Calabash
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 Green calabash on the vine
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| Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. |
- This article is about one of the plant species by this name. For other uses, see Calabash (disambiguation).
The so called calabash gourd or vine is named after the calabash tree first discovered in the Caribbean as the tree called Crescentia cujete L. This is true calabash. The 'calabashes' made from bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria. The calabash (not to be confused with the calabaza) is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, one of the calabash subspecies is known as the bottle gourd. The fresh fruit has a light green smooth skin and a white flesh.
The calabash was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not for food but as a container.
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[edit] Culinary use
The calabash is frequently used in southern Chinese cuisine as either a stir-fry or in a soup. The Chinese name for calabash is hulu (Simplified Chinese: 葫芦; Traditional Chinese: 葫蘆; pinyin: húlu) or huzi (Chinese: 葫子; pinyin: húzi) in Mandarin, and wu4lou4 (Simplified Chinese: 葫芦; Traditional Chinese: 葫蘆) in Cantonese.
In Japan, where it is known as kampyō, it is sold in the form of dried, marinated strips. It is used in place of seafood in a form of vegetarian makizushi (rolled sushi).
In Italian cuisine, it is known as cucuzza (plural cucuzze).
In Central America, the seeds of the Calabash gourd are toasted and ground with other ingredients (including rice, cinnamon, and allspice) to make the drink horchata. Calabash is known locally as morro or jícaro.
In India, it is known as louki or ghiya in Hindi, sorakaya in Telugu ,Dudhi bhopala in Marathi,Sorekayi in Kannada and "sorakkay" in Tamil. The tender young gourd is cooked as a summer squash.
The shoots, tendrils, and leaves of the plant may also be eaten as greens.
Additionally, the gourd can be dried out and used to smoke pipe tobacco. A typical design yielded by this squash is recognized in the pipe of Sherlock Holmes.
It may also be called a Dudhi as is the case in British supermarkets.
[edit] Other cultural uses
[edit] Sierra Leone (West Africa)
Very typical in households in Sierra Leone and West Africa as a whole. The Calabash is hollowed out and dried. Used to clean rice, carry water and also just as a food container. Smaller sizes are used as bowls to drink palm-wine. It is also used by some muscians as a kora. The Calabash is also used in making the Shegureh and Balangi (a type of Xylophone) musical instruments.
[edit] Mexico
In many rural parts of Mexico, the calabash is dried and carved hollow to create a bule, a gourd used to carry water around like a canteen.
[edit] South America
In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, calabash gourds are dried and carved into mates, the traditional container for the popular caffeinated tealike drink (also called mate) brewed from the yerba mate plant.
[edit] China
The hulu is an ancient remedy for health. In the old days the doctors would carry medicine inside so it has fabled properties for healing. The hulu is believed to absorb negative earth-based qi (energy) that would otherwise affect health and is a traditional Chinese medicine cure. Dried calabash is also used as containers of liquids, often liquors or medicine.
[edit] Hawaii
In Hawaii a calabash is a large serving bowl. It is usually made from a hardwood, rather than from the Calabash Gourd as in Maroon cultures. It is used on a buffet table or in the middle of the dining table. The use of the calabash in Hawaii has led to terms like "Calabash Family" or "Calabash Cousins". It indicates that an extended family has grown up around shared meals and close friendships. Food is very important in modern Hawaiian culture. "Komo E Kaukau", meaning "come and eat", it is the most expected greeting in a Hawaiian home.
[edit] West Papua
In West Papua, New Guinea, calabash gourds are used to make a traditional penis covering known as a koteka. The gourds are weighted with a rock while they are growing in order to make them take the appropriate elongated shape---- New Zealand It was also used by the ancient maori people of New Zealand. They used it as a way of collecting and storing water. They would carve patterns and designs all over the chief's gourd, but if you were a commoner, you had no choice but to keep it plain.--222.152.15.99 05:43, 27 March 2007 (UTC)--222.152.15.99 05:43, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] External links
- Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne
- Calabashes used for flotation and to store fish during huge Nigerian fish festival
- Eipo (West New Guinea, Central Highlands) - Making a Penis Gourd (Sanyum), by Franz Simon and Wulf Schiefenhövel. IWFMedia Catalog page for 15-minute video filmed in 1976 demonstrating the process of manufacturing a koteka from a gourd.
- Bottle Gourds for Crafts
