Some years ago, I came to plant my first serious summer vegetable garden. Having little experience beyond some cursory research, I set about planting the available space with likely candidates including those summer staples of tomatoes, chillis, capsicums, herbs of various types, and some ten zucchini (or courgette) seedlings.
It was only after these plants had been properly established and begun to thrive that I read the advice that no more than two zucchini plants were ever really needed due to the prolific harvest one might expect of this plant. Alarmingly, this article described the author’s town as that sort of place that no one locked their doors, except during those weeks of the year that zucchinis were harvested (to frustrate, as much as possible, the foisting of zucchinis upon them by gardener neighbours).
As I was still some weeks from experiencing this harvest firsthand, I was inclined towards scepticism regarding this projected bounty and certainly disinclined to do anything other than continue to nurture the now thriving ten seedlings in my garden. But by mid-December, my scepticism had vanished, bludgeoned to death by a glut of zucchinis that possessed, alongside strength in numbers, a disturbing ability to double in size every twelve hours or so until they approximated the size and weight of a small child.
Such was my introduction to seasonality, or that seesawing oscillation between glut and dearth that must have dominated life before the convenience of supermarkets, refrigeration, and long-distance transportation. Indeed, one of the objectives of modernity has been the smoothing over of those natural and inconvenient rhythms that dictated how life must be lived before bureaucrats, technicians, politicians, and (above all) the consumer insisted upon the inalienable right to purchase a tomato at a more-or-less set price wherever, and whatever time of year, they found themselves.
And, while I might (reluctantly) concede that supermarket aisles filled with consistent, reliable produce are not in themselves an objective evil, the Christmas season reminds us of a different mode of existence – that of the feast and the fast. It is an undoubtably commonplace observation that those who cannot abide by the fast will not, in turn, be able to enjoy the feast. Yet this is also important and true advice for those of us who have grown accustomed to reliability and convenience. Indeed, I will go one step further in asserting that true feasting requires a practice of virtues that might be foreign to someone who expects any material want to be instantly fulfilled.
In any case (and in the spirit of the feast), I include below two recipes for anyone facing that glut of zucchinis that I now look forward to each summer.
Grilled Zucchini
- 2 – 3 Zucchini
- Parsley (1 bunch)
- Garlic (1 – 2 cloves)
- Olive Oil
Slice your zucchini into strips around 3 – 4 millimetres thick. Grill on a hot skillet until zucchini is soft and beginning to char on both sides. Layer the grilled slices on a plate sprinkling each layer with crushed garlic, diced parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle of olive oil.
The grilled slices can be enjoyed by themselves, as a sandwich (with hummus, cheese, and onion jam), or in a salad with rocket leaves and crumbled fetta cheese.
Zucchini bread
- 3 eggs
- 2 ½ cups of sugar
- 1 cup of oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 2 cups of grated zucchini
- 3 cups of plain flour
- 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of walnuts (or more)
Beat the eggs and sugar well. Add oil and beat in. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in two medium/large bread tins for 1 hour at 180 degrees.
