Chayote

APPEARANCE: This vegetable has more names than a cat has lives, and each name helps identify it. It is called “vegetable pear” because the stem end is narrower than the base; it is called “mango squash” because it grows on a vine like a squash but has a single, large, flat, oval seed rather than the typical cucurbit-type cavity of small hard-shelled seeds. Both Cantonese names evoke religious images: haap jeung means Christian hands in prayer, while faat sau means Buddha’s hand. Chayote is an American Indian rendition of the original Latin American name; choko seems to be the Australian rendition of chayote.