Squash flower (male)
Cucurbita pepo · Vegetable
Top 10 pairings
The male squash flower is the pollen-bearing blossom of squash and pumpkin plants (Cucurbita spp.), borne on a slim stalk with no fruit behind it — sold in Mexican and Mediterranean markets as flor de calabaza and treated as a fleshy vegetable in its own right, not a garnish. Golden-orange and faintly vegetal, it is sautéed with onion and folded into quesadillas and soups, stuffed with cheese and fried, or simmered into brothy stews.
Picking a good onedrag
Just cut, petals bright and wholeCollapsed, slimy, sour
Market freshEveryday bestTrim sepals and the bitter stamen, then saute with onion and epazote, or batter and fry. Buy unsprayed: petals cannot be washed clean.
The trumpetFurled shut but plump, colour still bright
The petalsSoft but whole, one crease from the packing
Stalk and sepalsCut end drying pale, sepals limp but green
Inside the cupLoose pollen dusting the petals, still dry
Smell at the cutAlmost nothing, clean and vegetal