What type of vegetable or fruit is a Mirliton?

Hi there,

I must admit that I'd never heard of a mirliton either, so we're
learning together on this one!

Here's a brief definition for starters, from a recipe for Mirliton
Ratatouille:

"Mirlitons (pronounced MEL-lee-tawns or MER-lee-tawns) are a type of
squash found growing wild and in backyards throughout southern
Louisiana. They're pale green, with a delicate flavor and a large,
dense central seed. In other parts of the country, they're called
chayote squash."

Creole Grilled Mirliton Ratatouille
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/veg/creole-rat.html

The mirliton goes by many names:

"custard marrow, christophene, chouchoute, brione, vegetable pear,
cho-cho, soussous, chuchu, choko, pipinella, xuxu, mirliton, mango
squash, and huisquil."

Food facts and trivia: Mirliton
http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmirliton.html

Here's a picture of one: http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/chayote2.jpg

And some recipes for cooking with mirlitons:

Mirliton Salad
http://www.wchstv.com/gmarecipes/mirlitonsalad.html

Crawfish and Mirliton Macque Choux
http://www.cajunspice.com/page164.html

Mirliton Casserole
http://www.francieweb.com/renee/mirliton.html

Hope this answers your questions!

grimace

---

Clarification of Answer by grimace-ga on 25 Jun 2002 12:38 PDT

Search strategy used (at Google):

mirliton recipe

They also grow well in warm climates. Plant the entire "fruit" in full
sun and have something for the vine to grow on and you will have more
alligator pears then you will ever need

So *that's* how you spell mirlitons!  My Cajun neighbor is always
complaining that he can't find MAY-lee-TONES at the grocer's.  Now I
know what he's talking about!

missy-ga

Great answer! My neighbor and I puxxled over this one, as I had a
cookbook from an LA wildlife dept. calling for Mirlitons in several
recipes.

I am familiar with with Chayote, another name for Mirliton. Bought
some, yesterday!

The references were thorough. Five stars!