Recipe: Trombocino Squash - Some information

Trombocino Squash (definition in dictionary):
A delicious Italian heirloom squash. Curious vining nature, spreads rapidly so give it space to grow out or trellis it, great producer. Pick squash at any size for a tasty treat! Will grow quite long when left to grow.

Strange enough it is also known as tromboncino squash. Here is a note I read in the Internet:

Cucurbita moschata Tromboncino
Posted by TreeClimber16 z5 MI (My Page) on Fri, Jan 31, 03 at 10:48

I purchased seeds for Summer Squash Tromboncino
(Cucurbita moschata Tromboncino)
Here is what the description said:

Unlike anything you've ever seen. Fruits grow long, thin and curved to a bell at the flower end. For best quality, grow these vigorous vining plants on a trellis and harvest when fruits are 8 to 18 inches long. You'll love the fine, sweet flavor. If left on the vine, the fruits ripen to an unusual gourd after 90 days.

Can anyone tell me more. I bought it more for an edible, but now I am having my doubts. I don't want to allot a lot of space to something I won't like.

What kind of gourd does it develope into?...".

Here is more information, including on how to cook it:

"Alright, everyone whose zucchini is dead, or collapsed, or doesn't get pollinated, or whatever. I too have suffered the Ultimate Garden Shame of being unable to grow zucchini successfully.
But here's what I *can* and *do* grow, and I like it even better! It's called (variously) Zucchetta Rampicante or Tromboncino. Cook's Garden has the seeds via mail-order, and Renee's Garden Seeds (available at most garden centers) also has them.

Tromboncino is an Italian heirloom vining squash. (Well, actually, it's a gourd, but who cares? It's delicious!) You can try and train it to a trellis, but it tends to have its own opinions about where it wants to go, and generally it goes everywhere. And everywhere it touches dirt, it roots! What does this mean? It means that this puppy simply out-grows vine borers!

It forms just like regular squash -- big yellow flower, etc. -- but you eat them young, when they're about 12" - 18" long. The squash are long and slender, with a bulbous end, rather like a very small dipper gourd. That knob at the end is where all the seeds are, so you usually end up with about 12" of tender, delicious, totally seedless "neck", which slices into the most perfect little squash coins. When cooked, the flesh turns a light chartreuse, so very pretty, as well. To my mind, it is so much better than regular zucchini. The texture is firm, the flavor very delicate with a hint of artichoke to it. Our typical way of eating it is simply to sautee it with onions & olive oil, or stir fry it with other vegies & some meat. Unlike other squash, it doesn't get mushy upon cooking. If you *like* mushy squash, you can try cooking it to a fair-thee-well and it will probably oblige. Also, it's texture after freezing isn't quite as firm, so that's when it makes good squash casserole.

If you let the squashes get too big, you can cook them like calabaza in Mexican recipes.

I don't plant mine til July (last year I put them in a bit late and we didn't get as many.) Starts up just as easily as other squash. I usually plant about 3 seeds, tho one vine has usually been enough. If you've got lots of room, or lots of trellising or chainlink fence, you should definitely consider this vegie. We're usually getting the zucchettas (actually, we just call it "the rude squash"; if you grow it, you'll see why) about 45-60 days after planting, depending on weather, rain, etc, and they keep producing til the frost kills them (and sometimes it doesn't, tho they do quit producing at that point.) With a mid-June planting, our biggest harvest months were September, October & November. Check it out. ..."


I hope this information will be helpful. My guess is that you can use zucchini or pumkin recipes for cooking it.

Gladys/PR