Calabash

? Calabash
Green calabash on the vine
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Lagenaria Species: L. siceraria
Binomial name
Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.

This article is about one of the plant species by this name. For other uses, see Calabash (disambiguation).

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. It was named for the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), a different type of plant.

Culinary use

The calabash, as a vegetable, is frequently used in southern Chinese cuisine as either a stir-fry or in a soup. The Chinese name for calabash is hulu (Template:Zh-stp) or huzi (Template:Zh-cp) in Mandarin, and wu4lou4 (Template:Zh-st) 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 Lauki in Urdu or Dudhi in Hindi, Sorakaya in Telugu, Dudhi-Bhopala in Marathi, Sorekayi in Kannada and 'Suraikkaai' (colloq. "Sorakkay") in Tamil. In parts of India, the dried, unpunctured gourd is used as a float (called 'Surai-kuduvai' in Tamil) to learn swimming in rural areas.

In Arabic it is called Qara. In Bangladesh it is called Lau or Kumra/Komra. 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.

Other cultural uses

West Africa

Hollowed out and dried calabashes are a very typical utensil in households across West Africa. They are used to clean rice, carry water and also just as a food container. Smaller sizes are used as bowls to drink palm-wine. Calabashes are used by some musicians in making the kora (a harp-lute), xalam (a lute), and the goje (a traditional fiddle). They also serve as resonators on the balafon (West African marimba). The calabash is also used in making the Shegureh (Women's Rattle) and Balangi (a Sierra Leonean type of balafon) musical instruments. Sometimes, large calabashes are simply hollowed, dried and used as percussion instruments, especially by Fulani, Songhai, Gur-speaking and Hausa peoples.

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.

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.

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. Calabash were also grown in earthen molds to form different shapes and dried to house pet crickets, which were kept for their song and fighting abilities. The texture of the gourd lends itself nicely to the sound of the animal, much like a musical instrument.

Hawaii

Calabash as container

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.

West Papua

In West Papua, New Guinea, calabash gourds 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.

External links

• http://www.gourdzette.com/ Gourd Information, Projects, News.
• http://www.californiagourds.com/ Bottle Gourds, Crafts, Instruments and Information

• 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
• Turkish Gourd Lamps