourd is eaten in an immature stage when it will be about 3 inches in diameter and tender with skin that does not need to be peeled. Seeds of more mature gourds are also eaten. Details and Cooking.

Tindora - [Ivy Gourd, Indian Gherkin; Scarlet Gourd; Pepino Cimarron (Spanish); Hong gua (China); Kovakka (Malay); Tendli, Tondli, Tindola, Ghiloda, Goli, Kundri, Kundru, Kunduzi, Kowai, Kovai, Donda, Dondakaya (India); Coccinia grandis]
A popular vegetable in India, this tiny gourd can now be found in Indian markets in California and elsewhere. Here it is always sold green, looking very much like a tiny cucumber, but in India it is also sometimes used in it's scarlet red mature stage.

Tindora can be eaten raw and are a lot more crunchy than cucumbers, or they may be cooked as a side dish or may be pickled. When pickled they are sometimes called "gherkin" but are easy to tell from the real Gherkin and from cucumber gherkins by their smooth skin. Typically they are between 2-1/2 and 3-1/4 inches long, 3/4 to 7/8 inch diameter and weigh around 5/8 ounce. Details and Cooking.

General & History

Varieties

Links