I looked for marrow squash for a long time. The funny thing is I never
liked it as a kid, but for the
last several summers, I searched for it and dreamed of cooking up a pot of
Hungarian tökfőzelék. I even tried making it from spaghetti squash, but it wasn’t
the same. Then at the beginning of summer, I found a segment of what looked
like part of a very large gourd. There was no sign to indicate what it could be
and I thought I had nothing to loose, I took it home and cooked it up as if it
was marrow squash.
This is marrow squash
This might be marrow squash
It turned out to be a marrow squash. On the first day we ate it with fasírt.
Jim said “Hmm. I remember this. We ate this all the time” After 48 years, I know
exactly what he means, “Don’t ever make it again!” Then for the next two days
I made something else for him and I had a bowl of tökfőzelék. Yum.
Marrow squash is part of the gourd family, but no, it is not a zucchini. Marrow squash has a tough flesh while
the flesh of the zucchini, especially in such large size would be very, very
soft. I remember it as an elongated melon looking thing with thick yellow outer
skin [mine was dark green] and like a pumpkin; on the inside is a mess of fibrous,
slimy pulp with seeds. We used to slice the marrow squash on a large wooden
mandolin, but in later years, we would buy it at the green grocer already sliced
with a bunch of dill in the bag.
The one
thing I recalled is that tökfőzelék had a heavy dill flavour. Oh yes I must not
forget, you need fresh dill with lots of full fat sour cream for marrow squash.
sliced marrow squash
DILLED MARROW SQUASH STEW
500g fresh marrow squash, 4-5 cups sliced
1 small onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
salt to taste
1/8 cup sugar
1 pkg fresh dill weed
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup sour cream
wine vinegar to taste
- If you have a whole marrow squash it will be easier to handle it if you chop it crosswise into segments. Next cut segments in the opposite direction. I already had a segment so I just chopped it into smaller pieces. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and discard.
- Peel off all outer skin and rinse.
- If you have a mandolin or a french fry chopper slice or chop the marrow squash. Otherwise, chop it up like I did, using a chef’s knife.
For some reason my cookbook advised me to salt it and let it
sit for a while to draw the moisture out. I was in a hurry and didn’t do that.
As it turned out it would have been a superfluous exercise.
- Next, finely dice the onion.
- Place the oil in a larger pot and add the onion.
- Sprinkle with salt and sauté the onion on medium low heat until very soft.
- Meanwhile chop the dill and set it aside.
- Stir in the sugar and 1 tsp of wine vinegar.
- Add the sliced squash and the milk to the pot and sauté for a 3-4 minutes.
- Reduce heat and place the lid on the pot and slowly simmer for 5 minutes or until the squash is tender. Check the pot often; give it a stir so it won’t burn. If the squash needs more milk just add more. You are cooking a stew it should not get dry.
- In a smaller bowl, combine the flour with the sour cream.
- Using a fine sieve force the sour cream mixture into the pot and stir.
- Taste and adjust the salt.
- Add the chopped dill and stir.
- Finally, season the squash with a little wine vinegar. Start with a teaspoon, taste and if you deem necessary add a bit more. But do it very gradually.
- Serve the tökfőzelék with a large dollop of sour cream.
