Zapallitos Redondos
Buenos Aires – Face it, you’re stuck learning Spanish vocabulary with me. The Zapallito Redondo is a “summer squash”, i.e., zucchini, but in globe shape. It’s native to the southern part of South America. You can find “regular” zucchini, but they’re not near as common. The redondo is a bit more dense and a touch sweeter. When cut open, as you can see, it has a fascinating shamrock pattern to the flesh and seeds.
The Zapallito Redondo can be used pretty much in any way that other zucchini or summer squashes can. One of the simplest recipes is Milanesas de Zapallito. Milanesas are very common in Argentinian cuisines – most meats, even fish, are commonly made this way. It’s based on a classic Italian milanese, essentially lightly breaded and pan-fried. It differs somewhat in that it’s typically served nude, i.e., with no sauces or condiments. Also, like much of the food here, they tend to be cooked until it’s difficult to tell that the meat was once part of a living organism.
My take on Milanesas de Zapallito is quite easy to prepare. Slice the squash into rounds roughly 1/4″ thick. Beat an egg or two in a bowl. Mix plain bread crumbs with salt, white pepper, and what is locally called provensal, which is a readily available and very commonly used (here) blend of dried garlic and parsley. Dip the rounds into the egg, then into the crumbs. Sauté in a blend of olive oil and butter. Drain and eat while hot!
Opened up a bottle of Viñas de Balbo Torrontés, no vintage listed on the bottle. Dry, crisp, with flavors of fresh pears, light citrus, and a touch of wildflowers. I’m assuming that Viñas de Balbo is related in some manner to the famous Susana Balbo wines, though I’ve been unable to access their website. Torrontés, by the way, is a white grape that has become “the” white grape of Argentina. A small amount is also grown in Chile, but its origins are, like many wine grapes, in Europe. In particular, Torrontés was one of the original Madeira grapes, though most of the plantings were lost in a volcano explosion many moons ago.
March 19th, 2006 at 8:18 am
[...] Zucchini (US, Australian, and Canadian English) or courgette (New Zealand and British English) is a small summer marrow or squash, also commonly called Italian squash. Its Latin name is Cucurbita pepo. It can either be yellow or green and generally has a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit. Unlike the cucumber it is usually served cooked, often steamed or grilled. Its flower can be eaten fried or stuffed. Zucchini is commonly thought of as a vegetable, and in layman’s parlance, of course, this is more useful; however by strict definition the zucchini is a fruit, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower. [...]
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:42 pm
One of the vegetables I most miss whenever I leave BsAs is the zapallito redondo. I prefer it to zuchinni and squash. When I’m broiling a steak on the bottom part of the typical gas oven here, I always include a few halved zapallitos and potatoes drizzled with a bit of oil, salt, black pepper and provensal in the upper (main) part of the oven. The veggies bake while the steak broils. It’s simple and really quite tasty.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I want to buy seems of zapallitos redondos
yo quiero compra las semillas de los zapallitos redondos
May 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I guess it would depend where you live – the seeds are certainly available here in Buenos Aires at various plant stores – or, of course, within the zapallitos redondos themselves. If you’re not located here, you might try a resource like Jim Johnson at Seedman.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:48 am
This delectable, little squash has found its way to Conyers and Smyrna (both suburbs of Atlanta), GA via my stepmother who was born in Uruguay. She regularly returns to S.A. to visit friends and family in both Uruguay and Argentina. Longing to eat her favorite squash back home in the US, she brought some seeds with her. The squash grow well here. Since my friends in Smyrna have planted many plants, I am sure that their popularity in this region will grow as they share them with their friends and relatives.
Graciela, If you didn’t find any seeds, we can send you some.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Sabina, Tell your stepmom that my mom and I live in Marietta, GA and we too plant the zapallitos. My mom bought seeds in Argentina last time we were there. We used to live in Uruguay as well. Luckily we are able to buy Yerba Mate in the US. If your stepmom wants to get together for garden talk or to drink some mate, send me an email madd03@hotmail.com
We too can send Graciela some zapallito seeds.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
[...] public links >> redondos Comment on Zapallitos Redondos by dan Saved by socalster on Wed 17-12-2008 Hoy no escribo Saved by KillingMySoul on Sat 06-12-2008 [...]
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 am
[...] We’ve all seen, and eaten, more milanesas here than we care to think about, let alone admit to. I’m perfectly happy at many a lunch to have a pounded thin chicken version – breaded breast of chicken, topped with cheese and tomato, but I do long for something more – and also something that leaves the chicken juicy and flavorful rather than flat and leathery. So I left the breasts whole, cut a pocket into each and filled it with a mix of cremini duxelles (sauteed finely chopped mushrooms and shallots) and yellow bell pepper. Then, each breast got itself dipped in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then into beaten egg, and finally rolled in a mix of breadcrumbs, hot paprika, and a Chinese spice mixture of black pepper, cinnamon, salt, and m.s.g. Rather than fry these, I baked them in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil, and served them up with some sauteed globe zucchini. [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Seeds for the zapallitos, where can I get them, please. Thanks.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I suppose that depends where you live, to begin with, but honestly, I have no idea. Here, I’d just buy one and take the seeds out of it. You might try something as simple as a google search for where you live – I did one without a geographical location on “globe zucchini seeds” and it popped up with over 65,000 hits…
July 16th, 2009 at 11:53 am
[...] morning I was looking for more recipes for zapallitos and came across this blog which led me to their “closed door” restaurant. These guys have ten or so people to [...]
July 26th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I wanted to buy the seeds for the zapallitos. Can you help me, please? Thank you
July 26th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Monique – see my comment in response to the same request a couple above….
October 15th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
[...] than zucchini. I put them in pasta sauce often, and I’m looking forward to making breaded milanesas de zapallito I saw on Dan Perlman’s site. What would you do if you got your hands on some zapallitos [...]