Squashes, Tender or Summer

Zucchini

Costata Romanesca

Middle Eastern

Round zucchini

Tatume (and oval types)

Scallop or pattypan

Yellow (or summer) crookneck and straightneck

Zephyr

Baby summer squashes

See also: BITTER GOURD, BOTTLE GOURD CHAYOTE, CUCUZZA FUZZY GOURD, TINDORA

Tender squash” is a description more to the point than “summer squash” in today’s market—unless you mean “summer” worldwide, for this vegetable is available year-round. “Little squash” is what they’re called in the countries that give them the names known in much of the Western world. From zueca, calabaza, and courge (the generic words for squash in Italian, Spanish, and French, respectively) come the diminutive forms: zucchini, calabacita, and courgette. (Thomas C. Andres, editor of The Cucurbit Network News, points out that the word “zueca” predates the introduction of Cucúrbita from the New World and was first applied to the Old World bottle gourd, Lagenaria.)